Athletes come under a lot of scrutiny due to the kind of work they do, how they are supposed to achieve their targeted goals and because they have so much influence on children. If you are ranking professionals who have a lot of influence on kids in this generation, athletes are probably in top 5 or top 10.
Models are professionals who a lot of people also admire and for their work has to deal with looking good. I do not know a lot about the modelling work but is it fair that models are allowed to use makeups and photoshop while athletes are not allowed to use steroids? Everyone definitely has a thing or two to say about this and so do I. But I will be focusing my discussion mainly about health.
An athlete training
Athletes are supposed to compete mainly via strength and talent earned naturally from infancy or from very hard work. Athletes are not in any way allowed to use things or substances that can boost their stamina and strength giving them unfair advantage over other athletes.
If you are into football, you are aware how hard footballers train and there's no better example to use other than Cristiano Ronaldo. Even though, there are lots of debates about him, I think everyone agrees that he is an extremely hard worker and would not have gotten to where he is now if he did not work so hard. Many of his colleagues have come out to give testimonies of how much he trains and how he manages his diet just so he can be in the best shape. But not once has anyone suggested he uses performance enhancers like steroids. That is why he is a great example for a lot of kids out there.
The longevity of Ronaldo is admired by many
Athletes are judged based on their own performance and so, using steroids totally changes the narrative. Steroids have the tendency to give you more stamina, strength, among others. It does this by changing your chemical make up which on its own defeats the purpose of athletics. Once your chemical is changed, a lot of the things you are able to do is not based on your own strength or from your own hard work.
The health impact of steroids is one other if not the most important reason why steroids is banned n sports. Steroids cause long lasting health damages to your body and in some cases can result in heart conditions. If this isn't enough reason to ban steroids, I don't know what is.
Models on a runway
Considering the other side which is makeup models use, I think these are completely different. Do make up cause health hazards too? Yes, they do. But do they cause health hazards similar to steroids? I don't think so. That said, make up "enhances" the beauty of models and in most cases, models aren't judged solely on how they look.
For the models who model clothes, the clothes are what people look and for the shoes, the shoes are what people look at. Does the make up help? I'd like to think so. But they do not change the chemical make up of people.
Modelling makeup
If I had a problem, it would be photoshop. But not only in models but in all other professions. Photoshops can make you look a whole lot different than you actually are and do false advertisement. How many times have you seen a picture of a place or person only to see that same thing in reality and be completely disappointed?
So, for me I do not think there is any unfair treatment to models using makeup and athletes not allowed to use steroids based on the fact that makeups doesn't alter your chemical makeup but steroids do.
Thank you.