Zahra Gordon

little bit more representative

                                       

a few days ago i had an assignment that was a “meet the finalists” bit for the local leg of an international model search competition. i had to produce a feature. things were not the way i thought they’d be when i got to the hair studio so i winged it a bit. picked out a few random girls and started asking them about their careers and what they hoped to gain from the competition. got the same answers. over and over. switched up the questions a bit. nothing. (how was i supposed to get 500 words or more from that?) so then, i speak to the coordinator/head stylist – a man. and he has a lot to say. the girls – and i am not using the word girl lightly. contestants started at age 13 – were getting makeovers. why? because these men had to “create the right look”

all the people in charge were men – the heads of  the model agency, the head stylist, head hairdresser, makeup artist, photographer. my article ended up full of quotes from this man on how modeling builds confidence and the beauty of seeing women evolve, caribbean identity and how that fit into the equation. it would’ve been nice to have more quotes from the contestants but honestly, they didn’t have much interesting to say. and i’m no ageist but at 13 you’d have to be a little bit exceptional to philosophize on the evolution of woman and the modeling industry.

not so representative

so many things didn’t sit right with me. why did they have to be so young? (of course i got answers from the man about this. he said that it makes their careers longer. and that they’ll look the same at 24) and why is 27 considered old? why did they all have to be so skinny? (nothing wrong with being skinny but they took a group shot and you know what the stylist told the girls to say after cheese? “let’s all pretend that [insert fake name for head hairdresser here, bob will do] is slim. everybody say ‘bob is slim’ and smile” i hope the two are friends. where are the women calling the shots? why do these girls have to be plucked and prodded and ordered around by men to create these images? to create the caribbean aesthetic of beauty? why are men the sole creators of these images? where is the female agency in modeling? especially when practically every girl i spoke to said competing would give them confidence. you gain confidence from having men tell you you’re pretty and from them ordering you around, altering your appearance for a “natural look”?  

would i let my 13 year old daughter become a professional model? i don’t know. if she wants to be a professional drummer i’d have less apprehension. need to ask myself why that is.