Terry Richardson’s Work is Degrading to Women

[Benn98]

Models need to get themselves a workers union

They should, but they probably wouldnt. You'd think judged solely by the amount of lawsuits between models and their agencies, these girls would rally around and insist on a union. But it's the lack of solidarity, you see. And the fact that most models themselves clearly doesnt regard their profession as a serious career. I know I shouldnt, but I hate it when people go public about a case, then eventually settle for hush money. I find it immoral in a way, almost like she's saying my traumatic experience can be dealt with at the right price. That's not justice!

 

[tigerrouge]

So what is justice, then?

 

[fashionista-ta]

They should, but they probably wouldnt. You'd think judged solely by the amount of lawsuits between models and their agencies, these girls would rally around and insist on a union. But it's the lack of solidarity, you see. And the fact that most models themselves clearly doesnt regard their profession as a serious career. I know I shouldnt, but I hate it when people go public about a case, then eventually settle for hush money. I find it immoral in a way, almost like she's saying my traumatic experience can be dealt with at the right price. That's not justice!

It's important to distinguish between civil and criminal cases. If it's criminal, the accused can probably plead it out, but there is no hush money involved.


In a civil case, if it goes to court and it looks like the abuser is going to lose, they will absolutely try to settle, likely with $$$ terms advantageous to the person or people who brought the suit. If it is settled out of court, then along with that there is always a confidentiality agreement. That is how these cases go down. I may not like it and you may not like it, but it is how the system works.


Of course it's not immoral. I think it's quite helpful actually for the women to talk about it beforehand, as much as possible, because if they sign an agreement, they're probably never going to be able to talk about it again.


With regard to unions, all unions pretty much are on the wane. There is no strong unionizing model for them to follow. Models are typically very young, often too young to hold any other 'real job.' They haven't even started to come into their own, so of course they're naïve ... many, many adults twice their age who should unionize aren't doing it. I certainly wouldn't blame minors for failing to straighten out the industry.

 

[fashionista-ta]

I don't think it's naïve. I think you're painting a broad stroke of the incarcerated minorities because of what's currently in the news when in likelihood there's probably more evidence against it than there is for it. While there are cases of people imprisoned wrongly, the number of minorities who are imprisoned are because they did commit theirs crimes and the fact that they are more of them merely correlates to more crimes being committed by minorities than whites. Look into any urban areas vs a whiter neighborhood and there are more crimes being committed in the urban areas. That's not a racist view, it is a social commentary on what's happening - which is, urban areas tend to have more minorities, and due to the poorer wages and living conditions, crimes are being committed. And those crimes, where it's minorities attacking minorities, don't make the news.

Just so you know, I'm not making this up. I really can't improve on nataliaapple's suggestion that you read The New Jim Crow. I suspect that once you educate yourself, you'll agree with me. What I'm saying is not at all speculative.

 

[StoneSkipper]

They should, but they probably wouldnt. You'd think judged solely by the amount of lawsuits between models and their agencies, these girls would rally around and insist on a union. But it's the lack of solidarity, you see. And the fact that most models themselves clearly doesnt regard their profession as a serious career.

I think you have a point re: solidarity. Those girls are young and foreign entering a world full of powerful people who will often abuse that power - I've said it before somewhere else, but I'll reiterate: models are young so they can be more easily manipulated and preyed upon. (Of course there's other reasons, but I'm afraid I'd be breaking the rules of the forum should I speak about those.) And these girls are taught that they have to be the prettiest, the thinnest, the sexiest, the fiercest, and they can't let anyone else steal their jobs. They have to work to be the best, and the other models are just competition that should be taken down. And that sense of competition really does take away the importance of solidarity, which would make it much, much harder for women to unite and create a worker's union. (Plus, I think a lot of agencies would be fairly opposed to it, because it would take away their control on the girls.) I hope I'm wrong, though! I see signs of change, but I'm hoping we can get much, much farther than this.

 

[cheepmunk]

The black/white marijuana arrest gap, in nine charts.

Also: White people are more likely to deal, but black people are more likely to get arrested for it.

I don't blame those women for settling with Cosby. If there weren't so many of them now, if we were talking about just one or two accusers, I doubt anyone would believe them. They would have been dragged through the dirt and back, no matter how much proof they had. Even with Richardson, everyone accepts that he's a big creeping creeper who creeps, but the last model I remember speaking out about him (I haven't been paying attention to this stuff for the past couple of years) got a lot of backlash for it.

 

[Littleathquakes]

^That is a blanket statement. Have you read The New Jim Crow? If not, you should. Jails in America are filled at an alarmingly increasing rate with people of color for minor drug violations like possession of marijuana. Marijuana. Think about that. I'm sure a large majority of this community has puffed a lil Mary Jane. Not worth being jailed for.

It goes deeper than that and is really tied to institutionalized racism. The constitution was not written to include people of color. After all people of color were once only considered 3/5ths of a human being. Just 3/5ths. A system can not fail those it was not intended to protect. So in fact, the system works, but mostly for those with the right skin color.

Also, what's going on in the news now has ALWAYS been going on. The only difference is social media and cameras.

fashionista-ta I don't believe in our justice system either. But I can go on and on... I wont though.

It is a blanket statement, but I don't believe it's far from the truth at all. And as I've mentioned, the crimes of minorities on minorities, which far outweigh the number of news story about white officers and minorities, do not get reported - and those add to the jail count.

Just so you know, I'm not making this up. I really can't improve on nataliaapple's suggestion that you read The New Jim Crow. I suspect that once you educate yourself, you'll agree with me. What I'm saying is not at all speculative.

I can't either. For the record, I never accused you of making it up, I just think you place a heavier emphasis on an admittedly faulty part of a system that, for the most part, has kept this country in one piece far better than a lot of other 1st world societies considering the amount of racial issues the US faces vs all those other nations. The argument nataliapple is making is about Marijuana infringement, which is an illegal act with the 3 strikes you're in jail for life. While applicable to the discussion, that is on a whole different tangent than what we are discussing - which is the judicial system and the crime rate/incarceration ratio of minorities. Chiefing and getting caught are considered a crime - you do it, you go to jail. That's the law. If you argue that that is draconian, I would agree. But that doesn't make the system broken.

 

[fashionista-ta]

What makes the system broken is the fact that who you are and what you look like much more than what you do determines whether or not you go to prison.

 

[Emmanuelle]

The Model Alliance, founded by Sara Ziff exists. This association helps models in USA. Thanks to them young models have the child performers status in NY. They provide help in the industry and girls can write them if they have problems at work. I think it is a very good start ! Here is the link http://modelalliance.org/mission

 

[nataliaapple]

It is a blanket statement, but I don't believe it's far from the truth at all. And as I've mentioned, the crimes of minorities on minorities, which far outweigh the number of news story about white officers and minorities, do not get reported - and those add to the jail count.



I can't either. For the record, I never accused you of making it up, I just think you place a heavier emphasis on an admittedly faulty part of a system that, for the most part, has kept this country in one piece far better than a lot of other 1st world societies considering the amount of racial issues the US faces vs all those other nations. The argument nataliapple is making is about Marijuana infringement, which is an illegal act with the 3 strikes you're in jail for life. While applicable to the discussion, that is on a whole different tangent than what we are discussing - which is the judicial system and the crime rate/incarceration ratio of minorities. Chiefing and getting caught are considered a crime - you do it, you go to jail. That's the law. If you argue that that is draconian, I would agree. But that doesn't make the system broken.

Two things:

1. The minority on minority crime is a faulty argument in regards to it being reported in the news because 9 times out of 10 if a minority kills another, they are charged and mostly likely convicted and thrown in prison. This is not the same for whites (specifically police) who kill minorities. It's apples and oranges.

2. If one can r*pe a slew of women, beat women and add in there any other violent crime (outside of murder/manslaughter) and settle out of court or pay a fine but you can go to jail for marijuana possession/use (non violent) then the system is indeed broken. When it costs more to keep a prisoner alive than to educate a child, the system is broken. When there are more people in prison in America than all of the top countries combined, the system is broken.

"Russia has about 850,000 prisoners. North Korea has about 150,000 in prison. If you add up the totals for those countries, plus Iran, Cuba, the U.K., Venezuela, Turkey, Canada, and Australia, the total comes to under 1.6 million prisoners. The United States has more than 2 million people in prison, and more than 4 million are on supervised parole." (http://legalbroadcastnetwork.com/th...ces-the-rest-of-the-world-bob-donley-explains)

If you believe this country is in 'one piece' you're sadly mistaken. But it also depends on which side of the lens you're viewing it from.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ I generally agree with your points, but I'm not sure that it's a problem that it costs more to house a prisoner than to educate a child. Where the problem in my mind comes in is who we're spending that money on, and typically it's not people who are truly a danger to society. (No, as in Terry's case, we like to keep a lot of those people on the outside.) I can see that a secure environment is necessarily expensive--and we shouldn't be educating children in a prison-like environment.

 

[nataliaapple]

^You're right and that's what I meant by that point. Where the money is being spent. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

People like Terry Richardson (not sure to the extent his transgressions have been reported), Bill Cosby and even Dr. Dre (Google his abuse against women) shouldn't get a tap on the wrist from the justice system.

 

[dsamg]

So for people who haven't seen, Terry has a competition running at the moment where he is shooting 5 real people in Paris next Monday, you just take an Instagram picture and tag him. I find it very interesting, there have been hundreds of articles over the last few years about Terry's behaviour and how he treats women on shoots but if you look in his tagged photos there are still thousands and thousands of girls begging him to shoot them.....

 

[fashionista-ta]

Half our problem is men behaving badly, and the other half is us.

 

[AtticusFinch]

Half our problem is men behaving badly, and the other half is us.

Don't forget to mention the reduced opportunities females have in life. I can't believe many women would stay silent when experiencing sexual harassment or other unpleasant experiences had they no fear in detrimental repercussions.

 

[fashionista-ta]

We're talking about young women in Paris here. (Unless women worldwide are eligible and he's going to put them on planes for Monday?) I'm not sure their level of opportunity is really the problem. Are their little heads empty of all but a desire for fame? Have they been under a rock & are unaware of Terry's little problem? I really don't know ... but I hope their guardian angels are ready to work overtime.

 

[AtticusFinch]

I truly wonder when the ice will break with him like Cosby and that English guy whose name I have forgotten.

 

[Koibito]

Yesterday i just found A LOT of his nasty photos that i couldnt believe in my eyes. This man is a super perv. I wonder why he's still around in the fashion industry.

 

[fashionista-ta]

Pure and simple, because women like Glenda Bailey are ensuring his ability to remain there. If women in fashion refused to work with him, he would be relegated to the p*rn industry where he belongs.


I know this for sure ... Terry Richardson is not exempt from karma. Perhaps in his next life he will be a hapless third-world model with a penchant for bad glasses.

 

[Benn98]

I was quite surprised to see his work featured in VP a few months ago, and people still casually remarked that it looked good. Ok, there was nothing offensive about it, but the mere fact that he could still book VP was sickening enough.