It's about body image, ideals and the question of which women are "real" and who aren't. I absolutely agree with Libby that the problem of today's size 0 ideal is not that there are women out there who are extremely skinny, and being thin should not be considered as being unhealthy and less "real" than other women.
It bothers me so much to read comments like "eating disorders are terrible, why do girls want to be skinny when everyone knows all guys prefer real women with curves to those sticks on the catwalk?!". THIN GIRLS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM! We are all built differently and come on: 1) there are men who love curves and there are men who love thinner girls and most of all, every man who's worth anything doesn't fall for a girl because of her freakin' body type! 2) Who says anyone should try and change the way she looks because of what "guys prefer"?! 3) If we're talking about eating disorders, I'm pretty sure that very few girls with ed's are sick because they want guys to think they're sexy. Please. Life's not all about looking hot for the opposite (or same) sex. And even less so when it comes to different sorts of illnesses.
But, one thing that I'd like to add to Libby's great post: No, once again, it's not the skinny girls who are the problem. The problem is that we're constantly surrounded with images of these skinny girls, being told that they're as close to perfection as a human being can get. Especially fashion images. What we need is not to ban skinny models from the catwalks or fashion magazines, but we do need to mix it up. By letting different types of women - of different shapes, sizes and ethnicities - onto the catwalks and into the campaigns and editorials. And not say "heeeeeeey, look at these girls, look, they're not super skinny, and look at this one, she's not white, aren't we being all diverse and awesome right now?!". No, you're not, because of what you just said. Stupid. Everyone who isn't white and super thin shouldn't be an exotic exception to the white/skinny-rule.
I've been a part of the modeling industry for many years and I know for a fact that a lot of young female models have severe problems concerning their body image and eating habits. Not everyone, sure. But way too many. It doesn't really matter if you're naturally skinny when you're modeling, since there is always someone telling you that you should be even skinnier in order to be really successful. What the industry does to these girls' health is a big issue, and an even bigger one is that other girls and women are lead to believe that the way these models look is 1) aquired without much effort and 2) what a woman is supposed to look like if she wants to be considered as truly beautiful.
Because yeah, a thin girl might be completely healthy and is without a doubt just as real as everyone else - and she definitely shouldn't have to hear that she's a "bad role model" or be harassed in any way. But why has someone decided that she should be the only one representing beauty? When we all know that beauty comes is more than one shape, and that fashion has to do with so, so, so much more than your dress size or hip measurements.
