Glenda SimmsIn a letter to The Gleaner, Dr Marie Hamilton raised some of the very pertinent and troubling issues related to the choice of a 13-year-old girl child as the 2008 top model by the Pulse modelling agency.
She was particularly concerned about the images projected of the 13-year-old body as a symbol of the form that should titillate and entice the fashion houses and the designers who decide not only what women should and should not wear, but the size and stature of the 'flat-chested' girls who should strut their stuff on the runways of the global meat markets.
Dr Hamilton's letter prompted Kingsley Cooper, the chairman of Pulse modelling agency, to respond to the many issues raised. The September 19 editorial of The Gleaner incisively critiqued the many responses of Cooper in the face of the negative reaction to his organisation's selection of a 13-year-old model of the season.
In particular, Cooper pointed out that as far back as 1985, many young girls, such as Rori Coombs, Rolande Pryce and Shevolee Bell, and many others between the ages of 13 and 15, had entered. He also stressed that there had been no public outcry when these children entered the Pulse modelling contest.
While this might be true, Cooper needs to realise that the toleration for sexualised events, which include the girl child, is at an all-time low. This situation is not unique to Jamaica.
A case in point is described in a review of the movie Pretty Baby. This movie starred 12-year-old Brooke Shields as Violet, who was raised in a New Orleans brothel in which her mother, played by Susan Sarandon, worked as a prostitute. Predictably, Violet's childlike innocence, buoyed by her precocious woman-like persona, led her into early sexual activity and a relationship with an older man, the photographer Bellocq, played by actor Keith Carradine.
Glenna Baker, mother of 13-year-old model Shermonique Ivey. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
Fashion Face winner 13-year-old Shermonique Ivey. -Norman Grindley/Acting Photography Editor
sexual objects
The review argues that the '70s, when the movie was made, "were vastly more liberated than our times, at least when it comes to sexuality. No American studio could make this film today". This does not mean that our children, in particular young girls, do not star in movies in contemporary times. It means that their roles must not and cannot be as sexual objects.
Every effort will be made to protect their status as children and they will project our understanding of normal childhood activities.
In any discussion on the role of children in the modelling and beauty industry, our contemporary responses must be influenced by the growing, phenomenon of the trafficking of children, especially the girl child; with the growth of the global sex trade and in particular, the use of children as sexual objects in many societies; the exploitation of the innocence of children, especially little boys in the ranks of 'child soldiers'; the exploitation of young girls as go-go dancers and sex objects in massage parlours, whorehouses and other sites of ill repute; and, also the forcing of young girls into early marriages.
Another issue that was raised relates to parental collusion in the exposure of their children to highly sexual activities in their search for fame and fortune. Even though Glenna Baker, the mother of Shermonique Ivey, has stated that both she and the child's father are supportive of her participation in the modelling industry at 13, the office of the Children's Advocate is operating within its mandate when it calls for an investigation into this controversial case.
The Child Care and Protection Act clearly states the role of government in regulating the actions of parents in relation to the upbringing of children. When the Jamaican Government ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it definitively recognised its responsibility to every child in the society.
The most famous case of an exploited and oversexualised little girl was that of six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, described as "a painted baby" and "a sexualised toddler beauty queen". Her mother, Patsy, was a former beauty queen who no doubt wished her little girl to continue in her footsteps. To this end, she enrolled her young daughter in many different beauty pageants, several of which she won. Tragically, little JonBenet Ramsey was found murdered in the basement of the family house. Her murder was never solved. What is recorded by the relevant authorities is that this little girl was sexually violated and tortured before she died. Popular sentiments at the time of this tragedy linked parental collusion to the robbing of the little girl's childhood. It is reported that on several occasions, her parents and their high-society friends clapped as she strutted her stuff for their amusement at many of social gatherings.
mother-daughter psychological framework
At the base of the mother-daughter psychological framework is a desire on the part of the mother to live out her fantasies, frustrated desires and her retarded potential to be a certain 'smaddy'. The same desire to project on to our sons the unrealised dreams of their fathers can also be argued, and many who study the dynamics of father-son relationships will detect the nature of unfulfilled dreams in the way men who accept fatherhood as a serious endeavour relate to their sons' development.
While the majority of Jamaican adult men have the potential to be decent, responsible, honest and upstanding citizens, there are far too many occupying significant and not-so-significant positions in the social spectrum, who cannot be trusted to respect the non-adult prerogative of children (girls as well as boys).
It is against this understanding of the vulnerability of children that the Government of Jamaica ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the ILO Convention on Child Labour, which clearly state, that everyone below the age of 18 is a child and every child should be protected from work that is exploitative.
While it is true that in Jamaica under the Child Care and Protection Act children as young as 13 can engage in light work, it is not clearly defined which work is legal and light. One might ask for instance, is modelling light work for 13-year-old girls? Furthermore, we need to probe how light is 'light' work for children. Are there so-called 'light' activities that bring psychological, physical and social burdens to children?
We need to think about these!
It is within this framework that Manitoba Minister of Labour and Immigration Nancy Allan issued a news release on April 17 to inform the citizens of her province and the wider public of the Canadian Federal State that the newly proposed "Worker Recruitment and Protection Act would better protect children and youth in the modelling industry from sexual exploitation".
According to Minister Allan, this piece of legislation was proposed because "young people are entering the modelling business at an earlier age". She pointed out to the citizens of Manitoba that children as young as 12 years were being promoted as fashion models and her government had to be concerned about "the heightened vulnerability of children to sexual exploitation by unscrupulous people in the industry".
Furthermore, she is concerned that "parents faced with their young star-struck hopefuls have no way to check the legitimacy of the recruiter. To deal with these troubling issues, the government of Manitoba has put in place a raft of guidelines to protect children who are recruited for the modelling industry.
Minister Allan also argued that the success of her government's effort on these social issues will rely on continued strength and partnerships with law enforcement and other "prominent voices speaking out against the sexual exploitation of children".
the red flag
In the case of the latest Jamaican child model, 13-year-old Shermonique Ivey, the prominent voices of Dr Marcia Hamilton, Sally Porteous and the editorial staff of The Gleaner have taken the lead in raising the red flag around the choice of a young girl who should be in training bra in the privacy of her home rather than in a skinny bikini and a tea party hat on the pages of a newspaper.
The so-called 'firestorm' about a 13-year-old being chosen as Jamaica's top fashion model is understandable in the current heightened awareness of the levels of atrocities being carried out against children in the society. Little boys and girls are being murdered, dismembered, raped and violated by adult men and teenage boys.
These are not normal times in our country. We are in a state of psychological trauma on every level. We can no longer strut our stuff over the bodies of our children. We must stand up to the real and potential avenues of the abuse of children.
Glenda P. Simms is a consultant on gender issues. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.
