Right: Gear Model Management head booking agent Naomi Fitzgerald de Grave faced criticism recently after she was reported as saying: “I know people may think that 13 is very young, but that’s what the international brands are currently looking for in Europe. Models are too old at 16 now.” (Photo and text: Illawarra Mercury)
.
. Found a word you're not familiar with? Double-click that word to bring up a dictionary reference to it. The dictionary page includes an audio sound file with which to actually hear the word said. |
Arguments against girls under 16 being allowed into fashion modelling
1. Modelling can be harmful for the young girls involved
It has been claimed using young girls as fashion models involves the premature sexualisation of the girls involved. The clothes they wear and the pouting, provocative postures they are often required to adopt has been seen as inappropriate and potentially damaging for girls as young as 13 and 14.
This point has been made by Peter Garrett, the federal minister for Education. Mr Garrett has stated, 'Still there is no question that the sexualisation of children is prevalent because some sections of the fashion industry are willing it on. But it should be resisted, and here consumers, media, industry and governments alike have a role to play.'
The issue was brought into high relief in August 2011, when French Vogue featured an 11-year-old model in what many regarded as provocative poses. On August 11, the online journal, Intentious, stated, 'What is particularly worrying about the Vogue Paris shoot is that it is represents the attempts fashion makes to sexualize inappropriately young girls every day and no one seems to attend to the problem.'
It has further been claimed that the demands that modelling places on young girls to maintain a low body weight is unrealistic for many and can lead to self-esteem issues and eating disorders.
Kids Free 2B Kids director Julie Gale has claimed that teenagers are experiencing unprecedented levels of anxiety, depression and eating disorders.
Ms Gale has stated, 'And they are growing up in an extremely appearance-focused culture; the modelling industry can be diabolical for the mental health and wellbeing of some kids.'
Federal Education Minister, Mr Garrett, has stated, 'As a parent of three young women, one of whom is a part-time model, I am well aware of the pressures that exist in the industry and the link between the projection of unrealistic images and expectations and poor body image.'
2. Very young models can harm the body image and reduce the safety of their peers and of older women
It has been claimed that using very young models as fashion models not only potentially harms the girls themselves but also those who seek to look like them.
It has been claimed that it promotes poor self-image and eating disorders.
The federal Education Minister, Mr Peter Garrett, has stated, 'As Minister for Youth I'm aware that our goal of providing the opportunity for all young people to lead happy and healthy lives, with sufficient resilience to manage the turbulent journey through the teenage years to adulthood, will be harder to reach if we have a culture that continues to misrepresent images, especially through the use of very young people as role models.
And after all, what can be more unrealistic than a well groomed 13-year-old on a runway in haute couture?'
It has further been claimed that the sexualisation of girls from an early age encourages the sexual harassment and abuse of all women.
On October 5, 2010, the online journal, About Kids' Health, stated, 'Sexual harassment perpetrated by boys and men in schools and in the workplace is a common form of social aggression. Girls as young as 10 experience sexual harassment at school. Pubertal development leads to increased sexual harassing comments for girls, in turn promoting increased feelings of shame about their bodies. Sexual abuse, the most damaging form of sexual harassment, has a lifetime prevalence rate for women of between 15% and 20%.'
3. Many young models are unable to give informed consent or deal with the pressures involved
It has been claimed that many young models are in fact too young to recognise the nature of the career in which they have become involved or to deal with the associated pressures.
On November 17, 2011, Vaimoana Tapaleao, of The New Zealand Herald, stated, 'In some cases, even older teenagers were still too young ...[For] a 16-year-old from a small town or even a bigger town in New Zealand it is a monumental culture shock to land in a city like Manhattan [in New York].'
Child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg has claimed that 13-year-olds have no place in the high-pressure fashion industry.
Dr Carr-Gregg has stated, 'No 13-year-old has sufficiently emotional, cognitive or intellectual maturity to handle an international modelling career.
This is a further example of a disturbing trend towards the adultification of young people and the erosion of childhood. I would politely question the motives of any parent or adult care-giver who allowed their child to pursue this course at such a young age. Whose needs are being met?'
4. Very young models are not suitable to model clothing for older women
It has been claimed that very young girls are used to model designs that are not likely to look well on women of normal, adult proportions.
On December 18, 2011, Kirstie Clements of The Telegraph stated, 'If you design clothes that don't flatter the female form you will need to model them on barely-there young girls to make them seem palatable and desirable...
But I watch the fashion shows, and indeed edit Vogue, as both a critic and a consumer. I find it hard to connect with models under 16 selling clothes to mature women...
I'm smart enough to recognise the beauty of an image, and the glossing-over of reality. I love it. But I really don't want to see fashion on 15-year-olds.'
5. Most designers, agencies and magazines do not prefer very young models
Many designers, agencies and magazines will not take on girls under 16 because they believe they are too young to deal with the pressures and do represent the image being sought.
The editor of Harper's Bazaar, Edwina McCann, has stated, 'To suggest that 16-year-olds are too old for the modelling world is ridiculous. I know girls are often discovered under the age of 16 but generally we have a policy that they don't appear in the magazine until they are 16.'
In 2008, Australian Fashion Week introduced a minimum age of 16 for models. Fashion weeks around the world have similarly barred models under 16.
Members of the Australian industry have claimed that 13 was too young to appear in international advertising campaigns or on the runway. Chich Management director, Kathy Ward, has stated, 'International clients do not book 'children' for their campaigns and they [GEAR] should be closed down for trying to push that message.'