Catwalks and Consequences: The Harsh Realities of the Fashion Industry
Introduction
The United States fashion industry is worth approximately $343.70 billion and employs over 1.8 million people (Joint Economic Committee Democrats). Although fashion models make up a small percentage of the workforce, they are considered a high-risk group due to the abuse they encounter, which often results in serious health implications. Erin Meyers, a Ph.D. candidate at Vanderbilt University, claims that a social ideal known as the “thin ideal” praises a female figure that is unattainable for the majority of women and causes many female fashion models to sacrifice their health for their careers (Meyers). The United States hasn’t done anything to address these rules’ effects on the working conditions of fashion models, despite the obvious problems they represent. According to an online survey assessing unhealthy weight control behaviors conducted by Rachel Rodgers, licensed psychologist at Toulouse University, 53 out of the 80 participants faced coercion from their agencies to lose weight and “tone up” (Rodgers). When models are put under the mentality of starving themselves to a life-threatening extent to maintain employment, the likelihood of developing an eating disorder and body image issues increases significantly which further impacts physical and mental health. However, this is only one perspective offered in the field examining just the health impacts while other experts focus their research on the reasons behind these injustices from a legal perspective instead. Many argue that even if policymakers attempt to impose stricter laws and regulate the US fashion industry, they are met with many barriers such as the fact that models are independent contractors making them ineligible for OSHA protection. Although resilience is required in every workplace, the flawed and unregulated nature of the fashion industry makes it a manipulative setting for many employees leading to violations of many rights. Overall, models face excessive pressure in the workplace due to the legal system in the fashion industry which then has an impact on their health, demonstrating that there needs to be stronger policies and clear solutions to protect this valuable population. By examining the current policies put in place and in theory, a final solution will be recommended to solve the current issues observed and strengthen the protection of fashion workers.
The Health Impacts
Many models believe that it is their job to not eat and this mentality has taken a heavy toll on many such as eating disorders, severe body image issues, and even death due to starvation-related complications. A study from the Qualitative Health Research Journal examining fashion models’ experience of aesthetic labor and its impact on body image and eating disorders found that individual interviews of 50 participants presented themes of glamorizing food restriction, showing the body as a market product and changing one’s physical appearance for the industry (Fixsen). These overarching themes are already very concerning and show the detrimental mindset of these models. In a 2017 survey report, more than half of models claimed that they were threatened with termination if they did not lose weight, which drove them to engage in risky behavior like skipping meals, using illicit drugs, using intravenous drips, and self-inducing vomiting, all of which have been shown to cause growth impairment and delayed or disrupted menstruation (Rodgers). The effects of work pressures on the body are obvious, but the brain consumes 20% of total energy and, in reaction to hunger, can alter motivation, thoughts, feelings, and behavior (Treasure) leading to a negative mental response. By further exploring the mental impacts of the fashion industry, it is clear that there is a relationship between body image and psychological well-being. A cross-sectional study, conducted by Zahra Sobhani, doctor of psychology at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, targeting people with morbid obesity showed a positive relationship between body image satisfaction and psychological well-being in patients and body image defects related to negative psychological well-being (Sobhani). Although, the health implications in the fashion industry are mostly the opposite of morbid obesity, or “morbid thinness”, the general conclusion of the study can be applied to models as well, concluding that employment pressures that lead to lesser body image satisfaction will then result in poor psychological well-being. In addition, Adrian Furnham, an occupational psychologist, and professor at University College concluded that lower ratings of self-esteem and body image satisfaction were significant predictors of the likelihood of getting cosmetic surgery in a sample of 204 British participants (Furnham). Cosmetic surgery has been a very beneficial medical advancement because it involves the maintenance, restoration, or augmentation of one’s physical appearance by surgical and medical procedures. As the role of attractiveness in Western society became more relevant, The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reported a 446% increase in people undertaking cosmetic procedures since 1997 (Furnham). However, this has also been coupled with increased body image issues, lower body image satisfaction, and excessive use of these procedures, especially in the fashion industry, to maintain employment. Overall, the health risks faced by models due to employment pressures have led to not only physical but also psychological damage making the need for change in this industry extremely necessary.
The Legal Perspective
The fashion industry is an extremely flawed sector, especially with the under-regulation and lack of laws protecting employees and their rights. However, some may argue that almost all workplaces are flawed in a way and employees need to stay competitive and resilient to keep their jobs and grow professionally. Silja Hartmann, a professor of strategic management at the Technical University of Munich, conducted a review that showed that resilience has shown to be one of the core constructs of positive organizational behavior and has greatly increased in being a desired skill in the workplace in recent years (Hartmann). Employers understand the heavy competition, especially in the fashion industry, leading resilience to become a desired and necessary trait to survive in the workplace. Furthermore, in the words of Marcus Aurelius, from The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus “Be like a promontory against which the waves are always breaking” and stay resilient through challenges knowing that it serves some purpose. The stoic character of Aurelius’s words shows that even in the workplace, there are many adversities, and specifically in the fashion industry, models need to accept the psychological hardships as part of the job and persevere through them. When people are extremely tolerant of adversity at work, it might negatively impact their performance and can “translate into putting up with boring or demoralizing jobs…for longer than needed” (Chamorro-Premuzic). In the fashion industry, many models are body shamed by their agencies and treated terribly and their excessive adversity to stay in the field has already shown to be detrimental to their physical and mental health. For instance, James Scully accused two other casting directors of mistreating models and subjecting them to “traumatizing conditions” during the casting process for the fall Balenciaga show during Paris Fashion Week in 2017 (Schneier). Situations such as these, especially in well-known events such as Paris Fashion Week, show the need for regulation and fairness in this industry as well as expose the public to the harsh realities of models’ experiences in this line of work. The biggest issue that contributes to the under regulation of this industry is the fact that models are independent contractors which makes them ineligible for OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) protection (Record). Models are not treated as employees in this situation by either modeling agencies or clients. (Meyers) leading to a diffusion-of-responsibility dilemma as well as a nightmare for models’ rights in the workplace. Nevertheless, other industries and sectors have much stronger laws protecting employees than in the fashion industry and it is important to address this issue to treat all workers fairly. Overall, it is understandable that all workers must face adversity and have resilience in their professions, but the fashion industry in the United States is structured in such a way as to manipulate models, exploit them, and eventually leave them exhausted both physically and mentally.
Policies/ Potential Solutions
There are very few policies and solutions put in place to support models as established, however, activist groups and organizations are working on the issue. There have also been many suggested solutions that can be implemented if worked on. One of the most imminent pieces of legislation includes the Fashion Workers Act bill which aims to protect workers in the fashion industry such as models, stylists, and hair and makeup artists who are more vulnerable to exploitation (Bellafante). This new bill working its way through the New York Legislature achieved by Model Alliance, an advocacy group in the fashion industry, is one of the most functional efforts being made. Solutions such as these may have a small impact in only a few states but will at least provide some rights and respect to fashion workers. This bill is an overarching effort but will most likely involve smaller changes such as stricter regulation in the industry. However, a bill similar to this focusing on considering models as employees has failed in the past showing that this plan is ineffective. According to a strategic science study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders to inform policies targeting extreme thinness standards in the fashion industry, one of the policy proposals, which focuses on setting a minimum BMI threshold, is not supported by models and is perceived as unlikely to have a positive impact due to its difficulty to implement (Rodgers). Because of the widespread acceptance and internalization of the thin ideal, many models may regard being skinny as an accepted industry norm. Overall, this solution is not viable as BMI is not considered a reliable measure of health making this policy purposeless. Many other laws related to the fashion industry have been proposed such as the Photoshop law which gives the government the right to intervene in the media industry related to manipulative photos of models showing unreasonable body sizes to the public leading to not only body image issues in models but also the public (Szewczyk). The Photoshop law may prove to be viable by combating the glamorization of ideal beauty but this may be a difficult law to implement as media simply cannot be controlled without violating the rights of free speech. In essence, many policies have been proposed and many have made it close to legislation, however, these solutions have failed or shown to make no progress. By examining other proposals and policies, a stronger recommendation can be made which may result in a better outcome.
Final recommendation
Overall, the final recommendation must include components of multiple proposals to target the various issues in the industry. This solution involves models that Israel and France have both enforced and have found success with. This system requires models to get a certificate of health as the means of enforcement, and agencies that do not comply with this requirement may be fined (Meyers). This licensing mechanism can also require agencies to have safety rules for models which protects their employment and rights. Failure to comply with these rules should then result in monetary fines or other appropriate consequences. This license should be renewed every six months to protect runway models. This solution will focus on targeting the issues of the fashion industry regarding its legal side. Other policies that may be useful in targeting the health perspective could be a specific piece of legislature in which a model may sue for damages if she could show that her employer had encouraged her to “damage her health such as reduce weight, get cosmetic procedures, or treated her unfairly for refusing to do so” (Meyers). Furthermore, any damages caused may be recovered through a lawsuit. It is important to address the limitations of these solutions such as the fact that models could exploit agencies for their benefit. Another limitation is the monetary barrier as these initiatives take money to start and also require people who are willing to provide support. One solution to this limitation is involving existing advocacy groups in pushing for these legislatures and systems such as the Model Alliance. In essence, the fashion industry is an interesting workplace that has been detrimental for models physically and emotionally. For this discrimination to end, it is crucial to take action and apply these policies so models can have the same deserved rights as other employees.
Works Cited
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