Judge Me By My Size Do You?

"Judge me by my size, do you?" That immortal line by Yoda, in "The Empire Strikes Back," came back to me, while I was thinking about the recent controversy over the size of models at London Fashion Week. After the introduction of rules limiting how thin models can be in the Madrid fashion show and the announcement by the Mayor of Milan, a woman, that she would be seeking to ban women with a body mass index of under 18 from Milan's fashion shows, UK Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell (surely an unfortunate name for a woman, conjuring images of a sagging neck...having split from her husband, she might want to consider marrying me, so she can ditch that awful surname of her's), called for a similar ban to be adopted during London Fashion Week. Fortunately, good sense prevailed and Fashion Week organizers, the British Fashion Council (BFC), declined to adopt the suggestion, choosing instead to leave such decisions to the designers. While I applaud the good sense of the BFC, I do note that I was not invited to any of the Fashion Week events. Surely, this was an oversight. Designers, gain that edge over your competition that comes from a positive review in the "Joseph in the Bracknell" blog.
Jowell is concerned that "stick-thin" models put pressure on young girls to starve themselves in an attempt to emulate the models' thinness. She also worries that the promotion of thinness, by the fashion industry, causes those women who are less than thin (or should I say, more than thin?) to have poor self-image. This seems to contradict the incessant carrying on from the British government about obesity, of late. I think the government does more to damage people's self-image, by all their hysteria over fat people, than a gaggle of emaciated models on a catwalk ever will. Since I have been living in the UK, it seems like the nation is obsessed with thinness. However, let this be a warning to thin people: they will eventually come after you, too. This attack on thin models is just the first shot. So, the next time you feel like jumping on the bandwagon of ridiculing those of us with some extra pounds, just remember, you're next. By the way, is there a need for a "Culture Secretary?"