Last week’s “crime scene victims” shoot on America’s Next Top Model has people talking, and not necessarily in a good way. Many women’s groups are stunned and upset over the show’s portrayal of the models as murder victims, calling the themed shoot “misogynistic” and “unacceptable.” The situation was not exactly improved by judges’ comments such as “Death becomes you, young lady” and “Very beautiful and dead.”
Some are calling for letter-writing campaigns, and talking about taking actions against show sponsors Sprint and Cover Girl. Women’s eNews gave the America’s Next Top Model episode a mention in its “Jeers” column, mainly focusing on violence in advertising.
Sonia Ossorio, president of NOW (National Organization for Women) New York City chapter, said, “Violence against women is such a reality in our society that I certainly don’t need the entertainment industry making light of it and making entertainment out of it.”
“It’s supremely ironic, when it’s a show geared toward women about women, and about glamour,” Ossorio told the New York Daily News.
At The Hathor Legacy, a site devoted to examining issues of how women are portrayed in the media and “creating a record of dissenting voices”, the episode is being discussed, with some dissent indeed.
“The idea of marketing fashion and beauty with shots of murdered women seems to me something that can only represent real, serious levels of, if not hatred for women, absolute wanton disregard for their condition as human beings,” writes one poster.
America’s Next Top Model has never exactly been a bastion of good taste; is this really any worse than previous seasons? What do you think?
No one from America’s Next Top Model, the CW network, or Tyra Banks’s representation has had any comment to the media so far; will this all just blow over? We’ll see.
-Mel, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Sources: NY Daily News, The Hathor Legacy, Women’s eNews
Photo courtesy of the CW
Staff Columnist, BuddyTV
