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| Yes | 17% | 42 votes | Total: 246 votes | |
| No | 83% | 204 votes |
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Add to FavoritesWhat a question! Is becoming the next top model something our children should aspire to?
If my child came to me and said that they aspired to be a model then I would encourage them in seeking their dream but also remind them of the hard work that would be required of them in getting there. Likewise depending on the child's age I would inform them that the world of fashion modelling is just as ruthless, heartless, incestuous and corrupt as any other business worth millions of dollars.
I would also remind them that although being a supermodel might sound like fun (and I'm sure it can be) it is a job that only a handful of people ever attain so just as if my child said that they wanted to be an astronaut or cancer curer I would remind them not to get there hopes up unnecessarily. Though that is not to say that I would try to dissuade them.
However, I might start asking myself where the hell I went wrong as a parent when my child decided that they aspired to be appreciated merely for their aesthetics and besides which what is wrong with being a mere "model" why do people want to be a supermodel?
Surely if you aspire to be a model you'd be happy knowing that you've shown the garments you've been given to wear in their best possible light according to your ability? No. Because today's society is constantly offering a quick fame-tagged solution on the end of a piece of string called ridicule, TV shows such as American Idol, X-Factor and all the rest confirm this.
Kids these days (and I have to admit that I'm generalising here) don't actually want to be good at anything. They just want to be famous for doing something. A quick glance at the talentless nobodies who appear on any show that will have them just for their chance of 15 minutes in the limelight is evidence enough.
Don't get me wrong. I had dreams when I was young. I wanted to play bass guitar in a band it didn't have to be Iron Maiden though, just a band. I wanted to be an artist too not that I wanted to sell senseless smears of paint on canvas for more money than I could ever spend I just wanted to paint and sell the pieces at a reasonable price to those who would appreciate them.
But I am a part of the prior generation.
Kids of this generation want to be film stars rather than actors, pop stars rather than singers and supermodels rather than mere models because the television shows they watch have sold them the idea that it is all possible in spite of how untalented or ugly they may be. And we all know the reason why these reality shows do so, because they get more hilarious failures filling up their auditions.
In short, once my child understood the basis of this essay then I would be happy to pursue modelling so long as they had a good education, smart mind and rounded sense of identity to fall back on.
Learn more about this author, Richie Caldicott.
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No
Although it must be considered infinitely preferable to becoming a WAG (wife or girlfriend of an English footballer/soccer player), becoming a supermodel strikes me as something that is less an aspiration than something that might be considered a fun job for a short while in a young person's life.
Apart from the questionable practices that are reported in the modelling world around keeping slim, and the pressures to keep awake and working that surround modelling there are also some serious body image issues that should be addressed. Catwalk model clothes are generally designed for flat-chested six foot colts. In what way would you want your child representing this tiny minority as something that was for all of us.
Obviously if you have a very striking looking child, who is particularly good at the performing arts side of things, then they should by all means be be encouraged to take art, drama, photography, dance and singing lessons and pursue the arts in general as a career. if as a side-effect of this some modelling work comes along, then it pays the bills surely. However, to consider it a goal and something to aspire to is something I find difficult to deal with. To consider your child as a glorified clothes-horse is perhaps to sell them short of their full potential.
If your child is determined to pursue super modelling as a career, and there is every suggestion, that given the proliferation of TV reality shows, lifestyle magazines it is highly likely that they might consider it, by all means help them look into it. However, it is important to stress to them that it is a highly competitive and "honest" profession and they will tell your child very early on what they consider your short-comings to be. This can be very soul destroying, but it can help you get them onto a different track quite easily early on without damaging their ego irreparably.
The other reason you, as a parent should support and work with them is that modelling has at its edges a group of people who occupy the shadowier corners of the "modelling" world, and offer all sorts of things that either cannot be fulfilled, or that come with a cost that you as a parent may feel is too high to pay.
It cannot be ignored that while the supermodel career continues, for perhaps 10 years if you are lucky, it is extremely lucrative you need to ensure that your child has the skills and abilities to move into another direction when that period has finished, or they will feel extremely lost when their career is over, as for every Lisa Snowdon or Tess Daly who makes a transition into other areas, such as radio or Strictly Come Dancing there are many other models who you do not hear from again.
Learn more about this author, Lesley Rigg.
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