Pretty Hurts: Homophobia In The Modeling World
It's easy to assume the modeling world is run by gay men—we're holding the camera, designing the clothes, and walking the runway. But that doesn't mean the industry is free of homophobia or anti-femme attitudes. In fact, it's usually gay men enforcing codes of masculinity in modeling.
Model Marc Sebastian Faiella, whose been modeling for about three years, wrote an interesting first-person piece for i-D magazine where he recounts the pressure he faced to "man up":
After signing with my very first agency in New York I was summoned into a room by two agents, who doled out very clear instructions: I was to always carry around my skateboard, never wash my hair, and constantly talk about girls so I would appear ‘masculine and bad boy-ish. I was dumbfounded…In a pure lapse of judgment, I almost considered taking their advice.
Marc has since signed with a new agency that accepts the way he is, and he says he's seen some improvement in the industry. "Unlike the oppressive atmosphere of the past, industry people today find it tremendously easier to recall gay male models that are out, loud and proud," he writes. Still, there are cases where agencies have told models to take certain images down from their social media, or behave a certain way at a public event.
Should it matter how a male model behaves in his personal life if he can give you the look and vibe you want on the catwalk? "Models are silent actors, who are asked to portray a certain feeling, person or mood," he writes. "As long as we can get this right, why should it make any difference if some us prefer to kiss other boys?"
Not long ago, we talked to America's Next Top Model finalist Cory Hindorff about being a self-proclaimed femme man in the modeling world. Check out the interview below.
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