Please read the article and look at the questions. Your goal is to understand the vocabulary and the main meaning of the article. You do not have to understand every part of the article, but understanding and being able to describe the main meaning is very important.
The article blow does not include the pictures. You can find the pictures at:
https://in.news.yahoo.com/parents-fury-at-10-year-old-supermodel.html
Parent’s
fury at 10-year-old ‘supermodel’
Read the following and be prepared to summarize it in
class. Look up any vocabulary you don’t know.
Supermodel
Thylane Lena-Rose Blondeau’s appearance in an edition of Vogue Paris has
prompted fury from parents... because she’s only 10-years-old.
The mini-model was featured in the
January 2011 issue – as part of a 15-page picture spread called ‘Cadeaux’
(gifts). It included shots of a heavily made-up Thylane posing seductively in a
chair, bed and on an animal skin rug, with her legs and neckline bared. The
controversial pics were shown on US TV this month and reignited concern over
the sexualisation of children in the media.
The debate comes as the Government announced a crackdown on
inappropriate clothing and raunchy ads aimed at young kids earlier this year.
They commissioned the Bailey Review to investigate enforcing restrictions on
the sexualisation of children in the media and sexual content in advertising. Reg
Bailey, Chief Executive of the Mother’s Union is in charge of the independent
review.
Fleur Dorrell, Head of Safe Policy at the
Mother’s Union, told Yahoo! UK that these images were “blurring all thoughts of
beauty” and were “physically disturbing” for adults. She added: “Modelling
agencies think that it is ok to use pre-pubescent girls as models but this is
completely selling us a different idea of beauty. They are making this girl
look and feel as though she has to dress this way in order to be perfect.” “If
you think about it in reverse they wouldn’t ask me, a 43-year-old woman to
dress like a girl, so why would they want to dress her up like that?”
Despite concern over the images of Thylane, there is huge
fan support for model, with a blog and several Facebook fan pages dedicated to
her work. On one fan page a woman wrote: “I don't find this unusual, she is
super talented...plus it’s French Vogue!!! FRENCH. VOGUE. Totally ok.” Another
fan added: “I am frustrated with all the people who deem this as sensual... Art
is totally subjective and depends on the individual viewing it.”
The Mother’s Union and David Cameron have invited the fashion and advertising industries to reassess the representation of young people under the age of 16 at a summit in October.
The Mother’s Union and David Cameron have invited the fashion and advertising industries to reassess the representation of young people under the age of 16 at a summit in October.
Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy3T1zj4soY
Discussion Questions
With your partner, discuss the following questions.
Feel free to ask any follow-on questions you like.
1. When you first looked at this article, read the
title and saw the pictures, what were your initial thoughts? Do you
find the pictures disturbing?
2. What is your opinion of Thylane’s parents? Are they doing anything wrong?
Do they deserve to be criticized? Are they bad parents?
3.
What do you think life is like
for a 10 year old supermodel?
Do you think she enjoys her career?
Would you?
4. What do you think Thylane’s life will be like
ten or twenty years from now?
Will she still be modeling? Will she be rich, successful and happy?
5. Is it good for a child to have a career? Is it healthy? Will they thank their parents for the
opportunity or will they resent their lost childhood when they grow up?
6. Would you encourage your child to be a
model? What about a child actor or
singer? Why/why not? What if you were offered a lot of money?
7. What is a good age for someone to start their
first job? How old were you when you
started yours? How did you feel? How did you spend your wages?
8. Did
you have any special talents when you were young? How did you use them?
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