Mad about modeling
A new documentary called Girl Model, which follows the path of 13-year-old Nadya, a self-proclaimed Siberian “gray mouse” and “ordinary girl” who gets plucked from a sea of other lithe hopefuls by an American mercenary model scout and sent to Japan to try to make it big, is making the rounds and winning accolades at prestigious festivals worldwide—and totally bumming me out.
Get your ordinary Russian girls here!
Oh, I don’t take issue with the fact that the documentary film exists. Nope. My beef is that it verifies just how much our culture still promulgates the notion that for girls, being a model (or in many cases at least looking like one) is the be-all-and-end-all. The top. The best form of existence a woman could hope for. Of course, it’s an age-old myth, but ever since the heyday of the original supermodels of the ’80s and ’90s (Claudia! Christy! Cindy! Naomi! Linda!), it’s been increasingly intense.
It doesn’t matter how many exposés come out, or how many times Tyra cautions her America’s Next Top Model wannabes that modeling is hard work (they have to do bikini shoots in the winter, memorize lines to Cover Girl commercials and “smize” all the damn time, after all).
At this point two generations of women (Gen Xers and Millennials) have been brought up in a world where models are among the most celebrated and most financially well-off women in the world. So is it any wonder that many of them (cue Russian cattle call of skinny, fair teens) want it for themselves? Continue reading
Fair or Not? The Snow White Complex
I love this documentary from filmmaker M. Hansa M. about how Eurocentric standards of beauty have become prominent across the globe, and how those beauty standards promote and exacerbate sexism and racism. In just eleven minutes, “Fair or Not?” addresses the many connections between racism, sexism, colonialism and exoticism, painting a clear and troubling picture of the issues facing all women, but especially women of color, in westernized cultures.
The film features young women who have found themselves at the center of racist, sexist expectations of beauty, and discusses how the media reinforces internalized racism and sexism, leading to low self-esteem. In one featured discussion, a young woman sums up her struggles as such: “‘Exotic’ means from a faraway place, somewhere unfamiliar. If we’re exotic to ourselves, then whose voices are we speaking from?”
This film is short, poignant, and incredibly important. Please do yourself a favor by watching and sharing.
–Melissa
“Make Me Young” makes us think about the world of anti-aging
Mitch McCabe explores the anti-aging world in "Make Me Young."
I laughed, I cried, I contemplated Botox.
It’s true – filmmaker Mitch McCabe’s awesome documentary, Make Me Young: Youth Knows No Pain, was a serious roller-coaster ride through the world of anti-aging, stirring up all kinds of emotions.
The daughter of a plastic surgeon, Mitch explores her fascination with going under the knife by traveling across America, interviewing a host of patients, experts, and skeptics.
What I found so touching and refreshing about Make Me Young was that it didn’t seem to have a moral message, condemning those who opt for nips and tucks. Nor did it glorify the $60 billion a year anti-aging industry that keeps us all anxiously monitoring our crow’s feet and frown lines.
Mitch just wants to talk to people, and find out what they think about themselves, and our youth-obsessed culture. And along the way, we get some insight into her personal past, and how her dad’s work seriously impacted her own preoccupation with growing older.
Watch the trailer below, and if you feel like laughing and crying your way through an exploration of injections and lifts, order the DVD on Amazon.
– Michelle
About-Face honors the awesome Jennifer Siebel Newsom
We'll be honoring Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the writer/director of "Miss Representation" at our About-Face fundraiser this Thursday.
Some people just deserve to be celebrated.
In case you haven’t heard, About-Face is beyond thrilled to honor the awesome Jennifer Siebel Newsom this Thursday, November 4.
Though you may know her as the First Lady of San Francisco, Jennifer also fills plenty of other important roles. Besides working as an actress, spokesperson, and mother, the San Francisco native is also a filmmaker, and recently wrote and directed Miss Representation, a documentary that’s so in line with what we do at About-Face, we had to celebrate it.
Miss Representation explores the ways the media projects limited and damaging images of women (Don’t believe it? Um, have you seen our Gallery of Offenders?). Jennifer brought together a number female powerhouses to talk about the ways the media is teaching young girls that their value lies in beauty, youth, and sexuality.
Besides our very own honorary event host and kick-ass comedian Margaret Cho, Jennifer interviewed women like Condoleezza Rice, Gloria Steinem, Katie Couric, Jeane Kilbourne, Rachel Maddow, Rosario Dawson, and many more. Continue reading
Gallery of Winners: “America the Beautiful” exposes some ugly truths.
Produced by: Sensory Overload Productions
DVD available in Fall 2009. See the film’s web site for more details.
Questions to Consider:
* Is America obsessed with beauty?
* Do the beauty and fashion industries need to promote the thin body ideal to be successful?
* What are some mixed messages that girls get about their appearance and sexuality?
* Who decides what is beautiful?
What We Think:
In this award-winning documentary, filmmaker Darryl Roberts critically and light-heartedly tries to answer the question, “Is America obsessed with beauty?” He follows aspiring young models (and watches one crumble under the industry’s pressure). He interviews fashion magazine editors, celebrities, plastic surgeons, and everyday men and women. It’s a candid and enlightening movie that will make you feel more empowered and more aware, wondering, “Who decides what’s beautiful, anyway?” (by Kate Elston)
See more about America the Beautiful in our blog entry “America the Beautiful”: Why beauty is out of control.
Take Action! Contact:
E-mail the filmmaker, Darryl Roberts, your thoughts on the movie.
Another Response to “Thin”: From an Inside Perspective
In 2006, when Lauren Greenfield’s documentary Thin came out, I watched the film on my computer in the single dorm room that had become something of a cave for me. I was in the throes of a life-threatening eating disorder, and, needless to say, the film hit home. A few months later, I saw the documentary again, though in a different context: I watched it at an inpatient eating disorder treatment facility where I would spend the bulk of my 22nd year.
Shelly talks about her feeding tube
I agree with Kate’s thoughts (“‘Thin’ Is Thick With Reality”) that the film touches on something very real, although I think there is a subtlety that may not be apparent to all viewers.
Continue reading
“Thin” is Thick with Reality
HBO's "Thin"
Brittany started dieting at age 12 because she wanted to look like her classmates. After gaining weight in an eating disorder treatment center, the under 100-pound teen grabs at the skin under her chin, sobbing. She thinks she has a double chin.
Shelly has a tube that runs out of her stomach because she’s so sick, and she’s found a way to push her stomach the right way so the food she’s eaten is sucked out. At just over 80 pounds, Shelly thinks she is “big.”
These women are among those documented in the 2006 film, “Thin,” a powerful and candid documentary I watched for the first time this week. Continue reading
“America the Beautiful” came to San Francisco, and we were there.
Carol Normandi (co-founder of Beyond Hunger), Darryl Roberts, me, and Laurelee Roark (co-founder of Beyond Hunger)
Way back in August ’08, I had the pleasure of catching this little indie film, “America the Beautiful,” as it showed briefly in San Francisco. I thought to myself “If About-Face made a film, this is the film it would make.” And I sure had a lot to say about it when I walked out of that theater, as evidenced here! From that blog entry:
There are just so many pertinent, poignant bits in this film, one being that the whole thing flows really well and nails the problem of our culture’s beauty obsession in a way that no somewhat-smart woman can deny.
Even more than the gratitude I felt in August that “America the Beautiful” had been produced at all, I wanted (no, needed) to help bring it back again to San Francisco so all of our About-Face supporters could also see it. So you know what? We did that on May 27 and 28. Continue reading
Reared to Compete: Toddlers and Tiaras
Two of the contestants from the TLC show Toddlers and Tiaras
While previous generations were playing with Barbies, current younglings are opting to become Barbie – and their mothers don’t seem to mind. In a current reality TV series on TLC, Toddlers and Tiaras, the cameras follow young girls and their mothers in their quest to win beauty pageants.
Beauty pageants have always been scrutinized, and the reason for that is becoming more evident. Continue reading