On another hand, being a model can have harmful effects on health, especially when it starts with body image. It is the way we perceive our bodies, how we feel about our physical appearance, how we think and talk to ourselves about our bodies. Nowadays, body image is an important concern. According to a study of college students, 74.4% of normal-weight women think about their weight or appearance “all the time” or “frequently”, and 46% of normal-weight men responded in the same way to this survey. People have a positive body image when they have a realistic perception of their bodies and they enjoy them just as they are. However, a negative body image involves a distorted perception of size or shape that can lead to awkwardness and anxiety. Those people feel that the form of their bodies is a sign of personal failure. Researchers have found that increased concern with appearance and body dissatisfaction put people at greater risk of engaging in dangerous practices to control weight and size, with extreme dieting, exercise compulsion or induced vomiting. Many factors can affect body image like comments from friends or family, ideals that are developed, comparisons to others or exposure to images of idealized versus “normal” bodies. For instance, Amy Poehler, a model who suffered for ten years from eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorder and did a lot of plastic surgery explains that in her opinion, she “wasn’t pretty enough” and that her “body was a source of shame, embarrassment and disgrace.” So body image influences the way people see their bodies and can lead to many mental illnesses.
Moreover, an important consequence of a bad body image is the attention given to plastic surgery. The general function of plastic surgery is to improve the aesthetic aspect of a person and to make him feel good about himself, but in some cases, this function can be a more business-oriented decision than a personal preference and high fashion runaway models usually fall into this category. They look more for liposuction and other body contouring procedures to keep their body in “tip-top” shape. They also undergo facial surgeries (rhinoplasty, chin implants, fat transfers in the lips, blepharoplasty under the eyes to remove bags…). According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), 15.6 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the United States in 2014. For example, Andressa Urach, a model, had more than ten surgeries: on her nose, cheekbones, lips and on her breast twice. She said that she “idolized her body so it had to be perfect” and those surgeries nearly killed her. She injected ten times the amount allowed of hydrogel into her legs and went into septic shock. According to her, plastic surgery was like going to the supermarket, but today, she said that she would “never go back under the knife.” But she did not say that she would go back to the way she looked before her surgeries. Furthermore, Alessandra Ambrosio, a Victoria Secret’s Model, declared that she had botched plastic surgery when she was just eleven. She decided to have her ears pinned back and went to the doctor’s in her hometown although he had only done this procedure once before. This experience was so bad that Alessandra will not have another operation, even to fix her ears. To sum up, plastic surgery can be one of the negative choices many models make.
Indeed, physical consequences are concerning affects of modeling, but mental consequences, like anorexia for example, also have important issues. Anorexic models are common on catwalks and like others who suffer from anorexia, many models develop fears over becoming fat and losing their job. This is a valid fear because they are often told by their managers that they need to lose weight in order to keep working. At first, the disease starts out innocently enough, with harsh dieting, intense exercise and then, over time, the person’s self image gets distorted. They see themselves as too fat for success and continue their unhealthy types of behaviors. As a result, models may become very weak, develop a variety of health issues or show serious signs of depression. Health issues associated with untreated anorexia nervosa include calcium deficiency, liver disease, interrupted menstrual cycles, heart failure, fatigue, hair loss, sleep disorders… For example, Georgina Wilkin, a former model who started modeling at the age of 15 was, told to lose weight at the beginning of her career. So she did. But she was still turned away from casting for being too big so, on her own and under the pressure of the job, she developed anorexia. “My agent told me I looked great when I had not eaten for 48 hours”, she said. She was even hospitalized once because she was too ill. In the end, Georgina found her way out of the industry and recovered from her anorexia. Nonetheless she acknowledges that she had a modeling career for only three years and, as a result, suffered from anorexia for eight. Consequently, some measures have been taken in several countries. In France, for example, where according to the Health Ministry, 40,000 people have anorexia and 90% of those are women, the Parliament decided to make it a crime to use anorexic models or encourage anorexia in April 2015. The law will forbid anyone with a body mass index below a certain level, that will soon be define – based on height and weight – from earning money as a model and any modeling agency or person who pays a model below that index would face up to six months in prison and 75,000 euros in fines. In other words, anorexia is a very serious mental disease that is often seen in the modeling word.
Furthermore, another mental illness that can be caused by modeling is depression. Being a model is hard work and requires getting up early and often staying late at work with photographers for shots for portfolios that might boost young women’s careers. Models have to have a good personality, be social and friendly with everybody, so of course, they can develop emotional issues when they are badly treated and this is why depression is a constant threat. Indeed, today, 68,3% of models suffer from anxiety and/or depression, according to an online survey, made by The Model Alliance, sent to 241 working fashion models based in New York and Los Angeles. Depression can interfere with daily life and cause pain for both the person affected and also those who care about this person. A major depression can be explained by severe symptoms that affect one’s ability to work, sleep, study and enjoy life. An episode of depression can occur once in a person’s life, but more often, a person has several episodes. The causes of depression are a combination of genetic, biological, environmental and psychological factors but trauma, the loss of a loved one, a difficult relationship or any stressful situation may trigger a depressive episode. Depression can result in a lot of different symptoms like persistent sadness, anxiety or feeling “empty”, the loss of interest in activities or hobbies, a feeling of hopelessness or pessimism, fatigue and decreased energy. For example, Cara Delvingne, a famous model, describes her depression which started when she was 15-year-old. After leaving school at 17, she started modeling. But as she was constantly told that she was not tall enough, not skinny enough, not pretty enough, she went through an other episode of depression. She was “completely suicidal and did not want to live anymore”, she “did not know who she was and she felt lost” and thought she was completely alone. She was able to recover, thanks to Kate Moss, a supermodel who told her to “take a break from the field”. Cara Delvingne followed her advice and did some other activities which helped her a lot, like yoga and writing. Hence, depression can be a major negative consequence of having a modeling career.
Finally, the last and most dangerous consequence of modeling is suicide. It is the act of purposely ending one’s own life. It is a way for people to escape pain or suffering. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people between 15 and 29 years of age. When someone ends his/her own life, it is said that they “committed suicide” but a “suicide attempt” means that someone tried to end his/her life and did not die. “Most models have a very short career, and then they realize that they just can’t escape from the aging process” Garbely said. So a lot of models have taken their lives: South Korean Daul Kim was found after she hanged herself in her Paris apartment, Ruslana Korshunova jumped from the ninth-floor balcony of her Manhattan apartment, Brian Bianchini suffered from heavy depression and committed suicide when he was 25, after five previous attempts. And Noemie Lenoir tried to take her own life by a pill overdose. But why would those young persons with seemingly perfect jobs, faces and figures be desperate enough to try to kill themselves? There are some answers that could explain this question. For example, models from other countries can have some difficulties getting acclimated to a brand new culture, others can feel that they are loved only for their beauty, and they figure that if they become more beautiful, they will be loved more. But instead of that, they feel used, and then experience feelings of betrayal. Also the pressure of keeping an unreasonably low body weight can be stressful and lead to desperate attempts to lose weight. It has been shown that there were many factors that could lead to suicide, which makes the modeling career even more dangerous.
To conclude, modeling is a sector that can give opportunities to find a high-paying job in the fashion world, help to find a way as a future career as a movie or TV actor/ actress, give conveniences for world travel or work with the best designers and try the best make-up products. However, being a model may also have harmful effects on health because it can can physical disorders, like a bad body image, addictions to plastic surgery, or mental disorders with anorexia, depression or even suicide. It is a career that has many advantages but we cannot ignore those fatal effects.