Former model and judge on Australia’s Next Top Model Charlotte Dawson has revealed she doesn’t think “young girls should pursue modelling” careers.
Dawson, 47, who started her career at age 16, took to Twitter last night with a message for young girls who are aspiring to be the next Miranda Kerr or Jessica Gomes.
“I truly adored my time on ANTM but my heart tells me I don’t think young girls should pursue the modelling world,” Dawson tweeted to her 52,000 followers.
When quizzed about her change of heart, Dawson responded by saying she can longer be a part of the industry, calling it a “brutal game.”
“Bring it! Hypocrisy since I was a 16 year old that began my career but I can no longer be a part of this machine.”
Dawson also confirmed over Twitter she would not return as a judge on the ninth season (or cycle to fans) of Australia’s Next Top Model. “I will not be part of ANTM again but it has been the greatest show/experience I’ve had in my broadcasting career. #grateful”
Publisher Mia Freedman has spoken out about underage models many times before, below she reveals why she axed the Dolly modelling contest when she was the Editor-In-Chief in 2005.
Mia writes:
One of the first things I did when I became Editor-In-Chief of Dolly in 2005 was axe their annual Model Contest. I knew this would not lead to an increase in circulation (as the Great Lisa Wilkinson once taught me: you don’t gain readers by taking something away, you gain them by adding something new to the mix) but I did it anyway and I’ll tell you why in a second.
The Dolly model contest has always been pretty iconic. Miranda Kerr won it when she was 13 and you’ll hear this a lot whenever the subject comes up, as a justification for why it’s OK and even a good thing. ‘Miranda Kerr won it at 13 and look at her now!’ etc.
But for every Miranda Kerr, there are thousands of teenage models who don’t go on to become Victoria’s Secret Angels and marry Hollywood stars (side note: is becoming a Victoria’s Secret Angel something we want to encourage girls to aspire to anyway? If that’s the pinnacle of your career, what does that say about the values of the modelling industry?).
So why did I axe it? Because I thought the message it sent to girls – that the most important thing about you is how you look – was an appalling one. A negative one. A damaging one.
It’s not just Dolly. Girlfriend is the same. A 13 year old won their model contest last year too.
Remember being 13? At the most mentally and emotionally vulnerable time in a girl’s life, why on earth would you throw her into a world that judges and rejects you exclusively on how you look? And what you weigh.
Here’s a clue that the modelling industry is messed up: the winner of this year’s contest was the youngest finalist. Why? Because if you want to be a model, 16 or 17 is too old. As Girlfriend’s editor said last year about her magazine’s winner, her tender age would give her ‘a headstart’ in the industry.
That’s why girls as young as 13 – like the Dolly and Girlfriend model contest winners – are sent overseas to meet with agents and go on casting. As one model manager said about this practice: ”I know many people think 13 is very young but it’s what the international brands are looking for in Europe,” she said. ”Models are too old now at 16.”
Dolly and Girlfiend’s editors (both of whom I’ve worked with during my mag career) claim their winners will be used in ‘age-appropriate’ ways in their magazines and I believe them. After all, they are magazines for teenage girls whose average reader is probably 13. The models in their pages SHOULD be 13.
So why not call them ambassadors instead of models? Because there aren’t enough teenage mags or products to sustain the career of a 13 or 14 or even 15 year old model. So they are invariably used to model clothes and products aimed at adults.
Modelling itself is an adult industry. Run by professionals, sure but photo shoots and castings are adult places. Nobody cares about the self-esteem of the girls they’re seeing. Nobody cares that they are smart or funny or kind. And modelling is an industry based on rejection. Adults looks at your face and your body, peer intently at the photos in your portfolio and then say “thanks” and you never know why you didn’t get the job. And you’re 13.
It baffles me why anyone would think modelling was a good idea for themselves or their daughter.
Here’s something worth considering:
8 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MODELLING
1. If you do not want to be judged on how you look and what you weigh, do not become a model.
2. If you do not want your daughter to be judged on how she looks and what she weighs, do not let her become a model.
3. Same with your son.
4. If you do not want your daughter to be photographed looking sexy and made to look much much older than she is, do not let her become a model.
5. If you don’t want your daughter’s self-esteem to be DIRECTLY and inextricably linked to her weight and appearance, do not let her become a model.
6. If you don’t want your daughter to believe her value as a person is determined solely by how she looks and what she weighs, do not let her become a model.
7. If you don’t want your daughter’s self confidence to be smashed to smithereens by an industry that rejects her 99% of the time based on how she looks or what she weighs, do not let her become a model.
8. It is not the responsibility of the modelling industry to take care of your kids or boost their self-esteem. They will judge and reject them based on how they look. In fact, that’s their job.
I think magazines like Dolly and Girlfriend can play a great role in educating, inspiring and energising the teenage girls who read them. Which is why I wish they wouldn’t hold up modelling as the ultimate prize, a career to aspire to, a life to covet. Because the reality is very very different.
Here’s what happens when teenagers, modelling and the fashion world collide.
Do you agree with Charlotte and Mia? How young is too young to model?
