Spain will make some changes to affect change for woman’s body image
Spain is taking yet another step towards making changes in the body image department. After being the first country ban underweight models on runways, she is now changing the way store mannequins look.
Thousands of women between the ages of 12 and 70 are being asked to undergo body scans for mannequins to be re-designed to reflect more women. Some of the countries largest chain stores- Zara, Mango, Bershka and Massimo Dutti- have already signed on to honor this new initiative.
Says Domingo Roibás, a spokesman for the ministry, “The idea is that the mannequins should not falsify reality, that they should be within the range of measurement of Spanish women.”
But mannequin manufacturers are not too happy: “Are we saying that people who are a little bit plumper are becoming anorexic because they see skinny mannequins in the windows?” asked Lars Nielsen of Hindsgaul Mannequins.
“There are so many sources for people to be reminded about the perfect body- I don’t think the mannequins in the window have anything to do with that… What we are manufacturing is just a tool to be used in clothing stores so they can sell more clothes,” he said, “just like shelf fixtures and light fixtures and cash registers. It’s not meant to be a reproduction of the human body.”
