It is no surprise in today’s society that fashion models are scrutinized for their bodies; the very nature of their work places them on display for others to judge them. Especially lately, models have been accused of being too thin and many countries have adopted policies that prevent models with BMI’s under 18 from walking the catwalk. People in the industry are being urged to recognize the signs of eating disorders especially after several cases of anorexia-related deaths. All of these policies seem to be a step in the right direction for the fashion world. However, a new question has emerged within the business- how young is too young for models? Several agencies have curtailed the issue of finding healthy thin models by selecting prepubescent girls that are “naturally” skinny. In 2007, Maddison Gabriel, a 12 year old Australian girl was selected to be the face of Australia’s Gold Coast Fashion Week. The decreasing age of fashion models, like Maddison Gabriel, reflects the early sexualization of young girls in society; this dangerous trend in the fashion industry can result in a host of detrimental mental health issues and must be carefully regulated.
Maddison Gabriel was selected September 11, 2007 to be the face of the esteemed Gold Coast Fashion Week hosted each year in Australia. When selected she was only twelve years old, and celebrated her thirteenth birthday on the 15th. This announcement sparked controversy around the world and especially among fellow fashion designers. Gabriel was surprised herself at winning the prize, “I was just like ‘what?’” (Syers) but hoped that the opportunity would launch her career, “It’s my dream to become a top model,” (Syers). Especially surprising was that the tween was selected to be “the Face” for the fashion week. The title requires additional responsibilities including additional modeling, marketing, advertising, and publicity events and is therefore usually delegated to an older more experienced model.
Many countries in Europe and the US have posed age restrictions for models walking the catwalk and yet in Australia, delegating age limits is the responsibility of individual modeling agencies. The Prime Minister, John Howard, called the decision “outrageous” and explained “There should be age limits, I mean there has to be, we do have to preserve some notion of innocence in our society” (dailymail). He hoped to model (no pun intended) the Australian fashion industry after those in Europe. However, such age restrictions in countries with prohibitive laws are not particularly enforced; many models are imported from eastern European nations because it is easy to mask their actual age.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqVZsrPkhcw
Many do not see any problem with young models and point to other child stars as successful precedents. Gabriel and her mother defended the decision; Maddison explained, “I believe that I can fit into women's clothes. I can model women's clothes, so I should be able to do it,” (http://www.dailymail.co.uk). Mrs. Gabriel also defended the decision stating, “The thing is, Maddy is a mature 12-year-old,” (goldcoast.com). Simone Hyde who owns the agency that represents Gabriel explained that Maddison would not be involved in any bikini or lingerie events. Other events around the employ models just as young if not younger, like this ten year old modeling for Ashley Paige:
Many people however see the decision as a terrible move for the industry. Countries in Europe and the US have posed age restrictions for models walking the catwalk and yet in Australia, delegating age limits is the responsibility of individual modeling agencies. The Prime Minister, John Howard, called the decision “outrageous” and explained “There should be age limits, I mean there has to be, we do have to preserve some notion of innocence in our society” (dailymail). He hoped to model (no pun intended) the Australian fashion industry after those in Europe. However, such age restrictions in countries with prohibitive laws are not particularly enforced; many models are imported from eastern European nations because it is easy to mask their actual age.
Nonetheless, former child models and scientists disagree with choosing tweens stating that placing young girls in a stressful environment that equates value with physical perfection is toxic to their development. The Independent Model Health Inquiry met in London in 2007 and found that models under the age of 16 were particularly vulnerable to developing eating disorders and sexual exploitation when expected to look like adult women. Janice Dickinson in an interview with Matt Lauer discussed her disappointment with the decision and explained that it was just wrong.
Child stars in other industries have been under similar pressures with mixed results. Acresses like Brooke Shields, Shirley Temple, and Jodie Foster were all feature in sexually charged films when they were around Gabriel’s age and went on to lead relatively normal healthy lives. However many other child stars have not been as successful. Critics point to celebrities like Michael Jackson, Drew Barrymore, and Britney Spears to potray the problems associated with too much fame too soon.
The early sexualization of girls has been linked to numerous mental health concerns. The APA Task Force’s report on the Sexualization of Girls associated the problems of eating disorders, low self esteem and depression with early sexualization; such disorders are the most common mental health disorders among girls and women.
The Task Force Report states that sexualization has negative effects in a variety of domains:
Cognitive and emotional health: Sexualization and objectification undermine a person's confidence in and comfort with her own body, leading to emotional and self-image problems, such as shame and anxiety.
Mental and physical health: Research links sexualization with three of the most common mental health problems diagnosed in girls and women—eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression or depressed mood.
Natavia Vodianova, a supermodel that began her carrer at 18 explained, “It is very hard to have a feeling of stability. Anorexia is sometimes the only form of control these girls have” (http://www.thecrimson.com) Diane Levin, the author of “So Sexy So soon: The Sexualization of Childhood in Commercial Culture” explains that sex itself is not the problem so much as the way it is portrayed. Instead of healthy information being potrayed about sex, girls are learning to look a certain way to be considered sexy. They are then learning that being sexy is the only way they are valued within society. “ Girls are taught to be sexy…they’re not learning to treat others as people, they’re learning to treat others as objects”(http://www.suite101.com) .
Overall, the modeling industry is creating a dangerous paradigm for their models. Women are being chosen younger and younger and developing serious health issues. As younger girls are being chosen, more are entering the industry so more age appropriate models are hard to find. Such tween models are a magnified example of the harms of early sexualizaion of girls. There must be more regulation within the fashion world to ensure that mature women that can handle the stresses of the occupation are chosen so girls are not developing problems later in life. Thankfully, many fashion designers are raising their standards for their models and emphatically refusing to employ girls. Hopefully others will lead the examples of such designers as Calvin Klein and Michael Kors and change the sexual fate for girls.
I remember we spoke about in class how most women wanted to be the size of a 12 year old girl which was the ideal view of the perfect weight/body. Designers are now no longer scouting for European girls that appear to look younger in age, they are now utilizing actually younger models in their runway shows. It is scary to see how these young little 12-13 year old models are becoming over-sexualized and stripped of their innocence by allowing them to pose in bikinis and in such revealing attire. The younger these models is bringing about harms of early sexualization of girls. This is just feeding pedophiles and further tempting them to abuse young girls since they are being over-sexualized in the media. Not only are these little models put in danger from pedophiles, but also in their development process because they are forced to grow up too fast in that hectic/busy model world. This is sad to see, but I am glad to see that many American designers have an 18-minimum age limit.
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