In response to requests from their readers, Brigitte magazine will be using real women (and paying them the same rates as models previously received from the magazine.)

Not everyone is impressed.

Louisa von Minckwitz, who owns the German-based Louisa Models agency, told The Associated Press she believed the ban on models was a marketing gag that would not last for long.

“Women want to see clothes on a beautiful, aesthetically pleasing person,” von Minckwitz said.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33178280/ns/today-today_fashion_and_beauty

The above quote from Louisa von Minckwitz is disturbing.

Is it only models who can be beautiful or aesthetically pleasing?

This question especially interesting when it is considered that many models are neither beautiful nor aesthetically pleasing in the eyes of all beholders.

Today’s fashion world demands a certain type of woman to model clothing, but she is certainly not the type of woman that all women aspire to look like.

What does the ideal woman look like?

Over the decades, the ‘ideal body shape’ and ‘ideal features’ have greatly changed.

Whereas a petite and well-rounded Marilyn Munroe body with very feminine facial features was once in vogue– tall thin bodies with often very strong facial features now grace the catwalks and fashion pages.

In the 1920s, women’s breasts and waists virtually disappeared– replaced with dropped-waist clothing that accentuated long slim lines and no curves.

What does a real woman even look like?

Is she a size 14? Is she a size 8? Does she have have the classic hourglass figure? Is she small and slender? Is she tall and bony?

Real women are all of these and more.

What feeds the fashion world?

And the question must be asked– do women really desire to see models displaying the clothing they buy?

Do we really need to see the kind of women the media feeds to us as a standard of perfection to motivate us to buy an article of clothing or a fashion magazine?

In part, the answer must be yes, because the fashion world thrives on consumer response.

Even Australian women’s magazines that feature only the real-life stories of ordinary Australians often feature young perfect-looking women on the covers, such as That’s Life and Take 5.

In part though, the answer must also be no, because recent media features on ‘real women’ have gained large support and nods of approval from women.

Brigitte’s editor-in-chief says that the magazine wants to depict women with an identity– real people with real lives.

This is where I think the heart of the matter is.

The identity behind the woman

No matter which way fashion swings– even if Marilyn-Munroe-style or plus-size women of past centuries come back into vogue– if the focus remains on women’s bodies and women’s attractiveness, we’re losing.

Yes we have male models, but they don’t tend to send men into paroxyms of shame over having the ‘wrong body parts’ or exacerbate male eating disorders.

(That’s not to say men don’t have pressures on them to look like action-movie actors, which can have them resorting to steroids and body-building products.)

The intense focus on the ‘perfect female body’ has been with us for a long time.

And the only way out of it is to shift the focus onto real personalities and lives.

Which is where real beauty is found.