New documentary exposes dark side of modeling world

25th June 2009

New documentary exposes dark side of modeling world

posted in Anorexia, Fashion, Feminist Topics |

Sara Ziff was “discovered” by a modeling scout while walking home from school one day at the age of 14. By age 20, she was out-earning her father, a university neurobiologist. Now 27, the former Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabbana model and her filmmaker boyfriend spent five years recording parties, castings, inside hotel rooms and backstage. That footage can now be seen in their new documentary Picture Me, which won the audience award for best picture at the Milan Film Festival last month. The film shows the all-too-often sexual objectification, harassment and exploitation that comes with the job of being a model. Newsweek features an interview with Zeff here. Some highlights:

[On the sexual abuse of young models...]

For the most part, people on these shoots are completely professional, so no girl who has one or two bad experiences—which she’s bound to have—is going to call home and say, “Mom, Dad, I just got molested.” Because she knows she’s going to be on the next bus back to Kansas.

And does the industry just turn a blind eye?
The agents are supposed to act as surrogate parents for these girls, but oftentimes, what’s in the agency’s best interest is not in the best interest of the girl. The average age of a model is something like 14. So you’ve got really young girls being put in these potentially compromising situations in a totally unregulated industry. A lot of the time they’re underage and working with predatory men. But the problem is the models are disposable, so they’re not in a position to complain.

What do you think about the media focus on the extreme thinness of models? Are there bigger issues in the industry?
You can’t talk about body image without talking about the extreme youth of models. Fourteen- and 15-year-old girls can be thin in a way that’s impossible for a 30-year-old; they are young and gangly, and that’s natural. What’s not natural is for a full-grown woman to aspire to that.

The Guardian did a more in-depth article on Ziff, her background and the film here. The trailer, as linked to on the film’s website, is below.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at 3:55 pm and is filed under Anorexia, Fashion, Feminist Topics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On June 25th, 2009, Misty said:

Aha. AGAIN an uncritically presented apology for the fashion industry. Come on: “Fourteen- and 15-year-old girls can be thin in a way that’s impossible for a 30-year-old; they are young and gangly, and that’s natural. What’s not natural is for a full-grown woman to aspire to that.”

That’s complete and utter B.S.

A very, very, very FEW girls can be thin that way, but MOST girls cannot — in fact, most MODELS cannot. Hence the rampant use of cocaine, heroine, crystal meth, and dozens of other destructive narcotics, to say nothing of constant starvation, bulimia, laxatives, etc., to attain that so-called “natural” look, which is completely UNnatural. It’s just as UNnatural for most 14/15-year-old girls to “aspire” to be that size as it is for 30-year-olds to do so. But “aspire” they do — hence the fashion industry’s truly toxic influence.

posted on June 25th, 2009 at 5:45 pm

2 On June 25th, 2009, Georgia said:

I’ve been searching everywhere but I can’t seem to find a release date for it! Do you know when/where I can watch it?

posted on June 25th, 2009 at 7:59 pm

3 On June 25th, 2009, Alyssa (The 39 year-old) said:

When the “ideal” woman is an anorexic, drug-addled 14 year-old girl, it speaks volumes about our culture. Some of the messages: don’t be too smart, don’t be deep, certainly don’t get “fat” or “old,” the ONLY thing that matters about you is how you look. For God’s sake, don’t have any opinions! Don’t read (unless you’re reading fashion magazines), don’t have feelings. DO NOT BE HUMAN. It’s OK to sexualize young girls. In fact, any female over the age of 18 cannot possibly be hot! So if you’re a 50 year-old guy masturbating to pictures of 15 year-old girls, don’t worry about it! you’re no perv, you’re just blindly following what the marketers tell you to do.
No wonder we live in a rape culture.
And it only gets worse and worse. I’m terrified for my daughter’s future.

posted on June 25th, 2009 at 8:00 pm

4 On June 26th, 2009, ani said:

after watching the documentary (which was kinda CREEPY), i gather that the reason models are so thin and young is because the more eye-catching the model is, the more products she’ll sell. it makes sense that being shockingly thin is more attention grabbing than a healthy body. but it doesn’t mean it’s beautiful. so if the fashion industry is always looking for “the next new thing”, why don’t they put a plus-sized or average-sized woman on a billboard. honestly, i’m sick of looking at stick-thin, bug-eyed models. they are every where. but i’d really pay attention if i saw a healthy-sized one, and maybe most consumers might, too.

this looks like a really interesting documentary.

posted on June 26th, 2009 at 8:09 am

5 On June 26th, 2009, ani said:

oops. replace “documentary” in the first line with “trailer”.

posted on June 26th, 2009 at 8:11 am

6 On June 28th, 2009, Misty said:

the reason models are so thin and young is because the more eye-catching the model is, the more products she’ll sell. it makes sense that being shockingly thin is more attention grabbing than a healthy body. but it doesn’t mean it’s beautiful. so if the fashion industry is always looking for “the next new thing”, why don’t they put a plus-sized or average-sized woman on a billboard

Because they are lying when they say that they’re doing it for shock value. It’s yet another deception on their part, another excuse. As you rightly point out, if shock was their intention, they could do many things more shocking.

The bare fact is that the men who run the fashion industry have a warped, anti-heterosexual aesthetic that is repelled by any physical characteristics of femininity, and they only tolerate women who look as androgynous as possible.

So the rest of society suffers because they impose their aesthetic. And since they have a long-established monopoly in fashion and the media, no one can challenge them.

posted on June 28th, 2009 at 1:02 pm

7 On June 29th, 2009, Rachel said:

The bare fact is that the men who run the fashion industry have a warped, anti-heterosexual aesthetic that is repelled by any physical characteristics of femininity, and they only tolerate women who look as androgynous as possible.

Male models, too, are looking more and more androgynous these days. It’s also easier to use and then dispose of models when they are too thin and weak to assert any real autonomy, physical or professional. Models these days have short shelf lives and fashion designers complete control over them.

posted on June 29th, 2009 at 9:21 am

8 On July 27th, 2009, Bathurst Accommodation said:

I agree, Rachel. I’m glad that the public opinion of this is starting to darken further. Maybe, at some point, the magazines and fashion industry will realise – they’ve got it wrong.

posted on July 27th, 2009 at 2:19 pm