1
00:00:00,306 --> 00:00:02,926
Hi. My name is Cameron Russell,

2
00:00:02,950 --> 00:00:08,979
and for the last little while,
I've been a model.

3
00:00:09,003 --> 00:00:11,344
Actually, for 10 years.

4
00:00:12,990 --> 00:00:15,146
And I feel like

5
00:00:15,170 --> 00:00:17,970
there's an uncomfortable tension
in the room right now

6
00:00:17,994 --> 00:00:20,017
because I should not have worn this dress.

7
00:00:20,041 --> 00:00:21,799
(Laughter)

8
00:00:21,823 --> 00:00:24,297
So luckily, I brought an outfit change.

9
00:00:24,321 --> 00:00:27,946
This is the first outfit change
on the TED stage,

10
00:00:27,970 --> 00:00:30,992
so you guys are pretty lucky
to witness it, I think.

11
00:00:31,016 --> 00:00:33,933
If some of the women were
really horrified when I came out,

12
00:00:33,957 --> 00:00:37,100
you don't have to tell me now,
but I'll find out later on Twitter.

13
00:00:37,124 --> 00:00:40,344
(Laughter)

14
00:00:42,315 --> 00:00:44,173
I'd also note that I'm quite privileged

15
00:00:44,197 --> 00:00:47,251
to be able to transform
what you think of me

16
00:00:47,275 --> 00:00:49,914
in a very brief 10 seconds.

17
00:00:49,938 --> 00:00:51,683
Not everybody gets to do that.

18
00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:57,234
These heels are very uncomfortable,
so good thing I wasn't going to wear them.

19
00:00:59,239 --> 00:01:01,760
The worst part is putting
this sweater over my head,

20
00:01:01,784 --> 00:01:03,833
because that's when
you'll all laugh at me,

21
00:01:03,857 --> 00:01:05,965
so don't do anything
while it's over my head.

22
00:01:07,745 --> 00:01:08,762
All right.

23
00:01:10,983 --> 00:01:13,690
So, why did I do that?

24
00:01:13,714 --> 00:01:14,920
That was awkward.

25
00:01:14,944 --> 00:01:16,872
(Laughter)

26
00:01:16,896 --> 00:01:18,007
Well --

27
00:01:18,031 --> 00:01:20,397
(Laughter)

28
00:01:20,421 --> 00:01:24,112
Hopefully not as awkward as that picture.

29
00:01:25,306 --> 00:01:28,064
Image is powerful,

30
00:01:28,088 --> 00:01:31,489
but also, image is superficial.

31
00:01:33,036 --> 00:01:37,455
I just totally transformed
what you thought of me, in six seconds.

32
00:01:37,479 --> 00:01:39,294
And in this picture,

33
00:01:39,318 --> 00:01:41,865
I had actually never had
a boyfriend in real life.

34
00:01:42,643 --> 00:01:44,436
I was totally uncomfortable,

35
00:01:44,460 --> 00:01:46,938
and the photographer
was telling me to arch my back

36
00:01:46,962 --> 00:01:48,657
and put my hand in that guy's hair.

37
00:01:51,013 --> 00:01:52,989
And of course, barring surgery,

38
00:01:53,013 --> 00:01:56,430
or the fake tan that I got
two days ago for work,

39
00:01:56,454 --> 00:02:00,191
there's very little that we can do
to transform how we look,

40
00:02:00,215 --> 00:02:03,647
and how we look, though it is
superficial and immutable,

41
00:02:03,671 --> 00:02:05,981
has a huge impact on our lives.

42
00:02:08,034 --> 00:02:12,638
So today, for me, being
fearless means being honest.

43
00:02:12,662 --> 00:02:15,523
And I am on this stage
because I am a model.

44
00:02:15,547 --> 00:02:19,250
I am on this stage because
I am a pretty, white woman,

45
00:02:19,274 --> 00:02:22,015
and in my industry,
we call that a sexy girl.

46
00:02:22,039 --> 00:02:24,886
I'm going to answer the questions
that people always ask me,

47
00:02:24,910 --> 00:02:26,208
but with an honest twist.

48
00:02:26,232 --> 00:02:29,110
So the first question is,
how do you become a model?

49
00:02:29,134 --> 00:02:31,143
I always just say, "Oh, I was scouted,"

50
00:02:31,167 --> 00:02:32,325
but that means nothing.

51
00:02:32,349 --> 00:02:35,430
The real way that I became a model

52
00:02:35,454 --> 00:02:38,917
is I won a genetic lottery,
and I am the recipient of a legacy,

53
00:02:38,941 --> 00:02:41,037
and maybe you're wondering
what is a legacy.

54
00:02:41,061 --> 00:02:43,783
Well, for the past few centuries

55
00:02:43,807 --> 00:02:49,301
we have defined beauty
not just as health and youth

56
00:02:49,325 --> 00:02:53,087
and symmetry that we're biologically
programmed to admire,

57
00:02:53,111 --> 00:02:56,623
but also as tall, slender figures,

58
00:02:56,647 --> 00:02:59,870
and femininity and white skin.

59
00:02:59,894 --> 00:03:01,942
And this is a legacy
that was built for me,

60
00:03:01,966 --> 00:03:04,416
and it's a legacy
that I've been cashing out on.

61
00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:06,470
And I know there are
people in the audience

62
00:03:06,494 --> 00:03:08,186
who are skeptical at this point,

63
00:03:08,210 --> 00:03:10,687
and maybe there are
some fashionistas who are like,

64
00:03:10,711 --> 00:03:13,230
"Wait. Naomi. Tyra. Joan Smalls. Liu Wen."

65
00:03:13,254 --> 00:03:16,397
And first, I commend you on your model
knowledge. Very impressive.

66
00:03:16,421 --> 00:03:18,053
(Laughter)

67
00:03:18,077 --> 00:03:21,606
But unfortunately,
I have to inform you that in 2007,

68
00:03:21,630 --> 00:03:24,116
a very inspired NYU Ph.D. student

69
00:03:24,140 --> 00:03:27,742
counted all the models on the runway,
every single one that was hired,

70
00:03:27,766 --> 00:03:30,870
and of the 677 models that were hired,

71
00:03:30,894 --> 00:03:34,387
only 27, or less than four percent,
were non-white.

72
00:03:35,637 --> 00:03:37,570
The next question people always ask is,

73
00:03:37,594 --> 00:03:39,219
"Can I be a model when I grow up?"

74
00:03:39,243 --> 00:03:42,877
And the first answer is, "I don't know,
they don't put me in charge of that."

75
00:03:42,901 --> 00:03:44,294
But the second answer,

76
00:03:44,318 --> 00:03:47,072
and what I really want to say
to these little girls is,

77
00:03:47,096 --> 00:03:49,086
"Why? You know? You can be anything.

78
00:03:49,110 --> 00:03:51,356
You could be the President
of the United States,

79
00:03:51,380 --> 00:03:53,157
or the inventor of the next Internet,

80
00:03:53,181 --> 00:03:55,139
or a ninja cardiothoracic surgeon poet,

81
00:03:55,163 --> 00:03:57,830
which would be awesome,
because you'd be the first one."

82
00:03:57,854 --> 00:04:00,016
(Laughter)

83
00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,374
If, after this amazing list,
they still are like,

84
00:04:02,398 --> 00:04:04,303
"No, no, Cameron, I want to be a model,"

85
00:04:04,327 --> 00:04:05,941
well, then I say, "Be my boss."

86
00:04:05,965 --> 00:04:07,831
Because I'm not in charge of anything,

87
00:04:07,855 --> 00:04:10,382
and you could be the editor in chief
of American Vogue

88
00:04:10,406 --> 00:04:12,542
or the CEO of H&M,
or the next Steven Meisel.

89
00:04:13,031 --> 00:04:15,412
Saying that you want to be
a model when you grow up

90
00:04:15,436 --> 00:04:18,770
is akin to saying that you want to win
the Powerball when you grow up.

91
00:04:18,794 --> 00:04:22,214
It's out of your control,
and it's awesome,

92
00:04:22,238 --> 00:04:23,640
and it's not a career path.

93
00:04:24,316 --> 00:04:28,283
I will demonstrate for you now
10 years of accumulated model knowledge,

94
00:04:28,307 --> 00:04:30,212
because unlike cardiothoracic surgeons,

95
00:04:30,236 --> 00:04:32,938
it can just be distilled right now.

96
00:04:32,962 --> 00:04:36,022
So, if the photographer is right there,

97
00:04:36,046 --> 00:04:38,103
the light is right there, like a nice HMI,

98
00:04:38,127 --> 00:04:40,274
and the client says,
"We want a walking shot,"

99
00:04:40,298 --> 00:04:43,982
this leg goes first, nice and long,
this arm goes back, this arm goes forward,

100
00:04:44,006 --> 00:04:46,924
the head is at three quarters,
and you just go back and forth,

101
00:04:46,948 --> 00:04:49,948
just do that, and then you look back
at your imaginary friends,

102
00:04:49,972 --> 00:04:51,691
300, 400, 500 times.

103
00:04:51,715 --> 00:04:53,395
(Laughter)

104
00:04:53,419 --> 00:04:55,206
It will look something like this.

105
00:04:55,230 --> 00:04:57,417
(Laughter)

106
00:04:57,441 --> 00:05:00,369
Hopefully less awkward
than that one in the middle.

107
00:05:00,393 --> 00:05:02,944
That was -- I don't know
what happened there.

108
00:05:02,968 --> 00:05:05,075
Unfortunately,
after you've gone to school,

109
00:05:05,099 --> 00:05:07,429
and you have a résumé
and you've done a few jobs,

110
00:05:07,453 --> 00:05:08,945
you can't say anything anymore,

111
00:05:08,969 --> 00:05:12,016
so if you say you want to be
the President of the United States,

112
00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,446
but your résumé reads,
"Underwear Model: 10 years,"

113
00:05:14,470 --> 00:05:15,876
people give you a funny look.

114
00:05:15,900 --> 00:05:18,488
The next question is,
"Do they retouch all the photos?"

115
00:05:18,512 --> 00:05:20,893
And yeah, they pretty much
retouch all the photos,

116
00:05:20,917 --> 00:05:23,526
but that is only a small component
of what's happening.

117
00:05:24,006 --> 00:05:26,724
This picture is the very first
picture that I ever took,

118
00:05:26,748 --> 00:05:29,557
and it's also the very first time
that I had worn a bikini,

119
00:05:29,581 --> 00:05:31,361
and I didn't even have my period yet.

120
00:05:31,385 --> 00:05:34,512
I know we're getting personal,
but I was a young girl.

121
00:05:34,536 --> 00:05:37,786
This is what I looked like with my grandma
just a few months earlier.

122
00:05:39,016 --> 00:05:41,192
Here's me on the same day as this shoot.

123
00:05:41,216 --> 00:05:42,560
My friend got to come.

124
00:05:42,584 --> 00:05:45,832
Here's me at a slumber party
a few days before I shot French Vogue.

125
00:05:46,679 --> 00:05:49,293
Here's me on the soccer team
and in V Magazine.

126
00:05:50,787 --> 00:05:52,223
And here's me today.

127
00:05:52,247 --> 00:05:54,283
And I hope what you're seeing

128
00:05:54,307 --> 00:05:56,481
is that these pictures
are not pictures of me.

129
00:05:56,505 --> 00:05:57,919
They are constructions,

130
00:05:57,943 --> 00:06:00,847
and they are constructions
by a group of professionals,

131
00:06:00,871 --> 00:06:03,967
by hairstylists and makeup artists
and photographers and stylists

132
00:06:03,991 --> 00:06:07,183
and all of their assistants
and pre-production and post-production,

133
00:06:07,207 --> 00:06:08,215
and they build this.

134
00:06:08,239 --> 00:06:09,309
That's not me.

135
00:06:09,333 --> 00:06:11,730
Okay, so the next question
people always ask me is,

136
00:06:11,754 --> 00:06:13,080
"Do you get free stuff?"

137
00:06:13,104 --> 00:06:14,150
(Laughter)

138
00:06:14,174 --> 00:06:17,421
I do have too many 8-inch heels
which I never get to wear,

139
00:06:17,445 --> 00:06:19,040
except for earlier,

140
00:06:19,064 --> 00:06:22,525
but the free stuff that I get
is the free stuff that I get in real life,

141
00:06:22,549 --> 00:06:24,779
and that's what we don't like
to talk about.

142
00:06:24,803 --> 00:06:26,070
I grew up in Cambridge,

143
00:06:26,094 --> 00:06:28,666
and one time I went into a store
and I forgot my money

144
00:06:28,690 --> 00:06:30,798
and they gave me the dress for free.

145
00:06:30,822 --> 00:06:33,318
When I was a teenager,
I was driving with my friend

146
00:06:33,342 --> 00:06:36,009
who was an awful driver
and she ran a red and of course,

147
00:06:36,033 --> 00:06:37,222
we got pulled over,

148
00:06:37,246 --> 00:06:41,053
and all it took was a "Sorry, officer,"
and we were on our way.

149
00:06:42,363 --> 00:06:45,545
And I got these free things
because of how I look,

150
00:06:45,569 --> 00:06:48,364
not who I am, and there are
people paying a cost

151
00:06:48,388 --> 00:06:50,606
for how they look and not who they are.

152
00:06:50,630 --> 00:06:52,250
I live in New York, and last year,

153
00:06:52,274 --> 00:06:56,053
of the 140,000 teenagers
that were stopped and frisked,

154
00:06:56,077 --> 00:07:00,092
86% of them were black and Latino,
and most of them were young men.

155
00:07:00,116 --> 00:07:04,578
And there are only 177,000
young black and Latino men in New York,

156
00:07:04,602 --> 00:07:07,317
so for them, it's not a question
of, "Will I get stopped?"

157
00:07:07,341 --> 00:07:10,399
but "How many times will I get stopped?
When will I get stopped?"

158
00:07:10,423 --> 00:07:11,995
When I was researching this talk,

159
00:07:12,019 --> 00:07:15,174
I found out that of the 13-year-old girls
in the United States,

160
00:07:15,198 --> 00:07:17,861
53% don't like their bodies,

161
00:07:17,885 --> 00:07:20,854
and that number goes to 78%
by the time that they're 17.

162
00:07:21,981 --> 00:07:24,879
So, the last question people ask me is,

163
00:07:24,903 --> 00:07:26,503
"What is it like to be a model?"

164
00:07:26,527 --> 00:07:28,910
And I think the answer
that they're looking for is,

165
00:07:28,934 --> 00:07:31,854
"If you are a little bit skinnier
and you have shinier hair,

166
00:07:31,878 --> 00:07:34,651
you will be so happy and fabulous."

167
00:07:34,675 --> 00:07:36,210
And when we're backstage,

168
00:07:36,234 --> 00:07:38,757
we give an answer
that maybe makes it seem like that.

169
00:07:38,781 --> 00:07:42,261
We say, "It's really amazing to travel,
and it's amazing to get to work

170
00:07:42,285 --> 00:07:44,885
with creative, inspired,
passionate people."

171
00:07:44,909 --> 00:07:48,052
And those things are true,
but they're only one half of the story,

172
00:07:48,076 --> 00:07:50,654
because the thing
that we never say on camera,

173
00:07:50,678 --> 00:07:52,750
that I have never said on camera, is,

174
00:07:52,774 --> 00:07:54,146
"I am insecure."

175
00:07:55,158 --> 00:07:59,306
And I'm insecure because I have to think
about what I look like every day.

176
00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:03,572
And if you ever are wondering,

177
00:08:03,596 --> 00:08:07,526
"If I have thinner thighs
and shinier hair, will I be happier?"

178
00:08:07,550 --> 00:08:09,455
you just need to meet a group of models,

179
00:08:09,479 --> 00:08:13,405
because they have the thinnest thighs,
the shiniest hair and the coolest clothes,

180
00:08:13,429 --> 00:08:16,872
and they're the most physically
insecure women probably on the planet.

181
00:08:16,896 --> 00:08:18,278
When I was writing this talk,

182
00:08:18,302 --> 00:08:21,271
I found it very difficult
to strike an honest balance,

183
00:08:21,295 --> 00:08:22,729
because on the one hand,

184
00:08:22,753 --> 00:08:25,165
I felt very uncomfortable
to come out here and say,

185
00:08:25,189 --> 00:08:28,784
"Look I've received all these benefits
from a deck stacked in my favor,"

186
00:08:28,808 --> 00:08:31,999
and it also felt really uncomfortable
to follow that up with,

187
00:08:32,023 --> 00:08:34,387
"and it doesn't always make me happy."

188
00:08:34,411 --> 00:08:40,286
But mostly it was difficult to unpack
a legacy of gender and racial oppression

189
00:08:40,310 --> 00:08:42,418
when I am one
of the biggest beneficiaries.

190
00:08:43,822 --> 00:08:46,279
But I'm also happy
and honored to be up here

191
00:08:46,303 --> 00:08:49,515
and I think that it's great
that I got to come

192
00:08:49,539 --> 00:08:53,212
before 10 or 20 or 30 years had passed
and I'd had more agency in my career,

193
00:08:53,236 --> 00:08:56,710
because maybe then I wouldn't tell
the story of how I got my first job,

194
00:08:56,734 --> 00:08:59,607
or maybe I wouldn't tell the story
of how I paid for college,

195
00:08:59,631 --> 00:09:01,304
which seems so important right now.

196
00:09:02,074 --> 00:09:03,972
If there's a takeaway to this talk,

197
00:09:03,996 --> 00:09:07,599
I hope it's that we all feel
more comfortable acknowledging

198
00:09:07,623 --> 00:09:11,566
the power of image
in our perceived successes

199
00:09:11,590 --> 00:09:13,466
and our perceived failures.

200
00:09:13,490 --> 00:09:14,842
Thank you.

201
00:09:14,866 --> 00:09:16,970
(Applause)