1.21.2007

Fashion, Anorexia and Media

Econo-Girl is going to tell a little story from her time in Saudi Arabia.

It was after the first Gulf War when Econo-Girl went to Saudi Arabia. There were no images of women's bodies anywhere. All pictures of women were ones where they were draped in black cloth.

At the time, Econo-Girl was obsessed with her weight. She had been on diets on and off since she was nine. "Am I fat?" was a constant worry.

That trip to Saudi Arabia was three weeks long and Econo-Girl gained about ten pounds while there.

The funny thing is, though, I felt thin as a whistle. No advertisements peered down on me showing me what I should look like. No air-brushed photos held an ideal not even pre-teen models could reach.

The experience taught me the power of imagery and advertising. So, yes Giselle, the fashion industry is part of the anorexia problem. Let's eat cheesecake and be merry!

3 comments:

The Lazy Iguana said...

A Saudi fashion show would be fun to go to. Here comes Abdula in this summers NEW color! Dark black, with just a touch of red to make it different from the touch of blue from the spring collection.

Jandi for The Fuzz said...

I've always been partial to real women.

Econo-Girl said...

Fuzz,

So has my husband, thank God.