That is the way women seem to want it to be - no amount of protests or health facts can budge that act of faith that so many women cling to - you can never be too rich or too thin - add to that you must of course also have surgically enhanced breasts - and you have complete set of things women of today aspire towards - maybe we can blame the men - who knows - but in this interminable debate on vales the "too thin too rich" ones are rusted onto to Australian womens psyches.

Take the brood mare display on Bronlow Medal night - the next wave of athletic breeding stock was paraded before ogling fans on the arms of their selected studs - one of them was even branded with the number 23 on her back - I suspect other brands were hidden elsewhere on their person

- it was a cavalcade of trembling flanks, withers and calves - breasts jiggled with the promise of a regualr feed for any off spring ( although I doubt those girlies would come at that given the toll it takes on the figure )

-all they needed was a vets cetification of fertility -

-One presenter even commented on the fact that there was a record number of pregnant partners there on the night - good for them! - this being a drought and all. It augers well for next season

I feel sorry for larger women who feel degraded by thin models' monopoly of fashion, but excluding thin women will only shift those same problems. It will not cure people prone to body-dysmorphic disorders.
Anorexia et al are terrible diseases, and the men and women who suffer from them deserve sympathy and support. But "thinspiration"? If we start excluding thin women from the general definition of "glamour," today's anorexics will soon be stuffing themselves with food till they're sick with obesity.
I am a naturally thin person (my BMI is about 17.5). I eat and live healthily (lots of fruit and veges, as well as buttered popcorn at the movies, cake at birthday parties, chocolate in the library, muffins over coffee...) and I would be very offended by any rule which excluded me because of my size.
The Madrid Fashion Show's exclusion of people who are "too" thin (on the basis of their BMI) is just as demeaning to women as a manadory maximum size would have been. It is THE SAME as Vogue Australia's deletion of size-14 swimwear model images.
Body dysmorphics have a mental problem. Insulting thin people is not going to help them.

The mainstream fashion industry is based largely on illusion and nonsense. Unhealthy looking girls parading in largely unwearable clothes. Usually looking miserable, rather than happy and outgoing. That must be someone's idea of looking sexy, but it certainly doesn't turn me on.

"This season's" bikinis, looking exactly like they've looked for the past 50 years. And falsely adoring spectators and commentators pretending to believe all the nonsense.

Think about it. What a woman can't possibly be without this season, she wouldn't be seen dead in next. Or so the rag trade moguls hope!

I learned to dance when I was 16, 56 years ago, because my [very smart] mother told me it was the best way to meet girls. How true, and nothing has changed. Girls who dance tend to be slim and athletic, a bit like swimmers, skaters and tennis players. And they don't mind being on view. I like this look, slim but healthy.

Pete mentions the Brownlow. I thought the girls looked OK, but the guys looked ridiculous in their silly suits and ties. Who was too hot and who was too cold? Who felt free and who felt trussed up? But that's fashion for you, no logic, no common sense, just do as the moguls tell you. Buy our stuff, wear it whether it suits you and the climate/occasion/activity or not, make us rich and OBEY!

I personally don't find the overly thin women attractive, and I don't think that many men do. Sure, some look okay, but most would be more appealing with a few more kilos.

The only issue I have here I guess, is how this problem reflects in comparison to the issues of obesity we have throughout Australia, Britain and the US.

On the one hand, there are unrealistic unhealthy, overly thin ideals. On the other, we have a generation of rather fat kids.

The male ideal is seen as the figure sporting a six pack - athletic, muscular, tanned. I suppose it's a good thing these bodies tend to be healthy.
But guys don't really seem all that worried about body image. Hmm. Well, there's a few factors to consider anyhow.