Dude looks like...a lady?

Hey everyone! Have you heard?

Skinny male models are the new skinny female models.

At NYC's Fashion Week, apparently the prevalence of rail-thin male models caught the attention of more than a few audience members. Labels like Prada and Dior Homme are consistently hiring skinnier and skinner boys, to the point where they look like the endangered lady models being banned from catwalks in Spain.

For example, in today's NY Times article on the phenomenon, I learned about one of Marc by Marc Jacobs' models, Stas Svetlichnyy, from Russia. At 6'0", his top weight is about 145 pounds.The guy sports a 28-inch waist. Which is smaller than my own.

Some other examples: These guys. Or this one. Or (yikes) this man.

Check this quote from George Brown, a booking agent at Red Model Management: “When I get that random phone call from a boy who says, ‘I’m 6-foot-1 and I’m calling from Kansas,’ I immediately ask, ‘What do you weigh?’ If they say 188 or 190, I know we can’t use him. Our guys are 155 pounds at that height.”

I'm assuming this trend has to do with designers wanting the clothing to hang on the male models as smoothly and cleanly as possible - this is one of the main reasons extreme-thin female models are so sought after. It's like the clothing is is literally on a hanger, with no unsightly fat to cause lumps or bumps. And I'll assume that, as with women, a proportion of the very thin models are like that naturally, while the others need to severely restrict their calorie intake to maintain the chest and waist circumference of a prepubescent boy. And, sadly, I'll assume that this may correlate with an increase in eating disorders among the XY contingent, although probably not as large as the effect it's had on women.

Sigh.

Comments

Interesting--this sort of worship of extreme thinness is so silly. Women have been brainwashed by it for so long, I'll be curious to see what will happen if men start getting pressure too.

My guess is that the average male will ignore the fashion models as irrelevant --something I wish more women were able to do. But who knows, maybe they're be a whole new generation of men obsessed with counting calories and the size of their asses just like their girlfriends already are.

Oy.

So how are we supposed to drool over male models now? I don't know about you, but to me, these guys look like they're about 13 years old, and I don't lust after children.

I'm sorry but if my bf was that thin, I would not find him attractive at all! Thank God that mine is 6'1 and about 188lbs. He's so perfect to me, but not just because of how he looks.

Anyway, I think that this is so sad. It's bad enough that as women we have a warped sense of how we should look that now more and more men might end up feeling the same way is just awful. We should be envying fit, athletic, strong bodies...not skeletons.

Alyssa, I'd ask the same questions of female models.

Blach!!! I like a man to look strong, healthy, and fit. Not scrawny, wimpy and skeletal. Although I'm completely obsessed with my weight, I am so glad that my husband isn't that way about himself. At least one of us can enjoy a danish or a piece of chocolate without beating himself up for hours.

I understand the concern for these models especially if they are not naturally this thin and/or partaking in extreme measures to do so but I don't think we (or the NYT) should bash these men for looking the way they do. Why is ok to say "EUW! eat something!" to someone who is skinny but not ok to say "EUW! put down that cookie/apple/whatever" to someone who is heavy? I know several men (and women) who are naturally very thin and I wouldn't dream of telling them look bad! Just because it's not your preference does not give you the right to bash them.

Sorry if this is a bit preachy but it goes both ways and really we just need to focus on health and fitness over appearance. *stepping off my soapbox now*

I hope I'm not the only one thinking this because I'll feel like a huge bitch, but the truth is when I read this, I felt like HA! FINALLY men are going to be persecuted for being bigger than a size zero too. Sometimes I just wish my husband would be able to understand the absolute pressure that I feel to be thin and fit. But he has no clue because society doesn't pressure men the way they do woman. Although like one commenter already said, most guys don't really care about fashion so this probably won't affect any dude who doesn't dream of modeling.

And no, I don't want men to start becoming anorexic, it was just a knee jerk reaction to think that.

Karna, me too. In fact, we've probably been asking that question for years.

And Kelly, you're right. We shouldn't bash the models, but we should bash the industry. The fact is that, just like female models, most of these men don't naturally look this way, and it takes some pretty extreme measures to maintain the look.

Female or male, when can we be done with the way too skinny look? Yea, yea, there are the 2% of the world who are naturally gazelle like thin and we shouldn't get on their case, but my biggest beef is that most of these models look like the walking dead on the runway. Their eyes, faces, and general auras just look lifeless and morbid, and this has to be from a lack of good nutrition and healthy habits. Most of these people don't look healthy, and I'm sorry a pretty dress or hip suit does not make one beautiful. The whole human as a hanger so the clothes drape well thing just really irks me.

That is such a great title for such a disturbing trend.

I don't get it. These are human beings not hangers. The fashion industry is out of touch with reality. Yet, there is this perception that it is so forward thinking. Healthy is the key word here. Too skinny is unattractive on both men and women. There is alot of pressure on the models.

That is not sexy at all!! YUCK!!!