I feel very strongly about this topic as I feel the modelling industry is particularly difficult for ethnic women to break into and so I believe it is programmes like '...Next Top Model' that should create fair opportunities for the minorities to achieve model success.
I have noticed particularly within the European and British modelling industry, that black models find it significantly harder to secure modelling work and are rarely seen fronting major designer campaigns.
An example of the struggle for black models was recently shown in E4's 'Dirty Sexy Things', a show which documented the experiences of up and coming models. Striking male dancer BB wishes to be a top model but earns his living as a dancer as the job and payments are more stable, while modelling - especially for a black man - is a hard dream to follow. Many times when visiting castings around Europe, he was told that it will be harder for him to secure a job due to his skin colour.
A black female model on the show, Jessye B, also revealed that once she was advised to get a nose job as the bookers did not agree with such 'black' facial features, showing that racial prejudice still exists within modelling.
BINTM is a show that excites me as it is supposed to abolish such prejudices and focus on the simple task of finding a great, unique model. There were so many ethnic models shown in the audition shows that I believed deserved to go through to further stages but failed. Two black models reached the final stages of entering the house, before one of these girls, Ufuoma, was voted out. She was a pretty girl but she didn't know how to move in front of the camera so I accepted her departure. However, I truly believed that the last remaining black model in the competition, Jessica Abidde, had a great chance of going far.
She handled every task greatly, had more skills than most of the other contestants and although she was slightly more athletic and heavier than the other girls she knew how to execute a great picture as showed week after a week. This is why the decision to vote her off - especially after a week where she won both tasks - puzzles and angers me.
Jessica was equally confused as she cried continuously after being eliminated, 'To go from feeling so confident and doing so well and now be going home...it just hurts so much...They were looking for someone who can carry on to the next stage and if they don't think I can, then I don't know what I'm meant for in modelling.' It was so sad to see her so helpless in a situation she could not have tried any harder to exceed in.
Winning the challenges had no signifcance as the judges clearly have their opinions on who they want to go through already. I wasn't expecting Jessica to win but it was unfair that she went before Anastasija, who could not travel with the girls to Miami to continue the competition but later rejoined after missing out on numerous photoshoots and tasks. I think Jessica's final picture was of a better quality than Anastasija's and a couple of the other remaining girls and so the decision of her departure was absolutely undignified.
The fact that a black model has yet to win BINTM, although there have been a few perfect candidates (most notably 2010 runner-up Alisha White), shows that the struggle for black women to achieve success in the modelling industry is still a vibrant issue.
Jessica is an educated, multi-talented, beauitful young woman and she deserved to go further into the competition. To Jessica, don't let this prevent you from continuing to purse your dreams. Fl@unt wishes you luck.
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