I’ve shared this amazing TED.com talk by Victoria’s Secret model Cameron Russell on Facebook, but just to be sure EVERYONE watches it, I’m posting it here.
If you dream of being a model, if you idolize models, if you wonder how models can look so perfect, if you think non-white models are underrepresented, if you think all models are pea brains… this is a must-see:
Still want to enter the MODELING MENTOR MODEL SEARCH? I say, Go for it. Modeling can give you a platform to launch into a viable career in a number of different fields: fashion design, photography, journalism, music, PR, business (I know a ton of successful ex-model entrepreneurs), sales. It also can help pay for college. The key is to view posing as a means to an end, not the be all and end all.
Kudos, Cameron, for reassuring the general public that images are constructions—nobody looks perfect all the time—and reminding the winners of the genetic lottery not to let luck go their heads.
Admire the awareness Cameron has. It may not always be easy to recognize privilege when one is the recipient.