The Prevalence Of Drugs
As common as eating disorders are to maintain thinness, drugs like cocaine, ecstasy, cigarettes and alcohol are also prevalent. There are big demands to fit into a specific size of clothing. If you don't fit, you don't get the job. We are talking about models 5'10” and up who need to fit into a size 2/4. “I was influenced in negative ways because of the industry. There was so much pressure to be thin and stay at a certain weight. Although I was very lean my whole life and my friends and family always commented that I was too skinny, it never seemed enough. At 16, I started taking laxatives and smoking cigarettes to suppress my appetite. When you're that young and fresh in the industry, you don't think about cancer or wrinkles. You feel invincible so you do what you need to stay bone thin,” says Virginia .

Women are not the only ones affected. Men succumb to the pressures as well. Virginia shares a personal story about a friend. “It was very tragic. He was a model with me in Chicago . He did YM, Cosmo and lots of fashion shows. He was a gorgeous guy and he had such a charismatic personality that everyone adored him. While shooting a job in Hawaii he overdosed on cocaine, jumped off a balcony and died.”

I don't want to alienate those who are naturally skinny; the question is why do we have only one size that is beautiful? Why do we allow designers to create sample sizes that only the skinniest of people can wear? Ana tells us how it works, “ The season's clothes come out for show on the runways, all one of a kind sample sizes 2/4. Then, after the tour the photographers use the clothes to promote them in magazines like Elle, Vogue, Bazaar...etc. Then there are special orders by celebrities and the high bidders. Only after that they hit the stores and go into mass production! So there is no way to get bigger sizes earlier, UNLESS the designer falls in love with you and makes a custom fit.”