Times have certainly changed, according to one supermodel who said that sexual harassment in the modeling industry used to be a ‘compliment,’ not the increasingly widespread problem it is today.
‘Here is the funny thing about sexual harassment with us as models: It was seen as a compliment,’ supermodel Paulina Porizkova told Page Six on Monday night.
Porizkova, who graced the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover in 1984 and 1985, went on to say that models ‘almost got offended if you did not get harassed’ during photo shoots — particularly if the snappers were known for ‘hitting on’ the talent.
Supermodel Paulina Porizkova said that the modeling industry led some models to believe that something was wrong with them if they weren’t being ‘complimented’ with sexual harassment
Porizkova was on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue twice, in 1984 and 1985
One ‘messed up’ hypothetical Porizkova, once the face of Estee Lauder, gave was that if a photographer was known for being partial to brunettes and did not hit on a brunette model at a shoot, that model was left thinking, ‘What is wrong with me?’
‘It makes you think that sexual harassment is what you need,’ she noted.
This isn’t the first time Porizkova has called out the dirty little sexual harassment secret in the glamorous world of modeling.
In the 2012 HBO documentary, About Face: Supermodels, Then and Now, Porizkova said the warped sentiment behind taking harassment as a compliment meant that, ‘If a 16-year-old is kind of flattered by a man pulling out his penis in front of her, that’s kind of noteworthy.’
Porizkova (pictured during the 1980s) said that getting harassed during photo shoots was so common that, ‘It makes you think that sexual harassment is what you need’
With Hollywood and Washington DC being plagued by the increasing number of sexual harassment claims levied against notable figures in recent months, Porizkova and other models have started to highlight the long-standing issue that appears to be run-of-the-mill in the world of fashion modeling.
In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct claims, model Cameron Russell has used her personal Instagram account to share just how rampant stories of sexual harassment are in the modeling industry.
To date, she has shared nearly 80 anonymous stories of the experiences models have experienced during photo shoots and go-sees at the hands — and words — of photographers, managers, casting agents and others.
Speaking at Glamour’s Women of the Year Live Summit in November, Russell talked about the various instances in which she personally experienced sexual misconduct, including occasions during which a casting agent told her he couldn’t book her because she was a virgin and when an older man kissed her when she was just 16.