Wow,this really really infuriates me...Perhaps in some cases of eating disorders, family problems are contributing factors, but it's so much more than that..This just seems ignorant and insensitive to me..
I was anorexic for six years and have been struggling with recovery for four.I've the most closely knit,loving,adoring family ever. I was influenced by images in the media to some extent but mainly it was a result of my own deep seating feelings of worthlessness and my obsessive nature. You can't always pin a cause on these feelings. Gisele just sounds badly educated on the subject and also a bit cocky. She doesn't seem like a very empathetic person..

Posted by: Hilary | January 22, 2007 6:27 PM

Well said Hilary. Maybe all that money she's being paid is clouding her judgement.

Well done to you on the recovery. Hope all is well !!

Posted by: Jess | January 22, 2007 6:56 PM

Models aren't paid for their brains, they're paid for their looks... I hope no one who reads this quote actually takes it seriously, and if they do, that's sad.

Posted by: lee | January 22, 2007 7:17 PM

Wow. As a person who has a sister who struggles with Bulimia, I take incredible offense to her remarks! Glad to know I have been judged and found lacking by someone who has never met me or my family! Blanket statements like hers are not only ignorant, they are offensive!

Posted by: Swin | January 22, 2007 9:28 PM

I think Gisele is wrong. BUT I do feel sorry for her and others in her profession who clearly don't have an eating problem - some obviously do, but most are simply so young and tall and athletic that their metabolism makes them naturally thin - but they get abused and called out for simply having the bodies god gave them. Models play a very important role in the success of the fashion industry, and as a lover of fashion and design, I believe that they definitely enhance clothes. Fabric draped on a tall and thin and beautiful frame is more aesthetically pleasing and highlights the clothes much better than a dress clinging to the curves and brushing the calves of a normal-sized woman.
Their beauty, and the reason they command such high salaries, is their rarity. Why can't women just accept that they don't look like that, and so what? When I look at a model I don't grab my stomach and bemoan my 5'2" frame, I appreciate their beauty in the same way I appreciate the beauty of a flower, or the clothes they're wearing. I don't hate Chanel just because I can't afford their bags!
Being a fashion model does NOT make you a role model and models are NOT the cause of eating disorders - if someone has a predisposition to a compulsion as severe as anorexia or bulumia, it's going to manifest itself anyway with or without the influence of pretty skinny girls in magazines.

Posted by: cassandra | January 23, 2007 6:08 AM

Amen, Cassandra.

Posted by: Sam | January 23, 2007 10:01 AM

It's true that severe eating disorders have a lot to do with compulsions within the person themselves.....but we can all see how influencial covergirls, models, celebrities etc have on people...
I think she's just stupid to say that, she should know better....eating disorders aside....hasn't anybody seen the programme I Want A Famous Face...?!?

Posted by: elaine | January 23, 2007 8:49 PM

i guess i'll get slaughtered for this, because it appears that nobody really agrees with me, but i have been anorexic for eleven years and i can honestly say that it was pretty much entirely caused by pressure in the household. my bmi has never been over 17.2, but i've been pressured by family to lose pound after pound. when home is a stressful, overly controlled place, young kids, such as i used to be, can feel like the only thing they can control is their weight, and if their family isn't supportive, a "thin phase" can turn into a lifetime of hell. don't be so harsh on her, when i originally read that she said those things, my first thought was "thank god they're finally got it right."

Posted by: Penelope | January 24, 2007 12:20 AM

i think that model or NOT a bad influence for young girl.

Posted by: SweetAngel | April 16, 2007 5:41 PM