Terry Richardson’s Work is Degrading to Women

[fashionista-ta]

I can´t believe how women like Gaga, Beyonce and Madonna (to name a few) who are all about "woman power" choose to work with him...

Well, perhaps they're not, right? Lady Gaga and Madonna seem to be models of confusion and possibly also poor judgment. Two of these three are mothers of daughters, one a teenager like so many of these models ... you would think some sort of instinct would kick in.


PS Since when is Madonna or Lady Gaga anti-controversy? Perhaps some people and brands have perceived Richardson as being edgy (like I guess Madonna wanted her tacky Sex book to be), but that's actually quite different from being a pathetic old creep and pervert ... one who needs to become better acquainted with a rocking chair on a porch somewhere far, far away.

 

[kokobombon]

I believe it´s ignorance of up and coming celebs, like Lupita. Or how the controversy wasn´t so spread a few years ago and a lot of people didn´t know about it, but now that so many girls have come forward and so many details have become known it´s hard to not know.
I feel like some celebs are deceiving their audience, I feel bad for all those teens on tumblr who worship Beyonce. And though I don´t believe they´re meant to be role models they should have some ethics.

 

[Littleathquakes]

I make the same argument in the diversity thread about how celebs really should be silently boycotting named designers who only use caucasian models or white-skinned Asians (as some sort of loophole around it) to send a message and effect change. But then someone pointed out that not all celebs are that fashion-centric enough to know that such blatant racism exists within the industry or maybe their stylists don't care about the situation enough to educate their clients.

So maybe Gaga and Bey only knew TR's work as being sexy and provocative but not necessarily about the abuse allegations because they're just not knowledgeable about or, or the people who run their show refuse to tell them about TR's allegations. I would hope to believe that no celeb, especially a female one, would knowingly work with him, which implies support for him during this controversy, and risk facing the public backlash.

 

[fashionista-ta]

Since these poor celebrities are so ill-informed, perhaps we need to post to their social media and educate them ourselves.

I suppose anything is possible ... but I have practically a news blackout going on, and I know.

 

[Littleathquakes]

I suppose anything is possible ... but I have practically a news blackout going on, and I know.

you're giving the average celeb too much credit in the "they pay attention" dept. When you see a celeb on red carpets being interviewed, and their managers or publicists have to come up and whisper in their ears whose designs they're wearing because it's simply that hard to remember the designer you're wearing for that one night at this particular event...

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ These aren't average celebs we're talking about though ... we're talking about some of the most famous and successful women in the world. While they may occasionally play the ditz, there's no doubt these three are sharp.

 

[tigerrouge]

When Terry works with any big-name female celebrity, I usually take a moment to imagine him asking her to participate in any of the things he's said to typically suggest to models. He wouldn't dare to do it.

So the celebrity doesn't have to care about what might usually happen on set, as she's insulated from it, because the power of her fame has forced him to stay within some boundaries, and everyone gets to pretend that working with Terry is wonderful.

 

[bun-bun]

^I always imagined that to be pretty obvious.

The real question is whether a celebrity or their team willingly knows about his antics, the types of photographs he produces, and decides to go with him anyway, or worse, hires him because of this history. With new allegations coming out every day the idea that celebrities don't know about it is becoming less and less convincing. Given that a simple search of his photographs reveals exactly what kind of photographer and image he projects also leads me to believe that he is hired because of what he produces. How can anyone look at that Gaga video and not see what must have gone through Gaga's head: "I need to make a r*pe video, who do I hire? Who would be sleazy enough to go through with it?"

 

[lunabella]

Do you guys remember when Juergen Teller, who shoots all Marc Jacobs campaigns, refused to work with Miley Cyrus (I cannot remember the reason)?
I wish a powerful female celebrity would publicly refuse to work with Richardson. I think that could get people talking.

 

[tigerrouge]

But they will know - anyone who works within the industry is going to know what goes on behind the scenes, even if the general public hears nothing about it - but if people don't have any personal reason to complain about ill-treatment, they won't bother to take any action on behalf of others, not as long as they get a good set of images from a shoot, or a cover that's useful for self-promotion, or a video that'll keep them in the headlines for a day or so.

So people are aware, but if it doesn't fit in with their masterplan for staying popular and famous, they're not going to start speaking out on behalf of others, because heaven forbid that exercising their influence should ever inconvenience them.

 

[bun-bun]

I wish a powerful female celebrity would publicly refuse to work with Richardson. I think that could get people talking.

Yes! The sad excuses we currently have for "female empowering" celebrities are not going to provide us with this at all.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

^ Amen, especially in the pop world, but elsewhere too. It's a drag, darn it! We need better female role models, perhaps especially in the music industry.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ I think there are some great women in the music industry. Some are flying far under the radar though. Can one get to the tippy-top without compromising one's values (if one has what we would consider good values, that is), I wonder?

 

[Not Plain Jane]

sure they can fashionista-ta. look at female artists (off the top of my head) like bjork, patti smith, p.j. harvey, kate bush, the breeders, the pretenders, etcetera. these women are rock goddesses, and, by and large, feminists, too, who don't pander to the "sex-sells" bullsh*t like a lot of the "pop stars" of the present-day mainstream who feel the need to bare their nipples or lick this-that-and-the-other-thing. it's all so bloody trite. even someone like gwen stefani doesn't pander to the lowest common denominator. but as you note, a lot of the good ones are flying under the radar. the ones with brains wouldn't shoot with richardson.

seriously, i don't buy this crap that the celebs don't know about his reputation. it's everywhere! you'd have to be living under a rock not to have heard something.

 

[YoninahAliza]

^I was thinking that for musicians who are quite feminist and maybe not so much under the radar with the fashion set, Janelle Monae popped into my head. From what I can tell, she's never worked with Terry, and thank goodness for that. We need more women to call him out for his behavior and refuse to work with him. Was trying to see who else who is quite notably famous and hasn't worked with Terry and it seems like Emma Watson has never worked with him. So there are some people who haven't worked with him but they seem to be a bit rare, I mean for crying out loud, Gloria Steinem was photographed with him! There is also a clip of model Lakshmi Menon interviewed for V Files where she is asked if she does nudes and she responds, "Not for Terry." Which is just so, so awesome!

 

[Not Plain Jane]

^ One the articles above explains how the Steinem photo happened, and it wasn't due to Gloria shimmying up to him, let me tell ya. I agree with you, as always, Yoninah.

p.s. St. Vincent, another quite cool female artist on the rise, who doesn't lick this-that-and... well you know what I mean.

 

[fashionista-ta]

sure they can fashionista-ta. look at female artists (off the top of my head) like bjork, patti smith, p.j. harvey, kate bush, the breeders, the pretenders, etcetera. these women are rock goddesses, and, by and large, feminists, too, who don't pander to the "sex-sells" bullsh*t like a lot of the "pop stars" of the present-day mainstream who feel the need to bare their nipples or lick this-that-and-the-other-thing. it's all so bloody trite. even someone like gwen stefani doesn't pander to the lowest common denominator. but as you note, a lot of the good ones are flying under the radar. the ones with brains wouldn't shoot with richardson.

seriously, i don't buy this crap that the celebs don't know about his reputation. it's everywhere! you'd have to be living under a rock not to have heard something.

I agree, Patti Smith has had a great career and on her own terms, as have many other stellar women in the music industry. I probably wasn't clear about what I meant by 'tippy-top' ... I mean the omnipresence in the 'culture,' owning that #1 spot on the charts, mainstream magazines covers, etc. The kind of prominence Madonna and Lady Gaga have had, that one-name thing. Probably not even a goal for many of these women.


I'll have to try to find the story behind the Gloria Steinem photograph ... I was like, thumbs up, are you kidding me?!?!

 

[fashionista-ta]

Found a story that mentioned Gloria had no idea who he was when the picture was taken. The one I found just now had only his thumb up, and Gloria with a weak smile.


Here's the petition link (34K+ signatures to date, goal is 50K http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitio...gr*ph*c-terry-richardson-as-your-photographer

 

[BerlinRocks]

There is also a clip of model Lakshmi Menon interviewed for V Files where she is asked if she does nudes and she responds, "Not for Terry."

@ 3min05

somebody with skills should do an animated gif out of that and spread it on tumblr.

 

[BerlinRocks]

Is this normal 2 of the top stories in this thread are about 2 perverts ?

EDIT (post 599 a gif already exists. HERE.