Model me this.

I will be completely honest and admit that trying out modelling has crossed my mind a number of times.

I don't think I'm exquisite enough to be one, but when I've had a rather large number of modelling agencies and hairdressers scout me in the streets of Tokyo (and Hokkaido, actually) since I was 19 it has made me wonder (The other 20% of those scouts have been whether I would be interested in "Night work". Yes.) Plus, some people, shop owners, and random people on the street ask me if I am model (Though mostly more in Japan, while the other 40% of Japanese people ask me if I play volleyball or some kind of Sports).

I remember when I had a personal photo-shoot which my friend gave to me as a Birthday present about 4 years ago back in England, and the photographer told me I was a "natural". She said that I was very photogenic, and that if I was interested, I should seriously consider it. The manager of the company (?) who edited my photos and showed me the results liked my pictures so much that, when I was planning on buying only 2 photos, gave me a huge discount so I could take more of the photos home with me.

Do I sound big-headed yet? Haha.
Truth is, I've never loved my body, especially during my late teens when all the British girls around starting filling out to be voluptuous beauties and I still hadn't had my first proper A-A-A-A bra by the time I was 16.

So when I realised that most supermodels, especially those who grace the covers of Vogue and prawl the catwalks in Paris, are flat-chested, flat-arsed and have tiny hips like me, I started to feel a little better about myself.

Still, I am nowhere near as skinny as they are.

Since then, I have fought with the image of not being skinny enough, but not curvy enough either. I'm this awkward in-between thing; lanky arms and legs, and a flat plank for a body but with a bulge around the tummy area.

It is probably due to my East-Asian genes that I'm small-breasted with a lack of cushioning on my behind, and since moving to Japan I've felt a little more relieved to see a majority of other girls with similar body types, but who are stick thin all over, and are midgets compared to the giant I am.

Although I despised my height back in my teens, and though I'm still not 100% happy with it at times, it is probably due to this asset that I have been able to stand out in Japan and be picked up by model agencies in the street.

I have a lot of trouble being able to find trousers and long skirts that are long enough for me, both in Japan and the U.K., which can be frustrating, but I definitely don't complain about them.

Of course, I don't hate my body. I've learnt to like it, though I still don't love it, and have picked out attributes about myself that I like, such as my lips. Not that anyone's ever commented on them, but I think they have a rather nice shape personally. Ahem.

So, when reading this article on the BBC News about models needing rights, especially on the "'Peter Pan syndrome' in fashion", I had mixed feelings. I have never wanted to be as skinny as the girls on the catwalk, but if they start using more curvilicious women who have been lucky enough to have been born with "gifts from God", how will that make us girls with naturally boyish frames feel?

I agree that becoming anorexic to stay in a child-like frame in order to model is wrong and down-right outrageous, but there are girls out there who have healthy, balanced, fulfilling diets but physically can't fill out in those womanly places, and even girls who eat tons but can't put any weight on themselves at all.

The writer of the articles says,

"So I think that if we put more work into empowering the models themselves, we can change the kinds of imagery that we see."

This may be right, as I hated the fact that models were being sexually abused, especially younger girls. But, as to the "kinds of imagery", what exactly does she mean? Models do have to look good to an extent, as that is their job I suppose, but I think different varieties of beauty should be considered. I am all for more womanly figures to model for the more glamorous brands, but let the naturally skinny girls stay, so long as they're eating healthily. It should put across the message that, "You are beautiful the way you are", by showing all the different shapes and sizes that each model portrays.

Hmm, I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this now, but I guess that last paragraph sums up my thoughts a little.

On a personal level, the current image of models has helped give me a confidence boost in the type of body I have - tall, lanky with a boyish frame, so I don't think it would be completely right in getting rid of them in the modelling world. Oh, and who can forget the beautiful Miss. Audrey Hepburn, who was, as I quote from Wiki, "far from the Hollywood preference of bosomy actresses like Marilyn Monroe, Martine Carol, Kim Novak and Lana Turner, but was very feminine by her grace, huge eyes and long legs. Against the gender stereotypes of the time, the natural thickness of her brown eyebrows made her "funny face unforgettable," reminisced director Billy Wilder. He joked, "This girl...may make bosoms a thing of the past."

Finally, I have never considered modelling as a serious career, before anyone gets me wrong. But as I adore fashion, art and appreciate photography I've often thought it might be fun to do it as a little side project.

Like I said, I don't plan to be super-skinny; I couldn't for my love of food, but I am in the process of trying to lose bits here and there. We'll see.