Cindy Crawford's Skinny Model Solution: Stop Buying Magazines That Feature Them

It seems like the modeling industry is on a yo-yo diet, between Glamour printing images ofplus-size women in its pages and Ralph Lauren retouching an already skinny model in an advertisement. So what's a simple girl to do? Boycott, if you ask Cindy Crawford. The famous face told The Guardian UK that consumers hold all of the power:

If you don't like something, don't buy it. Don't buy the magazine if you don't like what it says. If you don't like the image a brand is putting out, don't buy it. What I really don't agree with is people who complain about it but still support it. You're giving your power away. If people don't want skinny models, stop buying the magazine with the skinny model, and believe me those magazines will change fast. It's business.

However, Crawford, who recently said she looks too healthy to be a supermodel today, doesn't think that the fashion world is to blame for eating disorders:

An eating disorder is way more than a girl looking at a magazine and seeing a picture of a skinny model. Maybe that's one tiny piece of the puzzle, but I think it's a lot more about self-esteem and self-love and control, so it's too simplistic to just blame it on models who are skinny.

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Comments

[jennylynn]

This statement from a 120pound, tall woman??

[ubatuba]

TOTALLY AGREE! bunch of hypocrites moaning about thin models, but still buying the magazines and ogling them...and secretly wanting to be thinner! you know it!...so lay off the donuts ::)

[Furby2]

Hey Cindy, why not just let yourself gain 30 pounds and make a real statement.

[mimi66]

Mother of Sons and Princecharmed, you both sound pretty jealous. Whether she is or was a model (which, incidentally, she was never a pin thin one- always had a healthy figure) is irrelevant. She seems absolutely right to me- if you don't like it, don't buy it, but quit complaining and then buying it anyway.

[PRINCECHARMED]

Your comment has no sense for me...

[sunnybunny]

The last two relevant things I can remember her doing are a workout video that my teenage daughter used to love, and a recent ad promoting some age defying moisturizing body wash where she caused a stir by being naked in a shower and middle aged and hot. From what I can tell Cindy Crawford is a very positive influence/role model regarding pursuing a healthy body image. (I don't think encouraging women to work out and moisturize is a bad message)

[mmgbizgirl]

Cindy, it's a simple effective way to make a difference. Hit them in the pocket. Works every time.

[motherofsons]

Really Cindy? Boycott the mags? Pretty lame since the mags launched you. How about starting your boycott with the designers who create clothes that only look good clothes hangers? Then you can start boycotting the tv shows, the runway shows, the movies, the internet--any medium that broadcasts images of beautiful women in beautiful clothes and the magazines--which reach a pretty audience.

And we thought you were smart.

[PRINCECHARMED]

Super Models in the 90's also caused many people to feel insecure with their bodies...and many people put implants because all of you were perfect.

Know that you are not young and thin anymore you don´t agree with the new images in the magazines...

Is it better to have old models with lots of plastic surgery like u r? Is it heathier?

Let´s accept aourselves the way we are...

[bthechangeyouseek]

We should accept ourselves they way we are. Cindy is right, a good start is to quit perusing magazines that tell us how our bodies should look, what we should wear etc.

[PRINCECHARMED]

Cindy is the first one that don´t accept herself the way she is...her face look like a wax figure...

I think she is envious of younger models...

Why don´t boycot magazines with clothes that we cannot afford? or with only white girls?

[PRINCECHARMED]

Cindy you put all that botox in your face...uggg

Why don´t we accept ourselves the way we are, f@t or skinny, young or old!!!

Your are not the one to give this advice...models in the 90´s were stunnig but far away from normal women in the street!

[carrieanna]

I gave up magazines in March of 2008 because I was tired of the message of overconsumption. It was all "BUY BUY BUY" even though they weren't selling anything new. I haven't set foot in a mall for about a year now, either. I buy birthday and holiday gifts at boutiques...places I really want to support.

[bthechangeyouseek]

good advice.

[T Specter]

Gee Cindy, STOP MAKING SENSE!

[littlepuffycloud]

She still is an absolutely beautiful woman..

[eflynn2331]

I love this article! It's so true and relevant for the people today reading these magazines! I personally enjoy reading them, but am tired of the non-realistic approach taken. It's as if they forget us "real people" don't realize everyone isn't stick thin. Come on, really?!

[Callyson]

And in fact, sales of women's magazines *are* declining:
http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2009/08/surprise_magazine_newsstand_sa.html
The problem is getting cause and effect through to the editors and owners of these magazines. Some of them will note that magazine sales in general are down (true to a point), others will insist that a new season, with a new look, will rejuvenate their business. With the partial exception of Glamour, I don't see much awareness among the fashion elites that their thin-is-in beauty ideal has become extreme, obsessive, and...boring.
So I do not agee that "If people don't want skinny models, stop buying the magazine with the skinny model, and believe me those magazines will change fast. It's business." Not until the powers that be in the fashion world wake up, that is...

[Truthdude]

Why no love for obese models?

[yellowdoggie]

People may love obese models, but they really don't want to look at them. Even plus-size friendly designers like Betsey Johnson say so.

[Aesthete]

Not obese, just healthy with realistically attainable bodies. Extremes of obesity and thinness are both unhealthy. It's sad that any woman should allow her self-esteem to be influenced by what is pictured in magazines as "perfect." It's particularly unfair to adolescent girls who are dealing with enough teen issues as it is.

[ubatuba]

who wants to look at them. something people fail to remember is that marketing is ASPIRATIONAL...who wants to be fat?

[kidolympic]

If you need some new syllables I need help putting them together.