Mannequin With Visible Rib Cage Causes Concern

@emilyrobins/Twitter

Our mannequins, ourselves? A clothing store for teenagers and young women in New Zealand is being criticized for using mannequins that have prominent, protruding ribs. Shopper Emily Robins tweeted, “Check out this mannequin at the clothing store @Glassons. Purging is in this season! xx”

Auckland psychotherapist Anna Drijver, who specializes in eating disorders, told The New Zealand Herald it was “absurd” to use such a thin mannequin. “It absolutely will have a negative effect on young women — and young boys as well, actually. They see these images and assume that’s what we should look like.”

The store has said it has no plans to remove the mannequins, but in the U.S. brands have gotten rid of super skinny dummies after public outrage. Recently, lingerie store La Perla took down a mannequin with an exposed rib cage after entrepreneur Michael Rudoy tweeted a picture of it and wrote, “How does #LaPerla think ribs on a mannequin is ok?!” The brand responded, “The mannequin photographed has been removed from the store and will not be used again by any La Perla boutique.”

Some stores are going even further and making their mannequins more robust. In New York, JCPenney has five new mannequins that are meant to look more like average bodies than runway ones, and are actually modeled after real Americans, including Beth Ridgeway, a plus-size mom. Debra Berman, JCPenney’s senior vice president of marketing, said, “We love the range of shapes, colors of skin, lifestyles and occasions that all of our customers shop for; we consider it a challenge and an opportunity to service that.”