I wonder whether it might have been better to publish the photo ribs and all? Some people are naturally that slim, although this is a very small minority of people, so I don’t think they should be banned from public view. However, surely what we need to do is include women of all shapes and sizes.

Therefore the websites shouldnt condone it by turning a blind eye.

As for the photoshoping more meat onto the model, thats probably because she looked awful with the ribs & awful pictures dont sell half as many magazines as beautyful ones .

Vogue magazine are also going for a more “slim but healthy” look. they have finally cought on that women like looking at adds featuring other women of a healthy weight.

And really, the only thing wrong with profit is that Im too lazy to follow its advice.

The other not-particularly-sub-text is that young women are vulnerable, young women are prone to mental illness, young women need to be protected from themselves, etc, etc. yet we live in a society where we still throw our little girls to the wolves and expose them to real dangers yet don’t help them develop the confidence and self-esteem to say ‘no’ or to stand up for themselves when they are objectified for money (the children selling clothes to middle-aged rich women in Vogue) or sex (Jimmy Saville). We tell our daughters that they are defined through our lenses, not through their own, and that they can’t be trusted to make their own decisions, then we wonder why they fight back by controlling their lives the only way they know how, and in the way that has the most impact.

How about every woman on this website reaches out to a young girl they know, tomorrow, and tell them they are absolutely perfect and beautiful the way they are, whether they have bones or bum sticking out and that they are limited only by their hard work, not by what they look like and whether anyone approves of them?

Models and thin people were never aspirational figures for me: I wanted to be a writer.

I started wearing make-up in my 30s, as a way of grounding myself in my body, of forcing myself to see my body as myself, not just as a carrier for me. It kind of works!

My point in writing this is to say that not all eating disorders and the people behind the labels are the same. Women’s bodies should not be censored in case the mentally ill have a problem with them. It’s also a culture-centric thing to do. As women, we shouldn’t give away our right to be so that unelected groups of people (or even elected, come to think of it!) can decide whether we are acceptable. It’s as bad to airbrush a woman’s ribs as it is to airbrush her fat. Don’t let internet Goldilockses arbitrate what’s ‘acceptable’ — let’s just make more of an effort to bring our daughters up with self-esteem to get through the early part of their lives in one piece!

I’d also prefer not to see them while I’m busy pinning my favourite cakes on a board!