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Fashion Perversion?
By admins | March 22, 2010
In the fashion world, boundaries are pushed and lines blurred. In an industry based on selling an image, reality often gets skewed. That is certainly the case when it comes to sex and fashion. In case you haven’t heard, famed fashion photographer Terry Richardson has recently come under fire for his inappropriate behavior and alleged sexual misconduct. Apparently the photographer has been taking advantage of underage models during nude photo shoots. Terry Richardson has long been regarded as, a top fashion photographer with clients like Bazaar, Vogue, Tom Ford, Prada, and even H&M. He has also long been regarded as, a man with deviant sexual appetites and a fondness for teen models.
What has really gotten to us about this whole story is not the revelation that yet another man in authority is taking sexual advantage of a young girl, but rather the fashion world’s reaction to it. We have seen and heard things like, “Oh well, that’s just how fashion works” or “That’s just him, he means no harm, he’s eccentric” or “Everyone knows he’s flirty but he does it openly and these girls take it, they get famous and he gets paid, so who cares?” It’s shocking to us that these sorts of “boys will be boys” excuses are still around in 2010. The notion that artists needs to be given free reign, so as not to inhibit their craft is ridiculous. Richardson’s photography would be no less beautiful if he were required to behave professionally on set. Really there is no reason at all, that this type of behavior should be tolerated and the fact that so many fashion insiders think he deserves a pass because it’s part of the “business” is disgusting. There is no reason for anybody to be treated this way and whether or not what he did was technically illegal, it is still wrong. Being talented is not an excuse for being an asshole.
We were happy to see some sanity in this mess thanks to the brilliant team at Jezebel. To read their articles click here, here, and here. They also shared some further Richardson stories from readers, like:
A woman who is friends with a stylist who used to work with Richardson. “She quit because of having to watch him sexually harassing/abusing two (naked) teenage Eastern European models who didn’t speak English — she didn’t speak up, and was so ashamed I don’t think she did anymore styling for quite a while afterwards.”
An anonymous ex-subject, who wrote from an anonymous e-mail address and did not reply to follow-up questions, said she posed for Richardson after she lost her job at a coffee shop and needed money. She claims she thought she would be shooting “artful nudes”:
He first asked me to play with myself, and just made really creepy demands.
He said it wasn’t pornish because he was shooting still shots, and when I said that I felt like he was seeing if I was just dumb, he handed me the camera and said, “Fine you should [shoot] me playing with myself.”
I mean his assistants were like, “Do you think all these celebrities would take pictures with him if it was porn?”
This kind of thing is just reprehensible and it is time to stop making up excuses for illegal and predatory behavior on the basis of talent. And yes, Dov Charney and Roman Polanski we’re looking at you too!
Here is more related scoop;
Topics: fashion, models | 12 Comments » 
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March 22nd, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Most of these girls are too young and naive to say no, and they should be better protected from predatory and powerful people in the industry.
March 22nd, 2010 at 11:03 pm
Nasty, these kind of guys are just sick. And the women in the business who try to justify their behavior are equally gross.
March 22nd, 2010 at 11:33 pm
Gross.
March 23rd, 2010 at 12:44 am
These stories coming out about Richardson just get more and more disturbing. You’re absolutely right, this behaviour shouldn’t be excused at all.
March 23rd, 2010 at 3:41 am
Ugh this is terrible and happens WAY too often!! I’m so glad you brought up Roman Polanski too, since I find it also utterly bewildering how so many people, including many women, think of him as a misunderstood genius and not a rapist! Should we then consider the victims of these women to be “lucky” to be taken advantage of by such “talented” men?
March 23rd, 2010 at 3:05 pm
ugh! of course people take that side, look at Roman Polanski. (as MizzJ said)
March 23rd, 2010 at 8:57 pm
It’s interesting that the fashion world is dominated by women, and yet people with intentions like Terry’s still thrive and become incredibly well-connected. Hmm.
March 23rd, 2010 at 11:32 pm
It’s a sad thing, and I’m glad you’re taking a stance on it.
March 24th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
I couldn’t agree with you more. I wish more news outlets were like Jezebel, reporting on the accounts of MULTIPLE MODELS, rather than printing one quote and promptly questioning the reliability of the source. Ugh.
March 24th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Minors in this industry need more protection and agencies need to protect their models. That he’s getting away with this stuff is just gross. I hope some of them have had the courage to say no when he’s tried to cross the line.
March 25th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Congrats to you for championing the cause of young women who sometimes agree to do things because a powerful man is in charge. He should be widely condemned, not tolerated.
March 27th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Thank you for posting this, it is a travesty that this behavior is still accepted and should have a very abrupt smack down placed on it. Keep spreading the word that its unacceptable!