Looks Aren't Everything: Believe Me, I'm a Model by Cameron Russell Essay

A person's image should not define who a person is, however, according to Cameroon Russel, image plays a huge role in the society that we live in and more so in the modeling industry. In the TED talk, "Looks aren't everything. Believe me, I'm a model.", Cameroon tries to persuade and educate the audience on the negative effects that the modeling industry has on perception, the disadvantages of being a model, the manner in which ideas of beauty and femininity have changed and how images of women are constructed in the media. The current paper will analyze Russell's speech from a critical point of view.

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Cameroon starts by saying that she has been a model for 10 years. She has been involved in many cover shoots including for Allure magazine and has walked the runway for Victoria's Secret. She says image is powerful but superficial and that in her modeling career, she has done many uncomfortable things. She gives an example of a photo she took with a male model. She was totally uncomfortable and the photographer was telling her to arch her back and put her hand in that guy's hair. Although image is superficial, it has a great impact on a person's life. She decides being honest about what happens in the industry. She adds that she is on stage because she is a model, pretty, and a white woman. In the modelling industry, a girl with all these characteristics is called a sexy girl. Cameroon arguments represent ethos since she uses her credibility and experience in the modeling industry to persuade the audience and explain to them what it is like to be a model. By stating how long she has been in the modeling industry, she is able to establish credibility among the audience.

Cameroon explains how she became a model. She jokes that she won a genetic lottery (meaning she was beautiful and attractive) and that she is the recipient of a legacy. Over the years, beauty has been defined not just as health and youth and symmetry that we are biologically programmed to admire, but also as tall, slender figures, and femininity and white skin (She points out the racial discrimination in the fashion industry stating that in 2007, among the 677 models that were in different runaway, 650 of them were white. Racial discrimination is rampant in the modeling world). Cameroon says that this is the legacy that was built for her and it is the legacy that she has been cashing out on. She strengthens her argument by stating that she got into the modeling industry because of her looks and use personal experiences to strengthen her points.

The speech continues and she answers a frequently asked question of, "Can I be a model when I grow up?" Many little girls ask her this question and the first question that comes to her mind is why these girls want to be models whereas they can be anything else in the world. She likens saying one wants to be a model when they grow up to wanting to win the Powerball when they grow up. It is out of control of a person and it is not a career path.

In the third question, she answers whether pictures of models are retouched and photoshopped. She says that this happens but that is only a small component of what is happening. Cameroon gives an example with the very first picture that she ever took. It was also the first time that she had worn a bikini and she had not yet received her periods yet. She was a very young girl by then. Cameroon says that in all the different pictures that she has taken as a model, all the pictures do not truly represent her. All these pictures are constructions created by a group of professionals, hairstylists, makeup artists, photographers, stylists, and all the assistants and pre-production and the post-production team.

In the next part of her speech, she talks about the cons and advantages of being attractive and beautiful. She says that the free stuff that she gets is the free stuff that she gets in real life and it is what most models do not like to talk about. She says that one day when growing up in Cambridge, she went to a store but forgot to carry money and she was given the dress for free. When she was a teenager, she was driving with a friend who was an awful driver and she ran a red but all it took was a "Sorry, officer" for them to be let free when they were pulled over by a policeman. Cameroon says that she got these free things because of the way she looked and not who she was. She adds that there are people paying a cost for how they look and not who they are. She gives an example of New York where in 2011 alone, over 120,000 black and Latino kids between 14 and 18 were stopped and frisked by the police. She says that there are about 170,000 young black and Latino men in New York and for them, it is not about whether they will be stopped, rather, how many times they will be stopped or when they will be stopped. Cameroon states that 53% of 13-year-old American girls are unhappy with their bodies and by the time they reach 17, the percentage grows to 78%. Cameroon uses ethos and statistics during her entire presentation. All these statistics on racial issues and the percentage of girls who are insecure about their bodies help in establishing more credibility in her speech.

The last question that Cameroon answers are, "What is it like to be a model?" She says that although many models say that it is amazing, this is only one half of the story. What most models never say on the camera is that they are insecure. They are insecure because they have to think about what they look like every day. The belief that having thinner thighs and shinier hair will make a person happier is wrong. Most models have all these physical features but they are the most physically insecure women on the planet. She says that although modeling has been her source of income, it does not always make her happy. The industry also has a legacy of gender and racial oppression and it makes Cameroon feel bad since she is one of the biggest beneficiaries. She concludes by saying that everyone should feel more comfortable acknowledging the power of image in their perceived successes and their perceived failures.

Conclusion

Cameroon is courageous and she tackles a topic often deemed as unworthy of the decision. There is a bias toward beauty and culture that exists in our society and Cameroon tries to highlight this issue. Teenage girls grow up ogling over magazines filled with models and their portrayal shows that they live a life full of happiness, luxury, and glamour. However, Cameroon reveals the reality behind the life on the magazine covers and the runways. All these images that elicit self-hatred and jealousy among young girls and teenagers are pure fabrications that are just designed to be perfect. Women and little girls should not hate their bodies because of the images they see in magazines. The modeling industry should also be diverse and stop its racial discrimination. It is also important for it to use plus size models as this will stop many women and girls to stop feeling insecure about their bodies.