I Could Buy and Sell You

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about the idea of the model as commodity. It’s been rolling around in my head for a while and I guess it’s kind of an abstract concept to me that I’m trying to wrap my brain around. As someone who works in fashion, I guess a part of me understands that a model is rarely more than a human clothes hanger, but for some reason I see them as these unattainable ideals that I measure myself against.

It all started really when I watched the new VH1 show The Agency early this week. Thanks to the wonder that is Tivo, I was able to indulge my masochistic side and watch it repeatedly. In this week’s episode, there was a male model named Owen who the agents believed could be a superstar if he would only gain weight. Really, this dude was SKINNY. Like “I can see every ligament in your leg” skinny. Apparently, skinny dude are really great in Paris and Milan, but in America we just can’t swallow them as well – we like our guys with a little meat on their bones. First, this came as a huge surprise to me because I generally think of most male fashion models as really friggin’ skinny. Second, what the agents were saying to this guy seemed directly at odds with what they were telling the girls. I guess the moral of this episode was that women should not eat and men should.

Watching this episode made me SUPER angry! I mean, this dude is super hot and they’re telling him to GAIN weight? That’s not necessarily a bad thing if you’re underweight, but I was overcome with jealousy. I mean, I would be the happiest person in the whole world if someone told me that to be hot all I had to do was gain weight. Instead, I feel like I always need to lose like 30 pounds.

My therapist made a really good point in our session, though, and it started me thinking about this whole “commodity” thing. One thing that I had never noticed about that show, because I was fixating on the hotness of the models, was that the people judging the models are not hot. They are able to judge these models as commodities and their ability to sell clothes while not comparing themselves to them in the process. These people’s main concern is the marketability of the total package, not how these people compare to them. I, for some reason,
cannot make this distinction.


Later this week, I saw pictures of the Viktor & Rolf show in Paris. These crazy Dutchmen basically attached these huge metal apparatuses with lights and speakers to their models, effectively making them carry their own lighting and soundtrack with them down the runway. However, when I first saw the pictures, I thought the models were attached to huge clothing racks. To me, this was the perfect representation of this commodification idea I’ve been toying with. Seriously, what better way to highlight the fact that these people are basically clothes hangers than to make them look like they’re wearing clothes that are still hung up!

I think this idea is beginning to sink in. I mean, what are models anyway except people with exceptional genetics who are paid to be beautiful? Why do I feel such a need to live up to them? If models are just commodities, why don’t I feel this same need to live up to the newest iPod or car? Well, because, that would just be silly.