Model Behaviour

When I go to work I sometimes end up reading magazines that we publish just simply to take up lunch break time. Within a certain magazine there has, for the past couple of weeks, been a section that relates to the issue of the programme ‘Make Me A Supermodel’ in which Jen Hunter was told that her legs were too ‘stocky’ for the catwalk. This is opposed to Marianne Berglund who was told she had a great body despite the fact that she was seriously underweight. Hunter is a size 12 whereas Berglund is a size zero. Both girls claim that they are satisfied with their sizes and that the media should leave their bodies alone. The issue here is really quite obvious. Health officials and people in general are claiming that the programme is portraying a negative image of the female body. By commending Berglund they are supposedly claiming that being a size zero is ideal. When I saw the picture of Berglund in a bathing suit-which I wish I could find to post on here-I instantly thought she looked way too thin. Almost like a skeleton and while they claimed she was the ‘ideal’ weight for modelling I wondered whether this was true. I’ve seen quite a few models in the magazines I've read and not many of them are as skinny as Berglund, then again none of them are as ‘big’ as Hunter either.

Berglund looks unhealthy and so does Hunter to a certain extent. Now size 12 is an OK weight in the ‘normal’ world and I think people have backed Hunter much more than they have Berglund. But I wonder whether they are doing this just to look good. Lemme ask a question:

If there were pictures of overweight models in bikini’s etc would it be as appealing?

I think in all honesty the answer would probably be NO. Even though we see a normal sized person on a model programme we know that, in reality she would be have a hard time getting work. We’re so use to seeing skinny models that if this were to change, it would not work as well.

I don’t know many women who would prefer an overweight male model advertising jeans as opposed to a well toned model. Only thing is, the men usually look healthy not skinny and scrawny. Instead of encouraging fat or thin models how about they encourage TONED models. Those that promote a healthy lifestyle and look good at the same time. I don’t mean women who have biceps like men or anything that extreme but I think you catch my drift. Does it matter anyway? Seems like things are airbrushed and adjusted so much that you’d probably find it hard to recognise the model if you saw them in real life!

I’m not against skinny models simply because it’s up to them to do what they want to do with their bodies. I think it’s up to the viewer to decide whether they look to these people as role models or not. I understand that being overweight breeds negative associations to do with laziness, a sedentary lifestyle and greediness but if you feel comfortable in your own skin then people will love you for it. I know it’s easier said than done and at times I do not feel comfortable in my own skin but I will learn too. I mean, I don’t think I have a reason NOT too. As long as being a little bigger doesn’t seriously affect your health then go for it!

Being skinny is not simply the tool needed to become a model. You also need to have the body shape for it so for those who feel they can stop eating and hopefully have a chance in the modelling world, well, have a long think first to see if God made you suitable.

A Short Update

So I’ve been working for 3 weeks at my new place which has been good so far. This week I’ve been a bit sick but still managed to drag myself into work only to find myself doing nothing of great importance. I still haven’t been trained properly which is starting to get to me because work still needs to be done. My manager is always so busy running between two buildings and people always keep trying to get in contact with her so she rarely has time to train me. I can hardly hold her down! Usually I would be a bit pissed about this but I like my manager and we get on so well but I think that if I’m not trained next week I may have to tell her to actually sit down and do it. Then again, she did tell me that next week IS usually their busiest week. To make things worse I need to tie up any loose ends (and there are a lot) that the guy who was there before me hadn’t done. So I get people calling me up and asking for things I have no idea about.

Anyway, all will still be well.

I do like working there though. The people are alright and the environment is nice (especially because I can occasionally get away with writing emails to my peeps haha!). I went to some gathering thing that my manager invited me too. I didn’t want to go but I thought I should just to see what its like. I had an ok time to be honest and my manager said I stayed longer than she thought I would which is good. At least she now thinks that I’m willing to go to social gatherings and all.

I would like to get my manager to take me around the buildings and show me how the magazines are actually put together, how the radio and T.V. stations work and who writes the columns in the magazine. She said she would so hopefully she will, actually, I KNOW she will, I wont let her forget!

I eventually want to start writing some columns for some of the magazines they publish, but all in good time…

Three stories

Children are growing up too fast!

According to a study made by very interesting various people children are growing up way too fast, much faster than any adult can keep up with. I think the terminology is ‘age compression’ (they could have thought of a better title, but hey, that’s me). Apparently children stop believing in the tooth fairy and all that by the age of four whereas their parents stopped believing in such things around the age of ten. So why are our children growing up “too fast”? I suppose the answer is probably quite easy. There are loads of options around now especially with the internet where children can learn a lot of life skills without proper interaction! Also a lot of ‘young’ kids have older brothers and sisters so they learn from them as well.

We usually see the negative sides of kids growing too fast such as drug dealing etc but I don’t reckon it’s a completely bad thing. In a world where everything is happening yesterday I’m not surprised to find that they HAVE to grow up sooner or be left behind. In the UK you chose the direction of your life by the time you’re 15 (with the year 9 options). Of course you can change your mind like I did but essentially that’s what they’re asking you to do.

On the other hand though, if I look at it from a cynical point of view, it can also be a bad trend. Children and everyone else are more susceptible to marketing and the media. Kids now want ipods for xmas not a Barbie doll, they want laptops not desk computers, everything’s going technology crazy! And they only want these things because they see it on T.V. or their friends have it. But ‘age compression’ is not just limited to technology. Children are now having children and that’s where the negative connotations of growing too fast lie. Can they handle the responsibilities of adulthood when they’re children?

But is it the children’s fault?

This leads into the next story:

Girl diagnosed with depression.

I saw an article in a newspaper about a girl who was diagnosed with depression at the age of four. Now her mum thought that depression was an adult psychological ‘disease’ but it seems this has proved her wrong. The girl became depressed because she was unable to attend the school her friends attended - they got in, she didn’t.

I don’t understand why she would be diagnosed with depression because of this. Have there not been times when we want something so bad and can’t get it? Does that mean we should be diagnosed with depression too? I mean, COME ON! What’s going on here? Now the girl knows what depression is at the age of four, she’s probably going to be depressed more often simply because it’s in the back of her mind. The girl is upset, that’s all it is. We all get upset from time to time, it’s healthy and it’s what helps us grow. I feel sorry for her mum because she now has to keep her child happy unless she may get ‘depressed’ again…it’s ridiculous! Kids ARE growing up too fast but what choice do they have?

Choice leads me onto the third story:

Children to stay in school till the age of 18?

It has been proposed that kids should have to go to school up until the age of 18. This is a tough one, at first I thought it was a great idea but now I’m not too sure. I mean, forcing children to go to school increases competition for those who REALLY want to go onto FE or HE. This in turn will force children to grow even faster as parents try to teach their children even more complicated things to evade the competition as much as possible. For those who go because they have too, they may end up corrupting the more genuine ones. Another negative association is the fact that college is not for everyone. Some people are good academically and some are good practically so how do they cater to both? I reckon they should introduce a lot more practical aspects within learning, that way, they will have the skills they need when applying for jobs and they all win in the end.

Sometimes I wonder why they proposed this, are we getting dumber? The answer is probably ‘Yes’ simply because everything is done for us now. Give me homework and I’ll just pop on the net and type it all in Google then copy and paste, add a few ‘ands’ and thes’ maybe use a different word here and there…simple!

‘On the other hand’

Keeping children in education till the age of 18 keeps them in check. It means that kids stay kids a lot longer so I suppose it could help dampen this ‘age compression’ thing. It means that kids learn more than they would had they dropped out at 16 and it eventually MAY equal better job opportunities for them (although not guaranteed as I know), so they end up winning in the end.

O well, just gotta wait and see what happens!

New Beginnings Old Endings.

Yesterday I started my new job at my new company and it was ok. I spent ages getting there although on a normal no traffic basis it would take me about half n hour, this time I left 1 hr and 30 mins and still managed to get there just 15 mins early! Anyway yesterday was quite a boring day, well, actually it wasn’t boring. I didn’t have much to do but I enjoyed watching what other people were doing (and reading magazine articles). The radio was on so I spent most of my time singing along with that and listening to the new Justin Timbelake album that my manager brought in. I also ended up eating quite a bit of chocolate and spending quite a bit on lunch at Marks and Sparks….

But in terms of the atmosphere, its quite a cool one. We are on the fourth floor and when the lift opened I was greeted with pink floors and pink, yellow and white stripped walls (apparently it’s the girly floor where girly magazines are published so girl = pink). Everyone is laid back and quite friendly…so far…

Today however, was a sad day. I had to say goodbye to my other workplace who I’ve been with for over a year now. Yes I only worked one day a week and I hated the job but I somehow liked the people and even though I felt uncomfortable there at first, I got use to it and use to them. Today was also actually quite depressing because I had to do a hand over and it was so boring explaining everything. Plus my job has a time limit which was really disregarded seeing as the payroll came in almost an hour and a half late simply because I had to explain and explaining takes long! Nonetheless the handover person had a lot to take in so I knew I was wasting my time really explaining it. Plus I had already written out excellent training notes so she can refer to them as and when needed.

It would have been nice to at least have a leaving dinner or something because I have been so loyal to them. I’ve never had a sick day and even when I was sick I still came in. Today ended up being even worse than normal days! My director said they will organise something for and let me know later so let see if that comes to pass…

Going back for my official second day at my new workplace tomorrow, really hope all works out well ‘cuz if it doesn’t, Im screwed!!

New Job!!!!!!!!!!

Well today I went for an interview for a really big company who do a million and one things. They publish really popular magazines like Heat, FHM etc.

I went for the interview and the lady I would be working with is very nice, we get along so all should be well. I start on Monday and while I am more than happy with this job I wish the pay was way better. Nonetheless its in the media industry and God has provided for me.

I am quite sad that I have to leave my current employer, I mean, as much as I hated the job I did like the people and I'm comfortable now (after 1yr and a bit who wouldnt be?). I'm also dreading my first day at Emap, meeting the new people, starting the role. Hopefully it will all work out well! Im just excited at the doors this job can open for me but only time will tell how it goes....dont you worry, Im still planning to become a millionaire, havent lost sight of that and never will until I am one! But in order to make millions you have to start somewhere and Im starting...

Im also dreading the hours, its standard (9:30-5:30) but thats not really the problem, the problem is getting there and getting back home. Nothing makes a day worse than taking an hour to get to work and an hour (or more!) to get back; frustrating! I can see myself fighting to get on the bus every morning, thats what I dread!!

I will be working between two different buildings, one's in Shaftsbury avenue and the other is in Oxford Street, Mapping road or something so Im working in the heart of London, where all the shops are, where I can spend all my hard earned cash on clothes...hmm, its not such a good thing after all!

Anyway I'll keep updating my blog and write on how the job is going when I start.

"There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why."-William Barclay