Zuzanna Buchwald: I'm Not Your Clothes Hanger

Another "brave" model I've never heard of, literally crying about the pressures of modeling and saying we, the evil industry people, gave her an ED:

http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/zuzanna-buchwald-model-eating-disorder/
"Isn't it unfortunate that one of the only things you can control as a model is your looks? "

imagine: "isn't it unfortunate that one of the only things you can control as a doctor is your treatment of your patients?" "isn't it unfortunate that one of the only things you can control as a teacher are your lectures?" "isn't it unfortunate that one of the only things you can control as a lawyer is your litigation?"
and so on and so on and so on...
 
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If you lose weight, you will be praised for how good you look and sent out to castings
In which case, she was so lucky to be able to work in an industry where she would actually see the benefits and rewards of her hard work like that. Many people have to work jobs where working their fingers to the bone, either literally or figuratively, is the minimum requirement because it's their only option.
She threw it away and went crying to the media because she was upset she couldn't just put no effort it and still make a living out of modeling? She was probably replaced with a girl who wanted it/needed it 10 times more than her and was therefore willing to work 100 times harder.
 
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These articles are starting to make me so sad.. It's almost like I can see the industry changing before my eyes, slowly cheapened and picked apart until every choice is based on having to be politically correct. Designers and clients shouldn't have to walk around on egg shells and be careful not to hurt anyone's feelings, this is not how it's supposed to be..!

I miss the time when designers were free to book any girl they wanted, when models could starve and sculpt their body to reach a certain aesthetic, when it was all about the look they had and no one gave a shit about health or average people's feelings. The fashion industry is BASED on the visual aesthetic, it's creating art and looks and pushing the limits only to hang the clothes on a model who doesn't look or act real. They shouldn't be scared to book a girl who looks painfully skinny if that's the look they want!

And models are supposed to portray the elite, the unreal, they're SUPPOSED to have an unachievable look, because that's what sells clothes, making people think that it's the clothes that make the model look amazing not vice versa. Being a model is not a RIGHT, it's a gift from the genetic gods combined with working your ass off, and even then, you still might not make it anywhere. They're not there to make people feel good about themselves, quite the opposite actually.

So either learn to love the pain and suffering that comes with this (beyond amazing) industry or get the fuck out.
 
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"Isn't it unfortunate that one of the only things you can control as a model is your looks? "

imagine: "isn't it unfortunate that one of the only things you can control as a doctor is your treatment of your patients?" "isn't it unfortunate that one of the only things you can control as a teacher are your lectures?" "isn't it unfortunate that one of the only things you can control as a lawyer is your litigation?"
and so on and so on and so on...

OMG :highfive: that is the first line that jumped out at me. I had that exact thought, like:

"Isn't it unfortunate that one of the only things you can control as an airline pilot is the plane?"
:mclap: :nopity:

FFS what other career do you get to whine about the "pressure" to simplydoyourfuckingjob and people will feel sorry for you and pat your head like aww, poor baby, it's so unfair?

I looked her up bc I didn't recognize her name or face. She's like literally nobody. She is plain AF (by fashion model standards, I am not denying she is pretty). Never booked any major work that I could see. She did a few good shows .. more than ten years ago .. but something was off bc she didn't seem to get re-booked.

She is just slamming us for exposure, and I think that's just cheap whore BS. It's like bitch, so you were in school in Bumfuck, Poland, probably working part time at your pervy Uncle's wood shop, minding your own business, and then we evil industry people showed up and ruined your life?? :hahano: Nothing about her life right now would probably even exist if it wasn't for the people she is now slamming.

A few of us were just talking about this at work. I was thinking of posting a bit by bit takedown of her stupid article but maybe that's giving her more of my time than she deserves.

Sorrynotsorry, I get so :supermad: at these whiny shitheads, I actually take it personally and I shouldn't.
 
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And since I'm already in rant mode here, can I just say that it pisses me off to no end that models are now having even MORE pressure put on them because of this whole movement. Now suddenly we all have to be in perfect health and follow BMI standards and all kinds of crap, or else you're sick and have a mental illness etc etc.

Excuse me, but I hiiiighly doubt the majority of average people get all the nutrients they need, that they're the peak of health at all times, I mean for gods sake why can they be overweight while simultaneously bashing others for being underweight??

In my opinion perfect health shouldn't be a requirement for any job whatsoever, because it's none of anyone's god damn business. And as for models, as long as you LOOK healthy, and have the energy to keep up with work and castings, then you should be allowed to be as starved and nutrient deficient as you want. It's none of anyone's business.
 
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In which case, she was so lucky to be able to work in an industry where she would actually see the benefits and rewards of her hard work like that. Many people have to work jobs where working their fingers to the bone, either literally or figuratively, is the minimum requirement because it's their only option.
She threw it away and went crying to the media because she was upset she couldn't just put no effort it and still make a living out of modeling? She was probably replaced with a girl who wanted it/needed it 10 times more than her and was therefore willing to work 100 times harder.

THIS!!!

HONEY PIE, NONE OF US ARE FORCING YOU TO DO ANYTHING. NEXT, PLEASE!
 
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Sorrynotsorry, I get so :supermad: at these whiny shitheads, I actually take it personally and I shouldn't.
Completely understandable though. As stupid as it sounds, I never really made the connection before that when people bash the industry, it would feel like a personal attack because you are who they're talking about. And you may be a bitch sometimes (which I mean in the best way possible:kiss:) but I VERY highly doubt you go to work every day trying to give girls eating disorders (or, for that matter, do any of the evil things that these whiny bitches say that the super terrible fashion industry!1!1 did to them)
 
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These articles are starting to make me so sad.. It's almost like I can see the industry changing before my eyes, slowly cheapened and picked apart until every choice is based on having to be politically correct. Designers and clients shouldn't have to walk around on egg shells and be careful not to hurt anyone's feelings, this is not how it's supposed to be..!

I miss the time when designers were free to book any girl they wanted, when models could starve and sculpt their body to reach a certain aesthetic, when it was all about the look they had and no one gave a shit about health or average people's feelings. The fashion industry is BASED on the visual aesthetic, it's creating art and looks and pushing the limits only to hang the clothes on a model who doesn't look or act real. They shouldn't be scared to book a girl who looks painfully skinny if that's the look they want!

And models are supposed to portray the elite, the unreal, they're SUPPOSED to have an unachievable look, because that's what sells clothes, making people think that it's the clothes that make the model look amazing not vice versa. Being a model is not a RIGHT, it's a gift from the genetic gods combined with working your ass off, and even then, you still might not make it anywhere. They're not there to make people feel good about themselves, quite the opposite actually.

So either learn to love the pain and suffering that comes with this (beyond amazing) industry or get the fuck out.

Overall I agree w/ you & I know you're just trying to make a point about creative freedom & preferences but my best models are very dedicated, very disciplined, very hardworking, but not "suffering". Sacrificing yes. But if she is in a bad place mentally or physically she will not last long and that isn't good for her and not good for me (bad investment of agency time and money.)
 
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Checked out her Bellazon thread, whoever told her that she could be a model, should be punished.
At age 28, she should know better and reflect herself again, bashing an whole industry for her misery doesn't seem right.

Good luck to her though.
 
I'm starting to realize that the biggest issue for some of these girls is not that they don't have the looks, but that they don't really have anything to be confident about but looks. I notice a lot of the girls making these complaints don't seem to be intellectual, or educated, or skilled at anything other than looking pretty, and really no one rewards you for being a nice person, and it comes as a shock to them that the industry says they're not pretty enough because that's the one thing they've been praised for their whole life.
Counterexample: girl in my undergrad modeled on the side - she was pretty, tall, and thinnish. I've never heard her bitching about the industry standards because a) she has a great academic degree to fall back on, and b) she knows she's goddamn lucky to get jobs.

or else you're sick and have a mental illness etc etc.
This, my god, this. Mental illness is not a goddamn body type.
 
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Googled it, she, as of 3 weeks ago, called herself a model, and then has uploaded pictures in the past week on instagram thanking companies for stuff and tagging "photographers" :hahano:
1723356_1569580003359953_884847143_n(1).jpg
.
 
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All these girls always strike me as someone who has been told her whole life by family and friends that she is oh so pretty and "you could totally model!", because most people have no damn clue what modelling is about. So as soon as someone tells this girl that she isn't the perfect little snowflake she thought she was, she cracks.

The problem these days is that the fashion industry is trendy among average people (probably due to many people having more money and being exposed more to brands via social media). There were complaints about the fashion industry before, but it's really taking off now because people that think the fashion industry is just about "being pretty" and their entitled soccer mom attitudes are trying to be models.
 
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No one tells you to stop when you start looking too thin.
Darling, no one tells you to stop because you never got there- being too thin.

Ugh. Personal experience does not equal statistical evidence for anything in this word. All these girls should stop making assumption about the industry in general, based on their own limited and lame experience!

Also, this emoji is very much needed: :slap:
 
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Ugh! I want to slap this girl!

Now, it could be my ignorance and I'm very happy to be corrected, but the only part of this article that struck me as being true was the following statement:

"I, for one, can't understand how is it possible that this very visible industry exists—and thrives—with no rules or serious regulations that either dictate the behavior of those who work within it, or to protect those involved. How come there are no norms?".

At least in Australia, almost every industry is very highly regulated by OH&S laws, and our employment laws are very pro employee. The unions in Australia are also very powerful. Working as a lawyer, I get very frustrated with how difficult it can be to discipline an employee or fire them - employees have SO many rights it's almost laughable. However, those protections do not extend to workers who are not legally "employees", which means models (who are not employees, but usually contractors) do not have the benefit of the protections I described above. Most contractors in most industries can negotiate their pay and other entitlements and review their contract to ensure it contains no unfair terms. However, in the modelling industry where you have 1000s of girls competing against each other, the girls have no bargaining power as there is always another girl right behind them ready to take their place. Accordingly, they are left working very long hours for little to no pay, just so they can get the exposure.

Of course, each industry comes with its own set of hardships and if you want to be successful at what you do, then you just need to suck it up. Still, I just wanted to share my thoughts as I did think she had a somewhat valid point when she said the modelling industry was one of the few unregulated industries with no little protections for those working in it.
 
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Hmm, I feel bad because she is obviously mentally fragile. But modeling is not a right. If she wants to make a living off of her looks, then she has to at least meet the physical qualifications. If that is not something she can cope with, then find a different career? I don't know, it just seems kind of obvious?

Like, I hate my job sometimes too. It's insanely stressful. But I chose it, knowing what was involved. And if I decide I can't cope with it, I'll switch careers.

I just don't know why this new generation of models (at least the ones the media focuses on) feels like they should be rewarded for nothing. If there were no qualifications for models, magazines could just throw any random, passably photogenic person on covers.
 
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Ugh! I want to slap this girl!

Now, it could be my ignorance and I'm very happy to be corrected, but the only part of this article that struck me as being true was the following statement:

"I, for one, can't understand how is it possible that this very visible industry exists—and thrives—with no rules or serious regulations that either dictate the behavior of those who work within it, or to protect those involved. How come there are no norms?".

At least in Australia, almost every industry is very highly regulated by OH&S laws, and our employment laws are very pro employee. The unions in Australia are also very powerful. Working as a lawyer, I get very frustrated with how difficult it can be to discipline an employee or fire them - employees have SO many rights it's almost laughable. However, those protections do not extend to workers who are not legally "employees", which means models (who are not employees, but usually contractors) do not have the benefit of the protections I described above. Most contractors in most industries can negotiate their pay and other entitlements and review their contract to ensure it contains no unfair terms. However, in the modelling industry where you have 1000s of girls competing against each other, the girls have no bargaining power as there is always another girl right behind them ready to take their place. Accordingly, they are left working very long hours for little to no pay, just so they can get the exposure.

Of course, each industry comes with its own set of hardships and if you want to be successful at what you do, then you just need to suck it up. Still, I just wanted to share my thoughts as I did think she had a somewhat valid point when she said the modelling industry was one of the few unregulated industries with no little protections for those working in it.
I think it also has to do with the temporary nature of the work. Full-time employees get benefits, but I feel like there's not much oversight for an industry of part-timers.
Also, it's unskilled labor. I don't mean it's not difficult, I mean you don't need a degree to model. Any position with unskilled labor means tons of competition and low compensation.
 
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Overall I agree w/ you & I know you're just trying to make a point about creative freedom & preferences but my best models are very dedicated, very disciplined, very hardworking, but not "suffering". Sacrificing yes. But if she is in a bad place mentally or physically she will not last long and that isn't good for her and not good for me (bad investment of agency time and money.)

Sorry, that was bad choice of word! By no means do I think true/long term suffering is part of modeling, but I'm so sick of living with girls who constantly complain about everything from having blisters and being forced into shoes two sizes too small, being hungry and sore from the gym, too tired for this and that. It's non stop complaints on something they, themselves, choose to do, and either you learn to love the lifestyle (constant traveling, long hours, maintaining very low body weight etc.) which sure, can be exhausting and hurt, or go away.
 
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I just don't know why this new generation of models (at least the ones the media focuses on) feels like they should be rewarded for nothing. If there were no qualifications for models, magazines could just throw any random, passably photogenic person on covers.

Yep. Shooting ads and campaigns take money. If they aren't what the client wants, that's just it. She is free to pursue catalogue or plus-sized modelling. It's a free market.
No one should be feel SO ENTITLED to be paid for their looks, especially not when they're throwing a tantrum and especially when there are better looking and harder working candidates for the job.

All I hear is " But I'm preeeeetttttttyyyyyyyyyy......love me, hire me, pay meeeeee!"
 
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