Younger and More Stereotypical Than Ever, by Angelica Hill

Spokane’s Top Model Competition is entering the fashion scene with a politically correct attitude that, unsurprisingly, plays out in the use of the same standards of beauty that have shaped the modeling industry into one dominated by thin young women.  Promoters of the local modeling agency say they want to be inclusive, to open the competition to girls and women of all shapes and sizes, ages and ethnicities, but their selection of candidates reflects the industry’s preference for young girls meeting strict age, weight and height standards.

The Inlander interviewed a contestant in the local competition who talked about how important youth was to a model, how she understood the aging process and her reaction to that perception.  This 21 year old woman speaks from inside a society that devalues the beauty of women older than 29 and idealizes the fleeting transition from girl to women. The culture that we live in is one that has so distorted the way that women see themselves that statements like the following can be made and agreed with by other women:

“You realize eventually, and I have, that the human body starts to age at 18,” she says. “You start to go downhill after age 18 and you start seeing your mortality when you see little wrinkles or a varicose spider vein or a stretch mark or dark under-eye circles.  And I’m going to fight it the whole way through.” 

 Have models always been so young?  I looked up Twiggy, Veruschka and Cheryl Tiegs (famous models from the 1970’s); when they became famous models each was 17 or older and continued to model for the next decade.   Models have not always been so young but the industry may be reaching new heights in exposing young girls in sexualized roles and images.  Incredibly the window for modeling is now thought to lie between the ages of 14 and 19!

There are many clues to how women and young girls see themselves and their bodies in this quote; clues that point to social glorification of adolescent bodies and the sexualization of increasingly young girls.  Perhaps you disagree that models are sexualized bodies on display but, flipping through a porn and then a fashion magazines you will recognize the intensely bored expression on models as a slight variation on the passive “come hither” expression of the centerfold.  The French Vogue January/February issue used the youngest models ever to create a provocative and somewhat disturbing fashion spread.  Rather than being sataristic as some have hailed it, I see it as being more flippant of the bigger social and cultural problem exemplified by searching ‘youngest teen model’ and coming up with XXX child pornography sites.

So I take issue with young models becoming the new norm in high fashion because it is indicative of the way we as a culture embrace images of young women in increasingly sexualized roles.   Media and especially modeling has contributed heavily to our perception of beauty and has a way of reflecting and compounding the patriarchal structure of gender roles and relationships.   For example, the ever popular story or character of the promiscuous Lolita-like high school girl who sleeps with her teacher, her friend’s father, her boss or her new stepdad portrays teenage girls in overtly sexual roles and channels the ways young girls can express their emerging sexuality through imitation – the careful cultivation of a youthful look and apparent sexuality that is embodied by most women in the media. The mythical hyper sexuality of young women has become an advertising gimmick as well as a stereotype and has deep roots in our society’s patriarchal and capitalistic arrangement.  

When young girls want to look sexy and mature and women want to look sexy and girlish I have to wonder what force is driving women to focus so intently on presenting themselves as sexually available and barely legal.  It is natural to point the finger at media but in many ways media is a reflection of our own ideology and culture.  I would like to see a more realistic portrayal of teenage girls in media.  It’s uncreative and unrealistic to use hyper sexual, aggressive stereotypes of girls.  Girls are not sex hungry predators and neither are women.  Pronouns like Cougar and Sex Kitten limit the ways that women can relate to men by trapping them in a role that society constructs as positive and desirable.  On a personal note, it is upsetting to think that as women we are getting older and uglier ever day.  The idea of peaking at 18 is pretty depressing and I’m sure I’m not the only woman who is upset that the “aging gracefully” image is rapidly disappearing from our society.