I wonder what you made of the story this week that a 12 year old girl has become the face of a Gold Coast Fashion festival. Prime Minister John Howard, Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and child protection advocates have all raised their voices on the matter, saying 12 year olds are too young to be on the catwalk.
And I have to agree with them.
Maddison Gabriel (who turns 13 today), won the opportunity to host the inaugural Gold Coast Fashion Week on Wednesday. Maddison’s mother, and organisers of the Gold Coast event, have countered concerns about Maddison’s youth by saying she is mature for her age, that she won’t be modeling any swimwear or lingerie, that 13 year old girls buy clothes from adult stores anyway, and that Maddison will be 14 by the time she represents the fashion week next year. (It must be said, though, that Maddison modeled a gown at a cocktail party connected with the event last night.)
What’s interesting about this whole scenario is that even more liberally-minded countries like France and Italy have enforced a minimum age of 16 for models hitting the catwalk. The British Fashion Council has announcing models aged 15 years or younger should not be allowed to enter the London Fashion Week—one of the world's most famous fashion events. And another British inquiry this week recommended that models provide "health certificates" from doctors to prove they don't have an eating disorder. At the very least these moves abroad show the danger inherent in the modelling industry to young women.
Prime Minister John Howard has said he’d support a ban on girls under the age of 16 involved in modelling. I agree, because the following questions need to be addressed:
- What message does a 12 year old model say to other 12 year old girls? As we’ll hear from Melinda Tankard-Reist soon, young girls are already being forced to grow up too quickly. This isn’t just about a young Queensland girl being able to live her dream; it’s about a multitude of 12, 11 and 10 year old girls wanting to follow in her footsteps.
- Gold Coast Fashion Week organisers say Maddison wont be modelling swimwear or lingerie. But how long will it be before she’s asked? Only a few years ago there was public outrage over a 15 year old girl model who was pictured in sexually suggestive poses with an 18 year old boy for a jeans company.
- Thirdly, what’s the rush? I don’t think too many girls will suffer if they have to wait to reach age 16 before entering a fashion competition.
- And finally, what does it say about us as a nation when we want to set up a child as an object of desire? A good deal of modelling is about arousing desire—at the very least a desire to buy the clothes that will give ‘the look’ the model is portraying. How have we gotten to the stage where a barely-pubescent girl is considered the standard of fashion for adults?
Of course, these same questions could be asked about 16 year olds on the catwalk too. But until we adults sort ourselves out, a ban on models under 16 should be a minimum response. Our children will be the victims should we do nothing.
© 2007 Sheridan Voysey is a writer, speaker, broadcaster and author of Unseen Footprints: Encountering the divine along the journey of life (Scripture Union, 2005). www.thethoughtfactory.net
