Spring Break
Child Abuse By Fashion Industry Must Stop
Alex Sanders
Issue date: 10/3/07 Section: Commentary
Couture-clad fashion show attendees are used to lithe models strutting down the catwalk in pencil-thin stilettos, sporting little more than a beaded silk sundress. Currently, the runway scene is changing. Modeling agencies are recruiting increasingly younger models, setting them up for a lifetime of competition, judgment and possible addiction.
In a recent New York City fashion show, Heatherette Designers Richie Rich and Traver Rains recruited kids just preparing for kindergarten to strut along the catwalk like their 20-something-year-old colleagues.
Because of this, it seems that America can be equated with places such as Haiti because of the shared stance on child labor. Outwardly, America is against harsh physical labor for children, hence the child labor laws in place prevent children under the age of 16 from working. However, although child runway models are not laboring in fields in scorching sunlight, their childhood is essentially taken away and they are potentially exposed to some of the same conditions children laboring in less developed countries are, namely starvation and lack of sleep.
Furthermore, children are extremely impressionable both consciously and subconsciously. Before children learn to speak, they emulate adult facial expressions and emotions. As kids mature, the cool thing to do is to behave just like the older kids. In this case, the older kids are six-foot-tall, chain smoking models.
Because of predicaments such as this, American industry guidelines recommend runway models should be at least 16 years old to strut down a runway. However, this suggestion is currently ignored by many modeling corporations. There are five-year-olds and six-year-olds lounging backstage amongst the thick clouds of Marlboro smoke and piles of appetite suppressant drugs.
According to The New York Times, Vicodin, a prescription painkiller and appetite suppressant that is "only slightly less addictive than heroin," can be found amongst the variety of makeup and hair products strewn across dressing room vanities. In addition, a steroid that reduces body fat called Clenbuterol, is fairly widely used by teenage girls and young adults to keep their weight down.
In a recent New York City fashion show, Heatherette Designers Richie Rich and Traver Rains recruited kids just preparing for kindergarten to strut along the catwalk like their 20-something-year-old colleagues.
Because of this, it seems that America can be equated with places such as Haiti because of the shared stance on child labor. Outwardly, America is against harsh physical labor for children, hence the child labor laws in place prevent children under the age of 16 from working. However, although child runway models are not laboring in fields in scorching sunlight, their childhood is essentially taken away and they are potentially exposed to some of the same conditions children laboring in less developed countries are, namely starvation and lack of sleep.
Furthermore, children are extremely impressionable both consciously and subconsciously. Before children learn to speak, they emulate adult facial expressions and emotions. As kids mature, the cool thing to do is to behave just like the older kids. In this case, the older kids are six-foot-tall, chain smoking models.
Because of predicaments such as this, American industry guidelines recommend runway models should be at least 16 years old to strut down a runway. However, this suggestion is currently ignored by many modeling corporations. There are five-year-olds and six-year-olds lounging backstage amongst the thick clouds of Marlboro smoke and piles of appetite suppressant drugs.
According to The New York Times, Vicodin, a prescription painkiller and appetite suppressant that is "only slightly less addictive than heroin," can be found amongst the variety of makeup and hair products strewn across dressing room vanities. In addition, a steroid that reduces body fat called Clenbuterol, is fairly widely used by teenage girls and young adults to keep their weight down.
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