The darker side

"Its easier for the industry to use young girls because they can do whatever they want with them, Blais says. When youre young, you dont even know your rights exist. When youre 15 or 16, that focus on how you look and whether youre working becomes overwhelming.

Yeah, right.

If not for their exploitability, the fashion industry would be using 35 year old models.

And how does advocating to keep minors out make them more empowered and informed about their rights?

"And, for every model who ends up fabulously wealthy, there are untold hundreds who, by their mid-twenties, are left on the shelf, having abandoned their education for an industry that has defaulted on its promise of fame and fortune."

But that's the reality of every "industry" which is about fame and talent. Its a buyer's market whether you think you're the next Ozzy Ozbourne, or Cindy Crawford. Its difficult to keep anyone at any age from being exploited when they are all replaceable, and when their success depends on the whims and caprices of others.

And its even tougher when that "talent" is largely genetic and linked to an expiration-date as it is in athletics.

Perhaps its for the best that the most visible face of Modeling; ie. the "cover-girl" has shifted to actresses. The models are protesting when its a Selena Gomez who gets the cover of Cosmo. But the actresses career can start earlier, last longer and is more resistant to the whims of a handful of agents and editors.

Fashion will still need runway models and less glamorous positions. And many will chase celebrity only to find the work low-level or nonexistent. But if the public demands more than mere beauty to identify with, then the girls will know that they have to develop more than their looks.

And if those celebrities are also talking about empowerment and taking control over their careers ( as did Selena who famously told The Mouse, "No!," when the music career was offered before she was ready ) then the wannabes will know to stand up for themselves.

Dante