MODELING INDUSTRY

Pressure over Teen Girls in the Modeling Industry



Executive Summary

Our research reflects the influence of today's modeling on young girls and teens. The purpose of this research is to identify whose being targeted, how teenage girls are targeted, in addition to basic marketing techniques implemented to target customers. Through this report we try to find out the major problems that are being faced by the young models in this fashion industry. Thus, illustrating the emotional impact (i.e. cognitive function, physical/mental health, appropriate sexual development) marketing is having on teens and teens today. Since then fashion has been a preoccupation of many in the women's movement. Disproportionately targeted by fashion, women are subject to regular demands to transform their bodies, a problem that has earned fashion the reputation as a visible symptom of women's oppression. These early feminist activists were quick to identify fashion as part of the problem of patriarchal society. Young girls face the problem of tough competition with their experienced models. They do not have many choices in the work they select. As by saying “no” to any of the work they do not find comfortable, led them towards a low-grade model.

Pressure over Teen Girls in the Modeling Industry

Introduction

The modeling industry boasts no pretenses about the abysmal treatment of its underage muses. Designers like Marc Jacobs make no bones about their use of underage girls in their runway shows which normally include early call times, little to no breaks, sexual harassment, payment in designer clothes, and sometimes no health insurance for girls as young as 12 or 13. But despite how awful this business treats children, the beast keeps getting fed as is captured in the chilling Girl Model documentary.

While fashion is primarily for women, the most prominent designers in the world are men. Despite this, women have been decisive to developments in fashion design and media. Many women have pioneered positive change in an industry dominated by spectacle and glamour. This explores key issues in fashion consumption and production but also considers where models have made a difference and the problems they are facing in this industry (Ponton, 2011).

Women and Fashion

For women, fashion can be a source of pleasure and pain. Nowhere is this more apparent than when consumer messages target women. This has generated feminist criticism of media messages that target women's perceived physical shortcomings. Fashion is not just about clothing but also concerns the maintenance of beauty, the production of glamour, and the various ways in which people fashion their bodies. Women are especially vulnerable to the constant pressures of fashion's seasonal changes. Because of the way women are socialized to present their bodies, the fashion and beauty industry has become a source of controversy, blamed for encouraging women to engage in extreme dieting and even surgery to improve their appearance (Martin & Gentrym 2009). However, as fashion design has gained cultural and economic force, key women have also responded to these issues by pioneering new directions in the ...