The Struggle of Being a Model

The Struggle of Being a Model

Aleah Barker, Staff Writer

Models are something every child wants to be when they grow up, but the reality behind it is models are mistreated, criticized, and even have muscle pains and strict diets. The model industry has been known to be very deceiving, most models must endure stolen wages and the struggle to get out of the industry. The model industry tends to be very cutthroat; just imagine someone judging you purely off looks and having that decide whether you can get a job or not. Not getting a job must be soul crushing considering it’s based off looks and how good they can be shown off. Not only does the modeling industry cause eating disorders it also encourages it.

Gerald Marie a higher up of the Elite model management has been accused of sexually assaulting multiple women, all of which are his employees. Those employees already must endure criticism and hate but on top of that now Gerald is mistreating them.

The model Bentley Mescall has been a model since she was ten years old, and she explains that at sixteen she had been criticized off her hip measurement which was apparently too big for runway. (It was exactly one inch bigger than they wanted in circumference.) She was also made to track her calories, allowed to eat only 1200 calories a day (about what a toddler should eat in a day) when she needed around 2200 or 2400 calories a day at that time. All along she did not see any problem considering she trusted the industry and was told how many calories can be consumed by a professional.

The model Hailey Kalil explains how it was hard for because she was intimidated by the other beautiful models. Her agent made her feel horrible about herself, criticizing her hair, height, weight, and anything that wasn’t what he agent wanted. Some of the modeling jobs she took made her feel as if she wasn’t enough and that people aren’t getting their money’s worth. But mainly her agents have all made her feel like she wasn’t good enough to be in the modeling industry.

Models go through so much and in the end their work environment makes it so much worse.