# 12-Year-Old Fashion Model. Great. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 18, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641 "2007-09-18T19:01:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/21 "2007-09-18T21:53:45Z")
[QUOTE=xnylder] That strikes me as a couple of degrees below barmy. Mothers on the whole might be offended, but models in Australia\* must be feeling downright insulted. [/QUOTE] They’re probably used to it. It’s an industry where you can’t afford to feel insulted every time you don’t get chosen because you’re too old/don’t look a certain way. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/22 "2007-09-18T22:19:28Z")
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth] As an adult male I’d have probably never been exposed to her picture if it weren’t for the Dope. [/QUOTE] Fighting mature, adult, non-criminal attractions since 1973. It’s taking longer than we thought. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/23 "2007-09-18T22:21:52Z")
[QUOTE=Zoggie] They’re probably used to it. It’s an industry where you can’t afford to feel insulted every time you don’t get chosen because you’re too old/don’t look a certain way. [/QUOTE] Which is one reason 12-year-olds shouldn’t be involved. It’s sort of sick how many people (on other boards, comment sections of newspapers, etc.) see no problem with her age, only her lack of beauty. What are the odds she won’t be exposed to nasty comments about her look? Is she asking for it because she wants to be in the limelight? What about when modeling agents ask her to lose 20lbs? And if guys do find her attractive, is the modeling industry enabling pedos? The modeling and fashion industries are nasty places for fully-grown college graduates. They are no place for pre-pubescents. Comparing child models (in general, even those who aren’t tarted up to look 20) to child actors has some validity, but the film business is much more strictly monitored as far as kids are concerned (at least in the US), and guess what? If a kid wants to be an actor, they can practice acting, take classes, try out for plays. If they want to be a model they can… starve? Practice pouting? (In all fairness, they’re just as likely to starve to become actresses in Hollywood these days, who are told to lose weight as often as models. But there are still actors, however few, who still concentrate more on their craft than their thighs…) ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/24 "2007-09-18T22:23:56Z")
[QUOTE=Zoggie] Her face is a little scary to me, though. [/QUOTE] Oh yeah. Looks like that guy who plays the wife on the “Married News Team” from _Tom Goes to the Mayor_. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/25 "2007-09-18T22:27:35Z")
> [@](#): > > **Zebra** cited: > She added that the schoolgirl would not be modelling swimwear or lingerie. If [this](http://cache.gawker.com/assets/resources/2007/09/Maddison3PCE_228x395.jpg) isn’t swimwear or lingerie, I’ll eat my own shorts. They’re right at [gawker.com](http://gawker.com). We call a 21 year-old man a predator if he has sex with a 16 year old, but we put a 12 year-old girl on a billboard looking like that for no reason other than to be thought sexy and desirable by men and women alike - men who will want to bang her, and women who will starve themselves to try to look like her. No **way** does that kid belong on a runway. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/26 "2007-09-18T23:16:51Z")
[QUOTE=catsix] If [this](http://cache.gawker.com/assets/resources/2007/09/Maddison3PCE_228x395.jpg) isn’t swimwear or lingerie, I’ll eat my own shorts. [/QUOTE] Aw, come on. I see preteen girls walking down the street all the time wearing bikinis, pearls, “old lady gardener” straw hats, and chrome Ziggy Stardust eye shadow. And most of them appear to be asleep, too. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/27 "2007-09-19T00:23:12Z")
[QUOTE=Cat Fight] Comparing child models (in general, even those who aren’t tarted up to look 20) to child actors has some validity, but the film business is much more strictly monitored as far as kids are concerned (at least in the US), and guess what? If a kid wants to be an actor, they can practice acting, take classes, try out for plays. If they want to be a model they can… starve? Practice pouting? (In all fairness, they’re just as likely to starve to become actresses in Hollywood these days, who are told to lose weight as often as models. But there are still actors, however few, who still concentrate more on their craft than their thighs…) [/QUOTE] That analogy doesn’t hold up. Child actors are hired to portray children. This is a child being hired to portray an adult. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/28 "2007-09-19T01:54:19Z")
A twelve-year-old model who looks somewhat older may not by herself bring about the downfall of civilisation. But she _does_ do _something_. She moves the curve (so to speak). The standard for fashion models (that class chosen to exemplify desirability) now begins at _her_, instead of a near-adult, and ends - I don’t know where, but somewhere younger than where it used to. The new edge of the curve is now not poor Maddison, but her figurative little sister. Young Miss Maddison has only to worry about advancing to maturity while maintaining her current weight for about thirteen more years, while figuring out what this strange activity she’s doing actually means. Narrow, high rope, and a very long one too. I hope she’s up to it, or that someone who loves her is willing to hold the net. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/29 "2007-09-19T02:18:42Z")
[QUOTE=catsix] If [this](http://cache.gawker.com/assets/resources/2007/09/Maddison3PCE_228x395.jpg) isn’t swimwear or lingerie, I’ll eat my own shorts. [/QUOTE] I think it’s both swimwear AND lingerie… There are plenty of gorgeous, somewhat older females out there that could represent this show or whatever just as well. I smell PR and a sharp agent for Maddison. (it hurt to type that second d). ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/30 "2007-09-19T02:20:46Z")
Here’s a fun thought: if Jon Benet had lived, she’d be 5 years older than this girl _and still not legal_. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/31 "2007-09-19T02:26:08Z")
How so? That’d make her 18. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/32 "2007-09-19T02:40:51Z")
Thread title says “12.” I went by that in calculating “5 years older.” I guess I should have said 4 years older. Jon Benet would have turned 17 on August 6, according to Wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/33 "2007-09-19T02:53:28Z")
There is a point that people are physically maturing younger and younger, and socially/sexually maturing at a faster rate, too. I can’t think of a definition of “woman” that fits this 12-year-old, granted. But also note that it’s not at all uncommon for models to start at 12 or 13. It’s just unusual that one received basically top billing at a major fashion show. Worrying? Maybe, but the idea of girls in middle school subsisting on yogurt so they can keep their modeling jobs is nothing new. I tutored a (14-year-old) girl like that in math right after I graduated from high school in 2004. And she came on to me big time. I was 17 at the time, but it was still a little creepy, especially since she was in 8th grade and I was her TA. Needless to say, I distanced myself as much as possible. And it would’ve actually been _more_ illegal than if I were 18 at the time, since in California two consenting minors are _both_ criminals. FWIW, she ended up in a mental institution, last I heard. I don’t know how much her “career” contributed to that, or didn’t. > [@Cat Fight](#): > > And if guys do find her attractive, is the modeling industry enabling pedos? You mean [ephebophiles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephebophile), I’m sure. And those guys, unfortunately, don’t have to resort to news pictures of scantily-clad young models to get their fix. There’s some nasty, nasty stuff on that Internet. > [@Cat Fight](#): > > in general, even those who aren’t **tart** ed up to look 20 Well, gee, I’m glad you’re not throwing around > [@Cat Fight](#): > > nasty comments about her look ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/34 "2007-09-19T02:57:35Z")
I think the girl in the OP is average at best, unattractive at worst. Nothing about her face says “beauty” to me. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/35 "2007-09-19T03:03:54Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] Here’s a fun thought: if Jon Benet had lived, she’d be 5 years older than this girl _and still not legal_. [/QUOTE] I remember published pics of Jon Benet that were much creepier and disturbing than these. I’m not sure what that means, if anything… ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/36 "2007-09-19T03:13:18Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] Well, gee, I’m glad you’re not throwing around [/QUOTE] I’m not. I don’t think she’s too ‘tarted up’ in those photos, and if she were it only means that the make-up artist, stylist, photographer and her agent decided the theme of the photo shoot was ‘sad prostitute’ or whatever passes for creative vision in some mags. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/37 "2007-09-19T03:36:26Z")
[QUOTE=Cat Fight] Comparing child models (in general, even those who aren’t tarted up to look 20) to child actors has some validity, but the film business is much more strictly monitored as far as kids are concerned (at least in the US) [/QUOTE] Yeah, and look at how most child actors turn out. :rolleyes: (At least at the celebrity level – becoming a film extra is actually a sweet summer job for a kid. It’s fun, good pay, and the kids always have chaperones. If you want regular work you need to live in L.A., though.) ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/38 "2007-09-19T03:39:40Z")
[QUOTE=KGS] Not to turn this into an AOC debate, but if a man looks at that bikini picture and _doesn’t_ get turned on, he must be gay or something. She doesn’t look a day under 20 in that photo. (And I like small boobs!) [/QUOTE] Ok then color me **pink** , she does nothing for me. I like thin, I like young (sometimes) but that LOOKS like a a child. I don’t like children that way. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/39 "2007-09-19T05:57:11Z")
[QUOTE=VCO3] I’d bone her. [/QUOTE] See, you’re just trying _too_ hard to piss people off now. After a while ennui replaces irritation, and what was once inflammatory is now just the hollow clattering noise of **VCO3** straining for outrage. It’s the sound of someone trying to start a clapped out two stroke mower. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641/40 "2007-09-19T07:43:26Z")
[QUOTE=catsix] If [this](http://cache.gawker.com/assets/resources/2007/09/Maddison3PCE_228x395.jpg) isn’t swimwear or lingerie, I’ll eat my own shorts. [/QUOTE] I think the quote means she won’t be wearing anything like that **at Fashion Week**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-fashion-model-great/419641.md?page=3)