Fashion In Fiji Essay

Imagine being put on an underdeveloped, uncivilized island where there is no television, no Internet, and no link to the outside world. All of the information obtained is through the people in the small, island community. The idea of “perfect” and “beautiful” does not play a factor in the minds of the young people through any social media and is collected through firsthand experiences. This was actually the setting for a study done in May of 1999. The idea of “beauty” on the island of Fiji was round, plump, and soft. After 38 months of exposure to television shows, like Melrose Place, Beverly Hills, and 90210, young Fijian girls showed serious signs of eating disorders (“Eating Disorders Have Multiple Complex Causes” 99). An eating disorder is a range of psychological disorders characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating habits (such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia). Unfortunately, eating …show more content…
Major players in the fashion industry argue that “clothes look better on thin people. The fabric hangs better” (Hellmich). Does this mean that clothes are only made for thin people and people who do not look like the models should not bother wearing clothes? Are they trying to make their clothes only look good on thin people and make it so those who are not a size 00 or size 0 look terrible in their clothes? Lisa Hilton argues that, “models need to be thin. Whether or not this is aesthetically desirable is a matter of taste, not morality” (“The Fashion Industry Should Not Be Held Responsible for Eating Disorders”). Basically, the fashion industry is trying to say that women need to look like those models in order to be appealing. If they are not thin, they are not worth it. The fashion industry can not solely be accredited to eating disorders in teens but by saying clothes only look good on thin people is ignorant and can certainly lead to poor self-esteem in young