A 22 year-old model from Uruguay died on the catwalk of heart failure back in August of last year after not eating for days. Her death helped spark the size 0 debate that led Madrid fashion week to ban models with body masses below 18, and prompted other designers to choose less emaciated women to model their fashions.
Now her 18 year-old sister, Eliana Ramos, was found dead at her grandparent’s house in the Montevideo, Uruguay on Tuesday. Eliana was also a model and also died of an apparent heart attack:
Two sisters, both models, have died of apparent heart attacks within months of each other — a family tragedy that came as the fashion world debates how to protect the health of painfully thin runway models.
Eliana Ramos, 18, was found dead at her grandparent’s home in the Uruguayan capital Tuesday, officials said. Her sister Luisel, 22, died shortly after stepping off a runway last Aug. 2 during a fashion show in Montevideo.
While no medical report was immediately released after Eliana’s death, Judge Roberto Timbal told the online news outlet Observa that she died of a heart attack. An autopsy on her sister found she died of a heart attack.
The judge told Observa that “nothing out of the ordinary” appeared to be involved in Eliana’s death, but that an autopsy was conducted and final test results would be issued in a month.
Other models said neither sister suffered from an eating disorder.
However, the deaths drew widespread media attention in Latin America, where the fashion industry’s treatment of young women has been the subject of debate since anorexia was blamed for the deaths of model Ana Carolina Reston and three other Brazilian women in December.
That’s incredibly sad for that family and brings home the need to have a larger norm for models. 21 year-old Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston died in November from anorexia, as did three other Brazilian models late last year. When young women are dying after starving themselves for the profession, when is the fashion industry going to wise up and start using normal-sized models? I’m not talking about putting obese women on the runway as Gaultier did as a kind of joke, I’m talking about still-thin US size 4 and 6 models.
When Luisel died at age 22 she was just 98 pounds at 5 foot 9, which gave her a BMI of 14.5. The World Health Organization considers a BMI of 16 to indicate starvation. Her sister Elania is listed as 5’9″ also, and is said to be a US size 4 on her profile on Fashion Model’s Directory, but her weight is not listed and it’s unknown if that information is out of date. If she was starving herself for a show, it probably was out of date.
Pictures from Model’s Blog, Fashion Model Directory, and Yahoo.
All pictures below are of recently-deceased Eliana. The model sisters’ sad father is shown inset.
Who gets to set these impossible standards and why are women tolerating it? In particular why are mothers tolerating this for their daughters? I am seeing this everywhere. Our culture is obsessed with women who basically whore themselves out for money….is this really where we are as a culture? Is this what we want for ourselves and our daughters? A bunch of old men in the fashion and porn industry who seem to have pedophilia fixations/issues to be so obessed by these girls who are barely women. These men are no better than pimps and the “women” who go into these professions are not much better than the whores walking the streets. For the whore’s sake, at least she is honest about what she does.
We shake our heads, a bunch of hypocrites, at sexual slavery in other parts of the world. Mothers who sell their young daughters to be used by a bunch of sick fucks. But here in America we call it “glamerous” because the women here get paid so much more money. Look at them–all these so called models and entertainers that are nothing but coked up bags of bones. What a worthy example to follow and to set as a standard for so many promising young women in this country. Truly, it is sickening.
Let’s start a campaign called ‘Forcibly Stuffing the Faces of Anorexic Models So They Won’t Die’. I think it has a nice ring to it, right?
I say stop blaming the media for anorexia. It is sad that these girls died, but really, these girls weren’t “top” girls doing big print/runway work. So, clearly, anorexia isn’t the industry ideal. It is up to parents to teach girls and boys that being healthy is the most important thing, and that they have to be strong individuals who know how to stand up to people who may be encouraging them to do something unhealthy. Stop blaming the media for low self-esteem. I will never be a supermodel, and I don’t give a shit. Nor do most people who aren’t supermodels.
You’re right on the spot Ocean. I agree with you entirely. I can see from your post to you’re real smart.You can be proud of yourself!
Take a look at the fashion industry – most of the designers are gay men who are totally distorting the natural beauty of women. Most of these models who starve themselves no longer even resemble women with any type of curve or heaven forbid they have boobs. The standard sample size is NOW a size 0 or 2! Is that not nuts!
Every photo that we look at in a magazine has been air brushed! It has gotten insane and yes it is the media’s fault because they are the ones pushing this out in their magazines.
Stop the air brushing and stop making women into sticks – they are not men, they are meant to have boobs and curves.
Ocean, the girls mentioned in the story were not from the US.
Thank you, I understand these girls were not from the US. How many of the girls we see in the fashion rags and on the catwalks are from the US and does it really make a difference to the standard where they are from? My understanding is that the girls here have the same weight issues. Top or not…many seem to be entrenched in a very unhealthy lifestyle that is promoted as desirable to young women. What of Kate Moss? Instead of being cast out she is glorified and glamorized even more. Why? Because a lot of people make a lot of money off her body–how is she different from a street walker? She has habits like one, the only difference is she is fashionable and makes much more money. Again, is this what we want as women in this culture? Is this how we want our men to see us?
If the fashion industry isn’t at least partially culpable, then who has enough balls and integrity to draw a line? Is there no accountability for anything anymore?
Ocean, I’m down with all you said. Intelligent posts!
I wish EVERYONE would wake up to the fact that most top designers are GAY men. They are NOT interested in female bodies, or the beauty of curves. TOO TRUE. I’ve thought this for months now, and that is why i could care less about a runway.
I would imagine that these girls had a problem and just found the modeling industry as a place where they fit in. I don’t think that everyone who models is anorexic. While we are at it, if everyone wants average size clothing models, how about someone under 5’9″? Most women are not that thin, and most women are not that tall either. I happen to be a very small person, small frame and petite size 0-2, but have plenty of meat on my bones at 5’2″.
1. I wish people would stop using the word “anorexic” like it’s an insult or a generic word for a skinny person. In case you haven’t heard, anorexia is an illness that kills people.
2. Thanks guys. It’s nice to know I’m not a real woman because I have tiny boobs and am a size 0-1. While it is a problem when girls starve themselves to drop sizes, it sucks when people make generalisations.
What is wrong with the models being a size 6 or 8 or a 10??
Pricey fashion tends to run a little larger and so are these women even size 0 or 2?
That’s what I’m talking bout. Size 10 is not fat! We are a messed up culture to be sacrificing so many people for something as vapid as “fashion”. Makes me sick. Boycott Vogue.
Yes we have the power to do something about this, if you feel strongly about it then don’t buy the magazines. I haven’t bought a fashion magazine for years – they’re a totally vacuous waste of money anyway.
I think its ironic and short sighted that designers use pre-pubescent waifs to sell their clothes when the only women who can afford to buy them are mature or career women 30+ in age who have real bodies. I mean do any of us look at that stuff on those girls on the catwalk and say oh yeah, I can picture myself in that? Please.
The reason models are so thin is because the designers and most industry people think the clothing looks better on thinner figures. It’s supposed to have the illusion of clothes hanging on a hanger. Personally I see this as an opinion, but industry people see it as fact. And to a degree there are a lot of styles that do look better on thinner people, but that doesn’t mean they have to be a size 0; size 4 can work fine most of the time.
“Take a look at the fashion industry – most of the designers are gay men who are totally distorting the natural beauty of women.”
I’ve always thought this.
How sad. Why didnt their parents say enough is enough. I know my parents would of.
A couple of friends of mine (2 gay guys – in Australia) have just released their gorgeous range over here and I asked them is it all for size 6 girls (size 0-2 in the US) and I was pleasantly surprised when they said NO. He went on to say that they both have sisters and mothers and wanted a range that would suit them as they are their inspiration. Its their first joint venture and they have been picked up by 3 major outlets in Australia!
Things are changing over here! Straight up and down is out and curves are in.
Hopefully the rest of the industry will catch on.
Blaming the media for contributing to models starving themselves to death is about as reasonable as blaming McDonald’s for the obesity epidemic. Bottom line is that we all choose what we put into our bodies.
I’m a big girl, but the size of my ass is no one’s fault but my own. Now, with respect to these two models: yeah, the sister who died in August was excruciatingly underweight, but isn’t it possible that there’s some congenital heart issue at play here?
Just some food for thought (pun intended).
I think women try to be ultra thin NOT to impress men, but to impress other women. Most men (a rare few exclusions) prefer women with a little meat on their bones. Yet women still strive to be the thinnest (are you listening Nicole?) to ‘out-do’ other women!
For me, there is a difference between being thin and being lean. Lean implies there is an underlying strength and muscle tone. What we’re seeing in these extreme cases is lack of muscle, lack of vitality.
I grudgingly admit that lean women do look good in clothes. But nobody looks good with dead eyes and their hair falling out. Let’s get some health back on the catwalks. There’s no need to go crazy and have piles of wobbling flesh, just a spring in the step.
In my opinion i think that the size 0
debate is just ridiculous and i als othink that people with curves should be on the runway and you know Kate Moss is thin yes but she aint anorexic like some of the other models but like me and other models we are naturally thin and i find it difficult to put on weight it doesnt matter how much food i eat i can only put on a few pounds.
Thanx Sorcha for adding a modicum of sanity to this thread
So….if it is gay men that run the fashion industry, then why not just use little boys in drag as models. I am sure no one would even notice.
Sorcha brought up a good point – maybe both sisters died of some kind of congenital heart ailment, rather than eating disorders.
Marfan’s syndrome is a connective tissue disorder that causes weakening of the heart. Those affected are generally extremely tall and thin. The sisters who died may not have had Marfan’s, but it is one possible explanation for their body types and deaths.
I doubt they would notice if it were little boys in drag, too. And Sorcha, the cause of the heart ailment could be starvation. You said
those affected are generally extremely tall and thin. That is a strain on the heart.
Lean women look good in clothes, and so do non lean women. Someone with curves (and i’m not talking obese) looks as good in clothes as a woman with muscles. It’s all in how you dress yourself, and display the outfit.
And I do think women compete with each other (instead of for Men) on who can be the thinnest. I’ve felt that way myself before. Men seem to go for whatever.
a couple of years ago, i was at a normal weight, but wanted to be thinner. i lived on coffee, cigarettes, a handful of candy, saltines and lettuce. no joke. a meal every few days which would be more like a binge, and afterwards followed by more starvation to balance out the binge. anyhow, i was the smallest i had ever been in my life, and was getting tons of compliments left and right. it was weird, but that really stroked my ego. that was, until i asked my then boyfriend while standing naked if he thought i was fat. he said…well, you could stand to lose some more weight. i just remember that as being what seemed like an eternal moment that just changed how i value my own health versus the unattainable airbrushed photoshopped fake dangerously harmful ideal. i just said to myself, thats the last time i will ever do that.
im an educated woman. these slick images are powerful, and do affect girls and women on a profound level.
anorexia is much more widespread and a dirty secret that women keep hidden.
a lot of the so called famously thin models and actresses use drugs to numb the hunger pains. kate moss uses cocaine, others use heroin. this is no joke. there are websites out there in which anorexics commisserate on the best way to stay thin and get thinner at any cost.
i dont know when it is that so many women and their daughters decided that they wanted to look like porn stars. forget playboy and penthouse, every woman out there is spreading it for FHM. when i was growing up, the outspoken feminists would have been outraged by the objectification of women. somehow now it has been twisted around as being some kind of freedom to flash ones sexuality for everyone to see. is getting breast implants an expression of freedom? like young women flashing their titties for joe scumbag francis’ girls gone wild is some kind of freedom. its not freedom. its exploitation. its sad.
Here is my question. While I do not dispute the fact that anorexia is life destroying and painful, this idea that it is an ‘epidemic’ seems to me absurd.
Obesity is an epidemic on the rise so severely, the WHO has seen fit to get involved. It is killing women. Hundreds of thousands of women. And yet we have this rhetoric of love your body. Love your body, embrace your body, when increasingly our bodies are getting so large they are causing us to die in droves.
Which is not to say we ought to hate ourselves, but there seems to be a tremendous disconnect between the headlines, telling us that the insane drive to be thin is killing us when, in fact, 1% or fewer of the population are afflicted. And on the other hand the hard facts which are that women are dying of heart attacks, strokes, becoming permanently disables, walking with canes etc etc. It just seems odd, doesn’t it?
i guess both of those are extremes.
i was reading an article about a south american young woman who died as a result of anorexia…her mother was interviewed. her family was dirt poor. her modeling enabled her entire family to improve their standard of living, and she took that responsiblilty so seriously that she absolutely did what it took to get in with the right gigs modeling.
its very sad
her mother would beg and cry for her to eat something, but she wouldnt listen….thats what her mom was saying after she died.
oo7 – i hear you. i’m just coming out of a relationship where my bf referred to me as “chunky” and said i could stand to lose ten pounds though i’m a size 2/4. i’ve considered starving myself, even bought a bottle of diet pills, but deep down i know i look and feel great even if i seem like a fat giant at 5’9″ compared to the ultra-skinny short girls in his porn mags. i agree that girls are concerned about their weight for other girls…i’ve never been told by a guy that i’m “so skinny” though i’ve heard those words from other women plenty. it would seem that men DO prefer girls with a bit of curves…you and i have just found a couple of bad apples it seems.
This is such a touchy subject I hope I don’t offend anyone when I say that I think she looks really good– I think they look okay and not anorexic at all in the photographs. In the third photo she has enough curves to fill in her suit. She doesn’t have a pallor or sunken in eyes.
although this is terrible and something does need to be done, i agree with miss luigi. some of you do need to stop generalizing about people who are just naturally small.
i already don’t feel good about the fact my boobs are small becasue i’m skinny (its genetics for me, my dad is skinny too…. i eat quite a bit though) but i really don’t need to read you guys saying that that makes me any less of a woman. and i really hated it when people used asked me if i was aneroxic, when i eat regularly!
My thoughts and prayers go out to their family 🙁
Dear designers,
If you really want to use your sample size 0 or 2 on models, then please, please, please use shorter girls. There’s a reason magazines often put actresses and singers on their covers. These women fit into the tiny sizes, but they’re almost always not 5’9″ or taller. Someone like Reese Witherspoon, Eva Longoria or Avril Lavigne just looks more natural in teeny tiny sizes. Please get over the fact that only tall women look nice in clothes, because that’s clearly not so. If it were, more than half of the women in Hollywood and the music industry would not have careers.
Thanks
Someone whose ribs are very obvious, who’s hip bones stick out, and whose ankles and wrists look like a skeleton’s is Not all right. There is a Very big difference between lean, slim, skinny and looking like a starving child which is what the model above looks like. This is not about anyone having tiny boobs or being skinny. Yes, if you look like that model you do not look womanly. You look like a very skinny child.
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Anorexia and bulimia cause cause heart failure. Yes, it could be genetic, but look at her in pictures which have not been airbrushed as the above have-she looks painfully thin. Not healthy thin.
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This is not a critique of all women-the subject matter is tall, very skinny females who are used as models-anyone who takes these opinions as personal needs to remember that.
I think that rather than debating whether the girls were “thin enough” to have died from it, we should look at their health and behaviors. Not everyone that is anorexic or bulimic is 60 pounds. Anorexia and bulimia are serious and deadly and come in all shapes and sizes. Someone can be thin but not skeletal and still be extremely unhealthy and killing themselves. It doesn’t matter than these girls weren’t Nicole Richie or Allegra Versace, they were killing themselves.
Cheers to Andrea and the other naturally small women. I hate it when women talk about what a “real” woman’s body does or doesn’t look like. We’re not all meant to look like Marilyn Monroe.
Can you imagine someone looking at a handsome thin man and saying he has a childlike body and isn’t a real man because he needs to gain a few pounds? We can accept different body types in men, so why can’t we do this among ourselves?