You notice how young these girls start out when modeling and the modeling industry make these girls grow up or mature very very fast and I always hear this from models themselves when interviewed. It's always good to hear that modeling has helped a lot of these girls financially and thereby substantially improving not only their life but of their respective families as well. Whereas on the other side, hearing stories where some industry people take advantage and molest these young girls who are hard up for cash is so lowly, disgusting and evil of them. I agree that models should be entitled to better benefits by their agencies especially when these are the very same agencies who push these girls to over work. *****Edited****** Lastly, education is very important, I admire models who finish school before modeling (Natasha), juggles modeling and school, and those who go back to school after modeling.
How cute is Tanya on that interview, i love her voice. Her English and walk has improved so much in the recent year.
The problem with a 'union' is that involves a complete restructuring of the nature of the business. To say that the entire business would remain the same with a union, and merely adopt better standards is a little naive. The money has to come from somewhere. I think if you see models unionizing, you'll see a lot fewer models; you may even seen the general payscale for models decline. Establishing a union would require the entire practice of modeling to change with it.
Modeling, perhaps more than any other industry (certainly more than any other industry that I can think of), is unusual in its economic structure. In terms of scarcity, models are actually
overpaid. For the most part, unless you are a household name, a supermodel that people will recognize, models are 'plug and play' into ad campaigns. They don't need a particular skillset or a particular person; they just need someone that will fit the clothes, look pretty good, and work with the photographers. There are a lot of people that can fit all of those criteria.
In comparison, the relative scarcity of the photographers and executives is exponentially higher. You could run through hundreds of bum executives (threatening to bankrupt the entire company in the process) before you find that one gem. And believe me, once you find that one gem of an executive, you will do everything in your power to keep him or her -- if he or she feels the best way to run the company would be to exploit some young girls, then they're going to do it. The same cannot be said of most models. If one girl drops out, you can find another one to do mostly the same thing with only marginal differences in terms of market performance.
To compare the modeling industry with the acting industry is also a bit difficult. The big players in the film industry would benefit from having a union. Top actors, top directors, top writers, those are the ones with the power in that industry. The same cannot be said in the fashion industry. The top designers, the top agencies, the top brands would not benefit from having a union; in fact, those with the power are ones that would be hurt most by having a union. The product structure is completely different. Compared to the fashion industry, the film industry's 'fat cats', e.g. the studios with the money, are much more like venture capitalists than chief executives.
Also, film creates competitive product differentiation. Each actor is different. Their skills are different. Their talent is different. Each director is different. Each writer is different. And film actively showcases the differences of their most prominent people. In modeling, supply far outweighs demand. There are plenty of young girls willing to gamble on the industry that the incumbents aren't the ones that have the power. Most models don't stay around long enough or get the opportunity to differentiate themselves from the next pretty face.
As for asking why that these 'powerful women' like the casting directors, editors, and designers don't speak out more, if the cost between speaking out and not speaking out is significant profit margin that could result in their job, most people will become selfish. It's a simple byproduct of capitalism and of human nature. People will pursue their own interests first. The people in power are hardly innocent in this affair.
Obviously, from a pure labor-time value perspective, unions don't make sense. This obviously doesn't mean that models don't deserve better treatment, because many of them do, but it depends on the purely subjective value placed on a code of ethics, for
all parties involved. How much money are you willing to lose to have a clean conscious?
What I do find a little narrow-minded is that this is purely an issue of a lack of feminism within the fashion industry. I doubt exploitation is exclusive to the female models. Further, I doubt the predatory nature of the industry only cuts one way. How many times do you see a model dump an agency because they feel they can make more money elsewhere? It's a predatory industry on all sides. And it's hardly alone in that regard. I bet if you did a closer examination of a lot of these 'glamorous' industries (say... music, film, athletics, etc), you'll see a ton of exploitation on all sides. Many individuals working in those areas are treated like cattle. That's the cost of being young, rich, and famous. If you want all three, you're probably going to be treated like a piece of meat half the time.
Oh so its supposed to be ignored?
How would you feel if your daughter was taken advantage of? This is sick how people are reacting to this.
In other words, you're saying how things
should be in a perfect world. You really don't think that an industry that thrives on sex will have incidents of sexual harassment and people getting taken advantage of sexually? Where are you going to get these angels to run the fashion industry? Where are these angelic models who are willing to sacrifice their career to out the atrocities committed?
Would harpooning the entire modeling industry be a worthwhile cost for implementing the 'fair' treatment that you want? A lot of people would say no. Most of the models themselves would probably say no. That's real talk.
These models value the money that they get from the industry more than they do 'justice.' That's why they're terrified to come out. Is it right? No. But you can just as easily say that they aren't willing to fight hard enough for their cause.
Everyone knows how things 'should be.' If we could all move to El Dorado, I would be happy to arrange the trip.
According to your logic, a woman who wears a short skirt is inviting herself to be raped, no? She brought it upon herself, in other words. Let's blame the victims instead of the criminals. 
