An advantage that young men have over young woman is that they don't aspire to be models. The word 'model' in relation to the fashion industry is, in itself, problematic. There's an undertone that we should have aspirations to look like these people. (Take the phrase 'model behaviour' meaning 'behaviour to which we should aspire'.) I argue a case for a more appropriate job title: "Walking Clothes Hanger" would do it. It's not that I have anything against models as people.
They are cogs in the wheel of the fashion industry, and very important cogs at that. It's just that their very odd body types and, at times very odd behaviours, should not be held up as a model. What I find disturbing is that if you subscribe to any of the pay TV packages, you'll receive, like it or not, a channel called 'Fashion TV' in which these walking coat hangers are interviewed about their opinions on a wide range of issues. And people are actually interested in what they have to say.
Now I do have a problem with this. I'm not trying to fool anyone into believing anything other than the truth: Beautiful people are listened to more than non-beautiful people. Like celebrities, who are less and less seen doing what they're 'celebrated' for and more for what their personal lives entail, models are now considered to have something worthy to say whether they're making any sense or not. I really don't care what models think about the environment - I'd rather listen to David Suzuki or someone like him who has earned the right to speak on such a topic.
The thing is, teenage girls don't seem to pick the incongruence inherent in asking models to broadcast their opinions. In fact, models don't have to say anything at all and teenage girls absorb the message that these women are 'beautiful' and other women, who don't resemble models in the least, are non-beautiful.
Most teenage boys, on the other hand, don't aspire to look like models. In fact I don't know a single Aussie boy who'd be seen dead on the catwalk dressed in such an outfit. But I've known many teenage girls who consider themselves failures in looks and temperament because they're nothing like the models they see on Fashion TV.
