In the news today is a story about 16-year-old model Hailey Clauson and her parents suing Urban Outfitters for putting a “salacious” image of her taken when she was only 15 on t-shirts:
Filed in Manhattan on Thursday, the lawsuit alleges: ‘She is posed in a blatantly salacious manner with her legs spread, without a bra, revealing portions of her breasts.
‘The image of Teen in a spread eagle position making her crotch area the focal point of the image may portray a child in a sexually suggestive manner and may be in violation of one or more federal and/or state laws.’
It accuses Mr Parry of making ‘her crotch area the focal point of the image’, adding that it also appears to reveal ‘what some observers believe to be pubic hair.’
A number of things are really sad about this whole episode. One is that this young girl was posing for such sexy shots in the first place. If you search her name on the Internet, you’ll come up with a bunch of photos taken when she was as young as 14 that are clearly inappropriate for a girl of that age. One highlights her bare legs as she poses provocatively in what appears to be pleather underwear. In this picture it’s clear she’s a child, and yet the photographer posed her in such a way to make her look like a sexualized adult.
If you want to be creeped out, read the comments on this thread about Hailey Clauson. The thread is started by a man who is clearly obsessed with Hailey. He gushes in his initial post:
I came across her completely randomly. I find her features so stunning even if she’s just 14. I can see her doing great things!
He then posts picture after picture of her, some in bikinis where she’s clearly so young she barely has gotten any womanly curves yet.
What’s sad about this thread is that it’s not just one creepy guy slobbering over a 14-year-old girl, but many women participate in the worship of Hailey’s body. A constant focal point is her lips:
Apparently she is in NYC at the moment. I think she is amazing, just needs to grow into herself a little more and learn to use her lips in the best way so they aren’t too distracting. A lot of girls’ lips look bigger when they are younger, then they grow into them (I am thinking of Hannah Davis).
The entire thread on this young model spans 65 pages. That grown adults would spend this much time oohing and aahing over the beauty of a young teen is extremely disturbing.
But, this is all part and parcel to our supermodel culture. Modeling is seen as “glamorous” and great attention is put towards the so-called “talent” of the model. People obsessed with models, men and women alike, don’t seem to be bothered one bit by the increasingly young ages of the models being photographed.
And despite some outcry over the use of young models, and even industry standards set to keep girls under 16 off the runway, casting directors and photographers seem to have no problem using underage girls. Hailey Clauson had actually appeared on the runway at 15, despite an industry rule that underage girls weren’t supposed to be doing runway work. The fault lies with the people in the industry, many of whom seem to be either oblivious to the exploitation of girls or are consciously complicit in it.
Blaming the Parents
In comments on the articles over the Hailey Clauson lawsuit with Urban Outfitters, people seemed to brush it off by saying that the parents were simply “in it for the money” and didn’t really care about whether their child was sexualized, considering how many bikini shots of her are plastered over the Internet. This may be true, but it still does not excuse Urban Outfitters for printing the t-shirts, nor does it excuse the photographer who took the pictures in the first place.
That said, parents who allow their girls to be photographed for modeling purposes should be more careful about the types of pictures they allow. Unfortunately, they aren’t that careful. They themselves may have been exploited as children, or they are simply dumb, clueless or greedy.
Should there be laws against taking certain types of photographs of teenage girls? If so, where is the line? What separates a “suggestive” photo from a pornographic one?
Perhaps the Urban Outfitters lawsuit is the way to go – if more photographers and companies fear litigation over salacious photos of young girls, they will be less likely to indulge in it.
Regardless, we as a society need to start demanding the end to child exploitation in the name of modeling. If you don’t think these sorts of pictures aren’t encourage pedophilia, go read that Hailey Clauson thread I linked to above. I personally found it chilling. Some of the posters there are people who would have no problem having sex with a minor if given the opportunity. They are clearly mentally disturbed, and society is encouraging their youth fetish.
