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Alexandra Bruce
February 1, 2013
Describing her lot in life as a successful model for the past decade, she says that her career path as akin to having won the “genetic lottery,” as much as it would be for a young girl, to aspire to win the “PowerBall” lottery: It’s not a career path.
Big-time models are scouted. In the real world, *they* want you to be a model, they pick you, regardless of whether you’ve got your heart settled on modelling or not. (I have proof of this in my own family, where my little brother became the highest-paid male model in the 1990s by sheer happenstance, it being the furthest thing from his mind, at the time – yet, he made millions).
The first question people ask Cameron is: “Do you get a lot of free stuff?” and the answer is “Yes, including things you don’t like talking about: like getting a free pass with a minor traffic infraction, based on the way I look – and not on who I am. However, there are people *paying* a cost, based on the way they look – and not on who they are.
“I live in New York City and last year, of the 140,000 teenagers who were stopped-and- frisked**, 86% of them them were Black and Latino and most were young men. And there are only 177,000 young Black and Latino men living in New York City, so for them, it’s not a question of ‘Will I get stopped – but *when* will I get stopped?’
Cameraon says, “When I was writing this talk, I found it hard to find an honest balance. On the one hand, I felt very uncomfortable coming out and saying, “Look, I’ve gotten all this stuff, based on a deck balanced in my favor,” and I also found it really uncomfortable to follow-up with: “And it doesn’t always make me happy.
“Mostly, it was difficult to unpack a legacy of gender and racial oppression, when I am one of its biggest beneficiaries…
“I think that if there is a take-away from this talk, I hope we feel more comfortable about acknowledging the power of image in our perceived successes and in our perceived failures. Thank you.”
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TEDtalksDirector
January 16, 2013
Cameron Russell admits she won “a genetic lottery”: she’s tall, pretty and an underwear model. But don’t judge her by her looks. In this fearless talk, she takes a wry look at the industry that had her looking highly seductive at barely 16-years-old. (Filmed at TEDxMidAtlantic.)
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