Unfortunately this behavior filters down into our schools with the increasing popularity of "mean girls," and that’s why I am so passionate about getting out there and reaching these girls. It was challenging to handle all this as an adult as a model, but it breaks my heart to see it happen with our young girls today!

More on that at a later time…for now, here is a call to action to help stop a contributing factor to our girls’ obsession with thinness. Filmmaker Darryl Roberts has become an advocate for body acceptance since making the fabulous documentary AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL.  Now he’s spearheading a boycott against Ralph Lauren that’s really intended to get the attention and wise up the whole fashion industry. He needs us all to join the boycott! Here’s the link to sign up for the boycott and learn more about Roberts’ campaign: join the boycott

Also, here’s an excerpt from Eating Disorders Blogs: There’s a storm brewing!  Ralph Lauren’s photo-warped ads have been outed, but he keeps making more, and that’s gotten filmmaker Darryl Roberts hopping mad.  Roberts has become an advocate for body acceptance since making the fabulous documentary AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL.  Now he’s spearheading a boycott against Ralph Lauren that’s really intended to get the attention and wise up the whole fashion industry.

He needs us all to join the boycott BEFORE FRIDAY, December 11.  Here’s why, in his words: "This is only going to take a few minutes, I need you to sign up for the boycott on our Facebook page. Ralph Lauren needs to see how many of you support the boycott and it needs to be at least 10,000. If we don’t reach 10,000 then this particular movement will be discredited by Ralph Lauren. We need 10,000 people to sign up by Friday. Forward this to everyone you know asking them to sign up before Friday. Call them back and make sure that they did it. We have to create a viral grass roots movement. Write comments on the Facebook page. Let Ralph know how you feel. Trust me they will monitor our page heavily."

And if you need a bit more incentive, consider this, also from Darryl: "As you may or may not know, Ralph Lauren is designing the outfits for the Winter Olympics ceremony for 2010. Athletes come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Here is a picture of a real Olympic Skier. Her name is Emily Cook:[http://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs009/1102070670847/img/1432.jpg?a=1102872102420]

Now, here is a Ralph Lauren sketch that obviously shows his vision and design for this years Olympic Skier:[http://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs009/1102070670847/img/1431.jpg?a=1102872102420] The drawing looks just like the ridiculous ads he’s been running. Why am I not surprised. He must be stopped!"

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( To see Filippa’s appearance on the Today Show and to read more, click here )

In speaking to young girls about the current and harmful trend of "mean girls" and bullying, I often admit  how well I can identify with what is going on due to my years in the very competitive modeling industry and some of the experiences I had with mean girls. Just like the girls who bully other girls today in our schools, the bullies of the modeling industry did so due to low feeling of self-worth. The modeling industry is brutal on a girl’s/woman’s self-esteem…can you imagine being a size 4 or 6 and constantly told you are too fat? As models, we would get criticized on a daily basis for one physical "flaw" or another. I learned from the bottom up how to build my self-esteem, and that’s why I’m so passionate about teaching it to others through my speaking and books at Heartlight Girls!

I believe the fault lies with the designers and advertisers who put tremendous, unrealistic pressures on the models, which in turn, filters down to the young girls who want to emulate these models. Thank you, Filippa, for speaking up. If enough of us speak up, the world will pay attention! Would love to hear your comments too, please leave one below!

One thing I never quite understood in the modeling industry was the way top designers "demanded" they have super skinny models. Yes, I know they create their designs in "sample" size and clothes photograph better on a more lean figure, but lean and healthy is one thing…emaciated and skeletal is another. When working in the bigger markets, it was constantly chirped in my ear from my agents to "lose weight" (I was a size 6)…there were designers I just could not work for because I was "too big" and refused to starve myself. I made many sacrifices to work in that industry, but my health and life was not something I was willing to jeopardize.

The ironic thing is that consumers do not appreciate the super skinny the way the designers do. So often after a fashion show I would hear women in the audience commenting how they simply cannot relate to the bone-thin models and therefore had no interest in the clothes. By designers pushing the envelope they way they did with this Ralph Lauren ad, they lose our respect, especially as we as women become more empowered in our true beauty, and concerned for our girls as they face dangerous pressures we never even imagined facing in our vulnerable years. I guess that’s why after years and years of being in that industry I felt compelled to do something proactive and founded Heartlight Girls, teaching girls that "it’s what’s inside that counts!"

This is a great excerpt from: http://shine.yahoo.com/event/fallbeauty/image-of-ultra-thin-ralph-lauren-model-sparks-outrage-521480/): The U.S. isn’t the only place where advertisers are feeling the public backlash over retouching claims. Overseas, a recent Olay ad featuring a virtually wrinkle-free 59-year-old Twiggy caused such an uproar in the UK that the British Parliament recently proposed outlawing retouching in advertisements aimed at teenagers. The movement was initiated by the nation’s Liberal Democrats, whose leader on the issue, Jo Swinson, said:

"Today’s unrealistic idea of what is beautiful means that young girls are under more pressure now than they were even five years ago. Airbrushing means that adverts contain completely unattainable images that no one can live up to in real life. We need to help protect children from these pressures and we need to make a start by banning airbrushing in adverts aimed at them. The focus on women’s appearance has got out of hand – no one really has perfect skin, perfect hair and a perfect figure, but women and young girls increasingly feel that nothing less than thin and perfect will do."