The world where a size 8 is too big and a size 14 is too small
SIZE 8 Aussie model Jordan Simek has an enviable figure, but revealed she was brutally body-shamed by industry professionals.
JORDAN Simek and Laura Wells have the same job, but their experiences in the modelling industry are worlds apart.
Jordan, a contestant on this year’s Australia’s Next Top Model, has been told her legs are “too thick”.
When she admitted this to the Top Model judges, it left empathetic Megan Gale in tears.
“A lot of people in society think my body is fine,” Jordan says.
“I speak to people at the gym and they go, ‘Oh your body’s fine, why would you change?’ But then people in the industry go, ‘Lose a couple of kilos’.”
While a body like hers is often a source of envy, Jordan’s experience sadly doesn’t come as a shock. At a size eight the 20-year-old has been told by industry professionals her body type’s not fit for the runway.
However at a size 14, international model and environmental scientist Laura Wells has graced many runways. She’s one of the most sought after plus-size models in Australia and, like Jordan, she’s had her fair share of industry body shaming.
But Laura has the opposite problem.
“I’ve been told to put on weight before from agencies overseas telling me I’m a bit too small to be in the big category of plus-size where a majority of the work is, and I’m too big obviously to be in the smaller end,” she says.
Despite being the average Australian dress size, Laura’s body sits in what she calls a “weird area” of the modelling industry, and while she refuses to put on weight to get work, there are other methods.
“I have padding, and yes I do wear it on some jobs to make myself bigger, which is a complete anomaly in the modelling world because everyone is technically trying to be smaller!”
With successful models constantly told they’re not good enough, it comes as no surprise that the average woman doesn’t feel too good either.
According to Dove’s 2016 Global Beauty and Confidence Report, nine in 10 women opt out of important life activities when they don’t like the way they look. Even more shocking is research revealing women are more worried about their weight than they are about cancer.
Clinical psychologist Louise Adams thinks social media plays a huge part.
“It’s like a perfect storm of body dissatisfaction ... On top of the usual kind of modelling stuff we’re Instagrammed and Facebooked and Snapchatted into so much focus on what we look like,” she says.
Jordan knows this all too well. As she scrolls through the Instagram comments on a picture of her in a bikini, she’s hit with a barrage of mixed messages:
“This makes me feel bad about eating that donut,” one user jokingly says.
“Dream body,” says another.
“Is having no tits and a** a dream body?” someone replies.
“Way too skinny wtf”
“I look at those comments and it’s difficult to see them because once upon a time I was too fat for the industry and hey, some people still think that I am. But some girls are saying that I’m too anorexic,” Jordan says.
While Laura says she’s been “really lucky” with her social media experience, she has seen comments saying she’s too big and needs to go on a diet — despite the fact she’s been deemed “too small” by agencies.
“I was quite shocked but I didn’t let it get to me because I knew that would just drag me down into a pit and I didn’t need to be there,” she says.
She’s been in that “pit” before, saying she used to cut the labels out of her clothing as a teenager because she was embarrassed about her size.
But now she’s a poster girl for self-confidence.
“I don’t feel like I need to look like a size six woman to be beautiful; I don’t feel like I need to be conquering the world to be confident. I’m happy with who I am because I’m fulfilling my purpose, and for me I think that’s the most important thing.”
Louise Adams says we can all achieve this by formulating our view of ourselves by ourselves, not by relying on external sources.
“Body respect and embracing your body just the way it is about changing the conversation inside your head from one of judgment, which we’ve picked up from the outside, to one of support and love and care.”
Jordan is slowly getting her confidence back again, and hopes her journey to body acceptance will inspire others.
She recently spoke to a group of Year 8 students about her story, focusing on motivation and empowerment for young women.