Maayan Keret

Maayan Keret
מעין קרת
Born (1976-04-24) 24 April 1976 (age 48)
Israel
NationalityIsraeli
Occupations
  • Model
  • Actress
  • Entrepreneur
  • Lecturer
  • Activist
Known for
  • Founder of Your Runway organization
  • Advocacy on body image and self-esteem
  • Criticism of modeling industry practices

Maayan Keret (Hebrew: מעין קרת; born 24 April 1976) is an Israeli model, actress, entrepreneur, lecturer, and activist. She founded the Your Runway organization, which leads workshops for girls about body image and self esteem. Keret said she was raped at the age of 12. Since then, she has been harassed or assaulted so many times she "stopped counting."[1]

A successful model at only 17 years old, Keret was featured in fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle, and Marie Claire. Keret worked with leading designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, and Donna Karan.[2] She is known for her non-traditional perspectives on how the female body should be represented in Israel’s media.[3]

Keret became known for outspoken criticism of the manner in which models are treated and the harsh conditions under which they often work.[4][5]

Keret wrote and published The Beautiful Women, a non-fiction book with real-life narratives of models and actresses who have struggled with eating disorders and body image issues. Keret said she had developed an eating disorder after she "felt a lot of pressure from everyone" to continually lose weight.[6]

  1. ^ Andrew Tobin (20 October 2017). "Israeli women having been saying #MeToo for years". The Times of Israel.
  2. ^ Jackie Levey (10 March 1994). "Review/Fashion; From 5 Designers, a Sense of Calm". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Bernadine Morris (30 May 2017). "Israeli supermodel to speak at Washington University". The Jewish Light.
  4. ^ Bradley, Barbare (20 April 1996). "Before the runway; Blankly beautiful models yield to the frenzy of image building". The Commercial Appeal. ProQuest 393684281.
  5. ^ Spiro, Amy (19 October 2017). "'Women are changing the rules of the game.' Activists hope the 'me too' campaign marks a turning point in fight against harassment and assault". Jerusalem Post. ProQuest 1955526473.
  6. ^ Miriam Berger (16 October 2017). "Israel targets fashion industry over underweight models". Business Insider.