The modern face of the old beauty industry

Although Ms. Walter contends that feminists have actively fought against the artificial depiction of feminine beauty for more than two centuries, the idealized representation of the human form through 'models' in art and fashion is as old as recorded history. The universal medium of art as a means of presenting the flawless human form can be traced back over 4,000 years to Sumerian times (above left), and we have always venerated our visions of the perfect physical (and sexual) proportions of men and women through classical statues and paintings of our gods and goddesses. It would be naïve to assume that the ancient projection of nudity through such idealized representations carried any less implicit sexual connotation than it does today. Depictions of sexual unions between perfect beings still echo today in classical mosaics and pottery, and through carvings in Indian temples dating back to the 2nd Century AD. Modern art has of course expanded its repertoire of tools beyond sculpture and the canvas to the camera, the silver screen, comic books, and most recently the Internet. Photographic nudity was a popular artistic theme throughout the 19th Century, and naked models cavorting in opium dens were as commonplace in Victorian times as the cocaine and strip club culture is today. Given that the Victorian era is frequently upheld as the zenith of social sobriety and civilization, it would seem that the youth and social standards of today are always held to be so much worse than they were during the halcyon days before living memory.

Painting every model with the same airbrush

In her commentary Natasha Walter attacks the glamour model culture and in doing so draws a demarcation between 'classes' of models and their 'archetypal' behaviours. Contending that modern Britain is populated by a 'generation who believe their bodies are the[ir] only passport to success', she declares aspiring glamour models to be 'living dolls', presumably serving only as objects of playful use and fascination. However, a substantial number of adult and glamour models who pose nude or topless in magazines do so solely to pay their way through university and early careers, as student fees and living costs would otherwise greatly exceed their capacity to pay or borrow. If Ms. Walter had cared to conduct more detailed research instead of relying upon her class prejudices and ideology, she would have realized that hundreds of thousands of students and young urban professionals in Paris, London, Miami and New York alone pay their way through early adult life by working as escorts, erotic dancers, adult actresses or glamour models. Casting countless young women into a lower social caste is an exercise in bigotry no less simplistic than assuming that all young women aspire to marry a rich football player and raise their children in suburban luxury. Many models from the world of glamour and adult entertainment go on to complete degrees and become doctors, financiers, economists, journalists and academics, leaving their past lives and formative experiences comfortably behind them. Many therefore are of exceptional intelligence, and the genes which encode their intellects are as propitious as those which define their physical beauty. The smoldering sentiments raised by Ms. Walter are as much born of sexual and material jealousy as they are of presumed social superiority. It seems that many in society cannot abide the sight of those they judge to be of lesser breeding enjoying more attractive lifestyles and partners.

The social malaise to which the author alludes lies not in the models themselves, but rather within a culture which polarizes wealth in favor of the senior echelons of society, leaving those born on the 'wrong side of the tracks' with the stark choice between selling their 'looks' and abject poverty. For those unblessed by academic potential and rich parentage, a career as a glamour model may indeed seem to be their only passport to wealth and independence, as to rise in either business or society one requires either money or the means to access it. Whether a model ultimately decides to marry or to use the assets acquired through her youth to start a businesses or to fund an education is her choice alone. However, in the world of glamour modeling, as with so many other lucrative professions, there are far more aspiring applicants than success stories. City restaurants and café bars are served by the many who did not gain access to careers as lawyers, financiers or glamour models.

The sacrificial altar of beauty

While the author vividly relates scenes of girls cavorting topless on a bed for the visual entertainment of young men in a night club, descriptions of actual orgies may be found in the works of the earliest classical writers such as Homer. According to Athenaeus, a Greek commentator from the 4th Century BC, 'Among the Etruscans... it [was] customary for the slave girls to wait on the men naked. Etruscan women take particular care of their bodies and exercise often, sometimes along with the men... It is not a disgrace for them to be seen naked.' Some modern ideologies have clearly become alien to the natural world.

In her article Natasha Walter describes a 21st century culture pervaded by glamour models and sexual advertising. Other than the self-evident fact that we as a species are driven to make ourselves appear as attractive as possible to the opposite sex for the purposes of procreation, whether this be through the display of innate beauty or the presentation of external wealth, little has changed in thousands of years other then the style of contemporary dress and modern symbols of wealth. However, we might reasonably accept the rationale in a 21st Century in which the global population exceeds the planet's capacity to support it, that modern feminist ideals aspire to a higher, more sentient stage of human evolution. It could also be argued that bringing children into the world has become a questionable blessing, although there can be no getting away from our innate sexual drives and desires.

For Natasha Walter to state that modern perceptions of beauty are now driven entirely by the adult industry is strikingly naïve. After all, it is only widespread interest and acceptance that validate popular visions of beauty, and these change dramatically with time. This can be seen during historical periods characterized by famine, where women who were able to store fat were perceived to be more sexually attractive, while during periods of abundance, such as the late 20th Century, thinner forms became more desirable. According to the natural laws of sexual dimorphism, where males and females have different body forms, any secondary sexual characteristics that are associated with femininity, such as breasts, slender shoulders, broad hips, full lips or narrow waistlines are perceived to be attractive to men of reproductive age. If these sexual characteristics are exaggerated through genetics, hormonal surges or cosmetic surgery, then such women will be broadly seen as being more sexually attractive. This brings us back to the author's contention that the modern adult industry both defines and distorts human sexual preferences. Today's adult industry is a free market populated by many thousands of 'pornographers' who provide content that features a spectrum of female (and of course male) forms. In this vast, unfettered media market, the consumer dictates which body forms he or she finds the most attractive and votes with his or her money. Thus those adult content providers who feature the most broadly attractive female forms draw the largest revenues and the greatest exposure for their imagery on magazine covers and in other mainstream media. If a model magazine, Hollywood director or adult film producer fails to relate to consumer preferences then they simply will not earn as much money and will lose market share and 'pride of place'. Thus it is the consumer who ultimately defines the most popular images of beauty sought after by the glamour modeling or adult industries, just as the ratings and advertising revenues of television shows dictate which are aired at prime time and which are axed. It is no coincidence that the most popular television shows often feature the most attractive men and women, or that even mainstream Hollywood movies showcase beautiful actors and actresses in various states of undress. To openly suggest that a 'certain view of female sexuality has become celebrated' as a direct result of the adult industry is to ignore high society's preference for tall, slender fashion models, or the endless proliferation of niche titles which pander to fringe tastes. The adult industry is merely a legitimised mirror of contemporary sexual preferences within mainstream society - no more, no less. If you closely examine images of the most desirable women throughout recent history you will also see that such preferences change markedly with time.

Beauty has long been coveted by society as it is the display of our finest genes and therefore our most precious resource. The lengths to which women have gone to make themselves more desirable, even at the expense of their own health, has been assiduously recorded. For centuries women have worn narrow, pointed shoes to make their feet appear dainty, even though such compression may eventually lead to malformation of the toes. A woman's legs may seem more shapely in high heels, and her posture taller and more upright, but their impact upon the spine is well known. During the golden age of corsetry, from the 16th to the early 19th century, the hip-to-waist ratio was exaggerated to make women appear more fertile and sexually attractive, even though such constrictions often led to deformation of the rib cage and damage to the internal organs. Such self-inflicted injuries are not the only sacrifices which have been made in the vain pursuit of beauty. To lighten their skin, women in ancient Greece would use cosmetics containing mercury and white lead, a preparation which caused their skin to age prematurely and their lives to be considerably shortened. Similarly women would use an extract of the plant belladonna, Italian for 'beautiful lady', to dilate their pupils and make their eyes more alluring, a practice which could result in hallucinations, blindness and even heart failure. Today's women subject themselves to cosmetic surgery in the pursuit of physical perfection although, when compared to mercury cosmetics and corsetry, silicon implants seem a somewhat healthier option...

Natasha Walter openly berates the 'resurgence of glamour modeling' despite the fact that it is a relatively recent phenomenon. She attacks the rise of pole dancing and the popular publication of diaries relating to 'high class' prostitution recounted in the candid 'Secret Diary of a Call Girl' and 'Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl'. Although such memoirs have undoubtedly achieved cult status, they are at times distraught and unhappy recollections, and not intended to 'glamorise' high end prostitution as the author contends. Either she has not read them or has entirely missed their point. Although she deplores the modern face of prostitution, the profession was far more overt and widespread in ancient Athens and Rome than it is today, when street prostitution was even a zoned activity. There was a time, not so very long ago, when the sexual servants of society, even western society, were bought and sold and waited upon their masters and had not so much as a coin to bargain with. So when a modern woman is able to dictate the availability and the value of her sexuality, is that not the very definition of feminine empowerment? Apparently not, as Ms. Walter contends that the modern woman is confined to either a state of 'idealized chastity' or 'contemptible promiscuity', although many would see this complex as somewhat of an oversimplification. Perhaps Kate Moss, Halle Berry or Jennifer Lopez might differ with such stereotyping, although the author seems to have an agenda of highly personalized issues to address. Further, her apparent notion that a modern sexual 'glasnost', apparently triggered by a surge in the popularity of adult media, has suddenly and dramatically altered patterns of human sexual behavior is a massive assumption. After all, just because you lift the carpet to expose the dirt that lies beneath, doesn't mean that it wasn't there in the first place... The 'gentry' of Victorian London and ancient Rome managed to be highly promiscuous in both private and public long before the dawn of the Internet. Perhaps the modern trend towards privately exorcising sexual desires in front of computers and wide screen televisions would, if anything, reduce sexual contact with others?

Young women aspire to the fashions of their day and seek the attentions of men whose demeanour draws their interest. Whether the exchange of sexual favours for material goods is perceived as prostitution depends on how and in what form gifts or money are transferred, and on whether a sexual union involving the transfer of wealth involves a marriage blessed by society or a fleeting acquaintance. One might argue that releasing the sexuality of modern women from the shackles of social expectation and unpaid exploitation constitutes an advance for the feminist cause. After reading Natasha Walter's tirade one could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. As is often the case for the most lucrative forms of employment, working as a glamour model, lap dancer or adult film star must at times seem unpleasant, even demeaning, just as open heart surgery is a stressful, risky and bloody affair. The rewards of work that is highly valued by society are instead evident in the splendid clothes and accommodations such exponents enjoy, in the cars that they drive, and through the exclusive resorts they frequent. While there are undoubtedly countless tales of disaffected dancers and models, some of which Ms. Walter seeks to recount, this is alas the toll exacted by the road to riches. It is hard to imagine that it is a pleasant experience to be leered at in a strip club or to have sex with unattractive men, irrespective of how much you are paid. However, if it is tales of career dissatisfaction that you crave, then just talk to an impoverished junior doctor or a struggling fashion model. Many activists seek to portray lap dancing and the adult film industry as overt forms of sexual exploitation, no matter how lucrative or voluntary the arrangement.

Returning to the author's central theme that the portrayal of modern models as 'living dolls' reduces them to the role of serving as living objects of desire and sexual gratification. In an abstract sense she is of course entirely correct in that the very definition of a model is 'a social ideal created for the purposes of imitation or aspiration'. Those whose dimensions and features approach model proportions are often invited to become icons of beauty, living statues that society may seek to emulate or acquire. As some of the most desirable members of the human 'gene pool' it is perhaps unsurprising, even 'bio-logical', that the most attractive models are paid so much money to pose for the public eye and to 'reveal all'. The masses, falling short of such physical perfection, are left either to pay to behold or to imitate such beauty or, if they can afford it, to pay to access it. Although such unattainable ideals of beauty are in a sense destructive, as is any form of competitive jealousy or self-comparison which is played out to the point of damaging one's mind or finances - you only have to ask a bankrupt city trader or an incapacitated bodybuilder to learn that. Just as men crave social standing, wealth and 'alpha male' status, so young women are instinctively driven to make themselves appear more desirable, although the chasm that lies between the fantasy of the front covers and the reality of the human condition serves as an eternal well of discontentment. For every successful adult film star, fashion or glamour model there are countless disillusioned hopefuls, just as there are hundreds of failed businessmen for every multi-millionaire. The tyranny of the market is universal and by no means unique to the model industry.

All higher life ultimately derives from sex and our instinctive desires drive so much of our social behavior - even in the most intelligent and successful among us. Refusing to conform to the popular trends of the day often condemns us to life on the sidelines, while the stars of the day take the headlines and the spoils. While Natasha Walter may argue that life should not been seen or 'defined through service to others', we are all nonetheless servants to a greater society and tethered to its demands if we wish to make ends meet. Although we now live in a visual age in which ideas and behaviours are primarily conveyed through imagery rather than by the spoken word or the printed page, we are all still pressured by a collective consciousness to conform to social ideals. Swimming against the tide is an exhausting and unrewarding experience, irrespective of how correct any ideology believes itself to be.

Over the past two hundred years society has progressed from the corsetry and prim manners of the 18th century to a more revealing 'body culture'. Our more visually intrusive society now embraces forms of partial nudity such as the mini skirt, bikini and skin-tight lycra, all of which would have been socially unacceptable less than a century ago. Irrespective of the fashions of the day, throughout our history sex has served as a form of social grooming, and making oneself attractive and available to the powerful elders of society is an ancient rite of passage, whether it be in the king's court or the fashion industry. Those who make themselves 'available' and attractive tend to rise, while those who remain dowdy and decline to do so often do not, and raging about the rights and wrongs of our highly sexualised society only serves to distract from our true inner nature.

Natasha Walter's contention that our culture is becoming increasingly explicit and open about sexuality is also entirely true, if rather obvious, and many women might regard their hard won freedom to flaunt their sexuality both empowering and liberating. This may not be a universally held viewpoint, but the relatively recent right of women to decide if or when they will have children and how many sexual partners they will take is nothing if not an advance on their inability even to vote barely three generations ago. We could of course regress to the Victorian world in which women could not vote, work in high office, or reveal any part of their anatomy in public. In those days only street prostitution was visible, and any sexual impropriety could bring scandal and ruin a woman's prospects in marriage and society. Was this age of repression in which women suffered in silence really a better world, a society in which desires smoldered darkly while brothels and child prostitution flourished? Perhaps we should celebrate the right of young women to wear little more than their underwear and to decide whom they will sleep with, and how much of their anatomy they wish to reveal? Naturally, younger, more attractive women will feel less inhibited and more confident in doing so, even if much of their lives become slavishly devoted to the culture of personal beauty. Striving for physical perfection in this age of the newly 'liberated' woman may have its costs, although many might see this as a price well worth paying for a more attractive and independent lifestyle. Others like Natasha Walter prefer to see such social developments as a tragic 'objectification' of women, creating living dolls rather than enterprising spirits who will define the 21st Century through intellectual achievement and noble endeavours. Well Natasha, nobody said it was a perfect world...