All hands in the air for Maddison Gabriel! The Australian model who is the new "face" of the Gold Coast Fashion Week. And who turned thirteen the 16th of last month.
Modeling, apparently, is all she’s wanted to do since she was six. And she managed to get her mother to agree! Now that’s heartening. Makes me wonder if my mum would’ve let me be an elephant trainer at the circus if I had persisted with the demand till I was the green old age of 12. Nanu could’ve been a monkey like she always wanted to. One must keep in mind though that strutting your stuff (?) on the runway must pay a lot more than what monkeys or elephant trainers or monkeys that train elephants earn (maybe not that last one. I bet they’d pay an elephant training monkey a lot more.. hmmm…).
“I believe that I can fit into women’s clothes. I can model women’s clothes, so I should be able to do it,” says Madison. Of course she can fit into women’s clothes; they’re all made so the only people who can wear them without being in grade III malnutrition are flat chested prepubescent 12 year olds with no butt.
Every little girl loves to parade around in new clothes and have people tell her how pretty she looks, so it shouldn’t come as a life altering surprise when one declares that she wants to be a model. But modeling isn’t about grace or poise (you are confusing it with ballet), it is about sexuality, plain and simple. There is nothing innocent or alright about putting a twelve year old in clothes meant for women and making her walk down a ramp looking nonchalant and flipping her hair ‘just so’. It is deeply disturbing that a mother would allow her child to be viewed as a sexual object instead of protecting her; and try to justify it too: “She says she wants to be a model”. Mummy dearest is just helping her daughter fulfill her dreams. And hopefully taking spelling lessons while she’s painting her daughter’s blindingly bright future for her (MaDDison? What was she thinking).
Little Maddison can legally do what her heart desires; unlike in the European Union where models under 16 have been banned from the runways, Australia has no laws preventing young teens from modeling and Maddison’s mother has demanded an apology from the Australian prime minister John Howard for having expressed his distaste about the matter. One wonders if this wouldn’t rightly come under the territory of child labour laws though.
Will it affect her overall growth as a person, assuming she can deal with the pressures of a real job and that she is blessed with enough brains to not lag behind at geography and PE? (Let’s not be so grandiose as to talk about math.) Brooke Shields survived, as did Kate Moss and as we all know they are both Very well adjusted adults, if you leave out the trips to the shrink, the clinical depression and the coke.
Will she be able to stand the pressures of the job? For starters she’ll surely have to resort to anorexia or at least to bulimia once puberty hits. And that nose! That had better be under the scalpel soon if she plans on getting any real work. Her chin looks something awful at the moment, but let’s give her the benefit of doubt, after all, can you really see her chin under all that puppy fat? One wonders what the judges at the Gold Coast fashion week were thinking. I’m going to go with ‘free publicity’, on a wild guess.
Oh, and, Love the hair!
Showing posts with label hypocrisy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hypocrisy. Show all posts
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Friday, April 14, 2006
What's all the fuss about Orkut!
What’s with everybody! Suddenly it's as though everyone I know is on Orkut and I’m the only person who's looking in standing on the outside. I mean, hey! it’s just an online community, right? How marvellously brilliant can it be?! You can't really prefer talking to me over the internet than in person.. or can you...
Oh well, I’m caving in. I’m not the strong and silent type (special stress on the silent bit). It’s like with the cell phone. From cellibate to cell-out (No, they're Not typos) before one could say tele.com.mu.ni.ca.tion. And anyhow I am an ardent believer in the charm of the fifth invite.
So let’s hear the drum roll. Ready or not. Here I come.
Oh well, I’m caving in. I’m not the strong and silent type (special stress on the silent bit). It’s like with the cell phone. From cellibate to cell-out (No, they're Not typos) before one could say tele.com.mu.ni.ca.tion. And anyhow I am an ardent believer in the charm of the fifth invite.
So let’s hear the drum roll. Ready or not. Here I come.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Fair Enough
Yesterday, while haunting one of the three malls that have sprung up within a 2km radius of our home in the space of 7 months I noticed, nestling inconspicuously in the skincare aisle, a shelf full of bottles of tan lotion.
Tan lotion?!!
Get real! We are Indians. We are OBSESSED with fair skin. We are so kooky we envy albinos.
Remember the protests that took place against the advertisements of a Hindustan Lever owned fairness cream which not so implicitly portrayed light skin colour as a prerequisite for professional success, personal happiness and what else have you? Given our general public attitude it comes as no great surprise that these remonstrations hardly added up to much in the long run. On the contrary, the major fallout of the hype was free publicity for 'Fair and Lovely', which saw a zillion otherwise respectable brands jumping onto the bandwagon and the hilarious launch of a fairness cream formulated especially for male skin.
But let us reserve judgment till after we’ve looked at the moot point from the other perspective. Let’s see now… there must be some sense to it… I suppose if you are fair the general blinding brightness makes it too difficult to discern facial features anyhow. A definite pro for some. While if you have the tragic misfortune of being dark skinned like 89% of our population you obviously have to have 1:1.618 proportions, a perfect profile, rebonded hair, a cheery disposition with generous helpings of wit, sense of humour and whatnot by the side. And after all of this, if our newspapers are to be believed, guys who have no qualms blundering all over town painting red graffiti on walls with you shall ultimately look for the peaches-and-cream bleached blonde to take home to Mummy. So you see, if I sound miffed it is because I am.
Fortunately, the scenario has shown a drift towards the positive as far as the Indian movie industry is concerned. We now have the good fortune of seeing more women with dark complexions prance about around trees and sing Anu Malik songs without the customary white pancake makeup. The multiplex boom has made art movies more accessible to the general populace and frankly, they are the great leveler (due apologies to James Shirley) for everyone in art movies looks sepia regardless of their skin tone. So you see, all’s well in the land of the eternally-hung-up-on-liposuction.
But accepting the dusky dames of Bollywood for what they are hasn’t made society more easy-going in it’s appraisal of you and I. Girls most certainly get it worse than their male counterparts since the ‘Metrosexual Male Revolution’ turned out to be a passing fad. We’re back to the ‘retrosexual’ male and to weird Sunday matrimonial adverts that read “WANTED - 5’7”, fair, gorgeous, comely, alluring, glamorous girl with a figure to die for and a complexion to kill for, for this boy who is… well… just this boy really.”
Well, life goes on. I suppose the important part is to realize what we are and more importantly what we are not and find the courage to be alright with it.
Nota bene:
Though I haven’t read any Sunday matrimonial advertisements I’m sure what I’ve said about ‘em above isn’t very far from the truth. Wait, let me get today’s paper n have a look… Yup. Word for word.
Tan lotion?!!
Get real! We are Indians. We are OBSESSED with fair skin. We are so kooky we envy albinos.
Remember the protests that took place against the advertisements of a Hindustan Lever owned fairness cream which not so implicitly portrayed light skin colour as a prerequisite for professional success, personal happiness and what else have you? Given our general public attitude it comes as no great surprise that these remonstrations hardly added up to much in the long run. On the contrary, the major fallout of the hype was free publicity for 'Fair and Lovely', which saw a zillion otherwise respectable brands jumping onto the bandwagon and the hilarious launch of a fairness cream formulated especially for male skin.
But let us reserve judgment till after we’ve looked at the moot point from the other perspective. Let’s see now… there must be some sense to it… I suppose if you are fair the general blinding brightness makes it too difficult to discern facial features anyhow. A definite pro for some. While if you have the tragic misfortune of being dark skinned like 89% of our population you obviously have to have 1:1.618 proportions, a perfect profile, rebonded hair, a cheery disposition with generous helpings of wit, sense of humour and whatnot by the side. And after all of this, if our newspapers are to be believed, guys who have no qualms blundering all over town painting red graffiti on walls with you shall ultimately look for the peaches-and-cream bleached blonde to take home to Mummy. So you see, if I sound miffed it is because I am.
Fortunately, the scenario has shown a drift towards the positive as far as the Indian movie industry is concerned. We now have the good fortune of seeing more women with dark complexions prance about around trees and sing Anu Malik songs without the customary white pancake makeup. The multiplex boom has made art movies more accessible to the general populace and frankly, they are the great leveler (due apologies to James Shirley) for everyone in art movies looks sepia regardless of their skin tone. So you see, all’s well in the land of the eternally-hung-up-on-liposuction.
But accepting the dusky dames of Bollywood for what they are hasn’t made society more easy-going in it’s appraisal of you and I. Girls most certainly get it worse than their male counterparts since the ‘Metrosexual Male Revolution’ turned out to be a passing fad. We’re back to the ‘retrosexual’ male and to weird Sunday matrimonial adverts that read “WANTED - 5’7”, fair, gorgeous, comely, alluring, glamorous girl with a figure to die for and a complexion to kill for, for this boy who is… well… just this boy really.”
Well, life goes on. I suppose the important part is to realize what we are and more importantly what we are not and find the courage to be alright with it.
Nota bene:
Though I haven’t read any Sunday matrimonial advertisements I’m sure what I’ve said about ‘em above isn’t very far from the truth. Wait, let me get today’s paper n have a look… Yup. Word for word.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Sania mania ?
The day’s Pune Times advises Sania Mirza she’d be better off firing her salvo’s on-court.
Gawd! Let the gal be, already!
As if it wasn’t ridiculous enough to have half the Indian populace debate the merits of playing in a burkha! She’s playing tennis, for heavens’. And frankly, I applaud her for putting the clerics in their place with her comment that as long as she was winning it was no one else’s business whether her skirt measured 6” or 6’. You go girl!
But, to get to the issue, is there any such thing as freedom of speech in democratic India?
Yeah, sure. If you are insignificant enough. Only, don’t expect to be heard, that’s all. But if you happen to be someone whose views can be heard and if by some unlikely twist of fate you happen to be so naïve as to speak out about what you believe in… then God help you.
Take the precedent of Khushboo. The venerated Tamil actress now faces 20 criminal cases accusing her with ‘insulting’ the Tamil community. All for having expressed her views on safe sex. Actor-director Suhasini Manirathnam had to put forth a formal apology for coming to Khushboo’s defense on being issued a show-cause notice.
What is it about a celebrity speaking out that makes our hackles rise so...
I mean… what?? Is your pristine, prudence-purity beti suddenly going to streak across the street and shag the first lout she lays eyes on just because “Sania Mirza says so”? And, for the record, all the kid did say was:
"So there are two issues here, safe sex and sex before marriage. You don't want me to tell you that you have to have safe sex, whether it is before or after marriage. Everyone must know what he or she is doing."
Is it so very difficult to comprehend? She isn’t campaigning for people to have wild sex on the streets. All she is saying is that just in case wild sex on the streets is on your itinerary, a condom wouldn’t kill. Duh.
“She should restrict her liberal views to herself” said A. Ikram, the Ulema of the Darul Uloom, Centre for Islamic Studies.
VHP leader Acharya Dharmendra had a different point of view:
“I am an ardent fan of Sania. But she is trying to destroy the institutions like marriage and other social institutions by saying certain things which are beyond imagination,”
Beyond imagination…? All I can say is that I’m really sorry for you dude.
The sorry part about all this is that Sania knuckled under and had to deny all her earlier statements advocating safe sex. “I would like to clearly say on record that I could not possibly justify premarital sex, as it is a very big sin in Islam and one which I believe will not be forgiven by Allah,” Mirza said Friday. I for one think she ought to have stood up for the issue.
This is a bit out of context, but you’ve just got to hear what Acharya Dharmendra has to say about RSS leader K. Sudarshan’s suggestion that Hindus should have at least three children:
“When we cannot control the population of the minorities, to maintain the balance between the minority and the majority, Hindu women should be prepared for more labour pains”.
“If we cannot check the population of minorities through good efforts, we should increase our (Hindu) population.”
If these are the sort of people that are protecting our culture, no wonder we all consider it out utmost moral duty to lynch the genuine people who dare to speak out. It’s a slander-fest, dudes and dames, so let’s all pitch in, huh? And if you join ABVP now you get a totally FREE, larger than life and twice as natural poster of Ms. Mirza along with a book of matches and a bottle of kerosene. Prerequisite: An IQ score of not more than 69 and talent at mixing cocktails... the Molotov kind.
(As to why I’m reading the rag, my final exams start next month, so, obviously I’ve developed a sudden interest in, well, everything other than my patho textbook.)
Gawd! Let the gal be, already!
As if it wasn’t ridiculous enough to have half the Indian populace debate the merits of playing in a burkha! She’s playing tennis, for heavens’. And frankly, I applaud her for putting the clerics in their place with her comment that as long as she was winning it was no one else’s business whether her skirt measured 6” or 6’. You go girl!
But, to get to the issue, is there any such thing as freedom of speech in democratic India?
Yeah, sure. If you are insignificant enough. Only, don’t expect to be heard, that’s all. But if you happen to be someone whose views can be heard and if by some unlikely twist of fate you happen to be so naïve as to speak out about what you believe in… then God help you.
Take the precedent of Khushboo. The venerated Tamil actress now faces 20 criminal cases accusing her with ‘insulting’ the Tamil community. All for having expressed her views on safe sex. Actor-director Suhasini Manirathnam had to put forth a formal apology for coming to Khushboo’s defense on being issued a show-cause notice.
What is it about a celebrity speaking out that makes our hackles rise so...
I mean… what?? Is your pristine, prudence-purity beti suddenly going to streak across the street and shag the first lout she lays eyes on just because “Sania Mirza says so”? And, for the record, all the kid did say was:
"So there are two issues here, safe sex and sex before marriage. You don't want me to tell you that you have to have safe sex, whether it is before or after marriage. Everyone must know what he or she is doing."
Is it so very difficult to comprehend? She isn’t campaigning for people to have wild sex on the streets. All she is saying is that just in case wild sex on the streets is on your itinerary, a condom wouldn’t kill. Duh.
“She should restrict her liberal views to herself” said A. Ikram, the Ulema of the Darul Uloom, Centre for Islamic Studies.
VHP leader Acharya Dharmendra had a different point of view:
“I am an ardent fan of Sania. But she is trying to destroy the institutions like marriage and other social institutions by saying certain things which are beyond imagination,”
Beyond imagination…? All I can say is that I’m really sorry for you dude.
The sorry part about all this is that Sania knuckled under and had to deny all her earlier statements advocating safe sex. “I would like to clearly say on record that I could not possibly justify premarital sex, as it is a very big sin in Islam and one which I believe will not be forgiven by Allah,” Mirza said Friday. I for one think she ought to have stood up for the issue.
This is a bit out of context, but you’ve just got to hear what Acharya Dharmendra has to say about RSS leader K. Sudarshan’s suggestion that Hindus should have at least three children:
“When we cannot control the population of the minorities, to maintain the balance between the minority and the majority, Hindu women should be prepared for more labour pains”.
“If we cannot check the population of minorities through good efforts, we should increase our (Hindu) population.”
If these are the sort of people that are protecting our culture, no wonder we all consider it out utmost moral duty to lynch the genuine people who dare to speak out. It’s a slander-fest, dudes and dames, so let’s all pitch in, huh? And if you join ABVP now you get a totally FREE, larger than life and twice as natural poster of Ms. Mirza along with a book of matches and a bottle of kerosene. Prerequisite: An IQ score of not more than 69 and talent at mixing cocktails... the Molotov kind.
(As to why I’m reading the rag, my final exams start next month, so, obviously I’ve developed a sudden interest in, well, everything other than my patho textbook.)
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