Image is Powerful: Cameron Russell at TEDxMidAtlantic
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0:18 - 0:21Hi, my name is Cameron Russell
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0:21 - 0:27and for the last little while I've been a model,
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0:27 - 0:31actually for 10 years.
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0:31 - 0:34And I feel like there is an uncomfortable
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0:34 - 0:36tension in the room right now,
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0:36 - 0:39because I should not have worn
this dress. (Laughter) -
0:39 - 0:43So, luckily I brought an outfit change.
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0:43 - 0:46This is the first outfit change on a TED stage,
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0:46 - 0:48so you guys are pretty lucky to witness it,
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0:48 - 0:49I think.
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0:49 - 0:51If some of the women were really horrified
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0:51 - 0:53when I came out,
you don't have to tell me now, -
0:53 - 0:56but I will find out later on Twitter.
(Laughter) -
1:00 - 1:02I'd also note that I am quite privileged
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1:02 - 1:05to be able to transform what you think of me
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1:05 - 1:08in a very brief 10 seconds.
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1:08 - 1:12Not everybody gets to do that.
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1:12 - 1:13These heels are very uncomfortable,
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1:13 - 1:17so good thing I wasn't gonna wear them.
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1:20 - 1:22The worst part is putting this sweater over my head
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1:22 - 1:24because that's when you'll all laugh at me so --
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1:24 - 1:29don't do anything while it's over my head.
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1:29 - 1:32All right.
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1:32 - 1:34So, why did I do that?
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1:34 - 1:38That was awkward.
(Laughter) -
1:38 - 1:42Well -- (Laughter) --
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1:42 - 1:46hopefully not as akward as that picture.
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1:46 - 1:49Image is powerful.
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1:49 - 1:54But also image is superficial.
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1:54 - 1:59I just totally transformed
what you thought of me in six seconds, -
1:59 - 2:03and in this picture I had actually
never had a boyfriend in real life. -
2:03 - 2:06I was totally uncomfortable
and the photographer was telling me -
2:06 - 2:10to arch my back and put my hand
in that guy's hair. -
2:10 - 2:16And of course barring surgery, or the fake tan
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2:16 - 2:17that I got two days ago for work,
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2:17 - 2:21there is very little that we can do
to transform how we look. -
2:21 - 2:24And how we look, though it is superficial
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2:24 - 2:28and immutable has a huge impact on our lives.
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2:28 - 2:31So today, for me, being fearless
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2:31 - 2:35means being honest,
and I am on this stage -
2:35 - 2:38because I am a model.
I am on this stage -
2:38 - 2:40because I am a pretty white women.
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2:40 - 2:43In my industry we call that a sexy girl.
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2:43 - 2:45And I am gonna answer the questions
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2:45 - 2:47that people always ask me
but with an honest twist. -
2:47 - 2:50So the first question is,
"How do you become a model?" -
2:50 - 2:52And I always say,
"Oh, I was scouted," -
2:52 - 2:53but that means nothing.
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2:53 - 2:56The real way that I became a model
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2:56 - 3:00is I won a genetic lottery
and I'm the recipient of a legacy. -
3:00 - 3:02And maybe you're wondering,
"What is a legacy?" -
3:02 - 3:06Well, for the past two centuries
we have defined beauty -
3:06 - 3:12not just as health and youth and simetry
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3:12 - 3:14that we're biologically programmed to admire,
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3:14 - 3:18but also as tall slender figures
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3:18 - 3:21and femininity and white skin.
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3:21 - 3:23And this is a legacy that was built for me
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3:23 - 3:26and it's a legacy that I've been cashing out on.
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3:26 - 3:27And I know there are pople in the audience
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3:27 - 3:29who are skeptical at this point,
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3:29 - 3:31and maybe there are some fashionistas
who are like, -
3:31 - 3:34"Wait -- Naomi, Tyra, Joan Smalls, Liu Wen,"
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3:34 - 3:36and first I commend you
on your model knowledge, -
3:36 - 3:39very impressive.
(Laughter) -
3:39 - 3:41But unfortunately I have to inform you
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3:41 - 3:45that in 2007 a very inspired NYU PhD student
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3:45 - 3:47counted all the models on the runway,
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3:47 - 3:49every single one who was hired,
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3:49 - 3:53and of the 677 models that were hired,
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3:53 - 3:56only 27 or less than 4% were non-white.
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3:56 - 3:58The next question people always ask me is,
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3:58 - 4:00"Can I be a model when I grow up?"
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4:00 - 4:02And first answer is,
"I don't know, -
4:02 - 4:04they don't put me in charge of that."
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4:04 - 4:06But the second answer and what I really
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4:06 - 4:08want to say to these little girls is,
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4:08 - 4:10"Why? You know, you can be anything.
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4:10 - 4:12You could be the President of the United States,
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4:12 - 4:14or the inventor of the next Internet,
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4:14 - 4:16or a ninja cardio-thoracic surgeon poet,
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4:16 - 4:21which would be awesome because
you'd be the first one." (Laughter) -
4:21 - 4:23If after this amazing list they're still like,
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4:23 - 4:25"No, no, Cameron, I want to be a model",
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4:25 - 4:27then I say, "Be my boss",
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4:27 - 4:29because I'm not in charge of anything,
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4:29 - 4:30and you could be
the editor-in-chief of American Vogue -
4:30 - 4:34or the CEO of H&M
or the next Steven Meisel. -
4:34 - 4:36Saying that you want to be a model
when you grow up -
4:36 - 4:38is a akin to saying that you want to win
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4:38 - 4:40the Powerball when you grow up.
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4:40 - 4:43It's, you know, out of your control,
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4:43 - 4:45and it's awesome
and it's not a career path. -
4:45 - 4:48I will demonstrate for you now
ten years of -
4:48 - 4:50accumulated model knowledge,
because unlike -
4:50 - 4:53cardio-thoracic surgeons
it can just be distilled -
4:53 - 4:54right into it right now.
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4:54 - 4:57So, if the photographer is right there
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4:57 - 4:58and the light is right there like a nice HMI
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4:58 - 5:01and the client says,
"Cameron, we want a walking shot." -
5:01 - 5:03Well then this leg goes first,
nice and long, -
5:03 - 5:05this arm goes back, this arm goes forth,
the head is at three quarters -
5:05 - 5:08and you just go back and forth.
Just do that. -
5:08 - 5:10And then you look back at your imaginary friends
(Laughter) -
5:10 - 5:13three hundred, four hundred,
five hundred times. -
5:13 - 5:19It will look something like this
-- (Laughter) -- -
5:19 - 5:21hopefully less awkward than that one on the middle,
that was -- -
5:21 - 5:24I don't know what happened there.
(Laughter) -
5:24 - 5:26Unfortunately, after you've gone to school
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5:26 - 5:27and you have a resume
and you've done a few jobs -
5:27 - 5:30you can't say anything anymore, so --
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5:30 - 5:32if you say you want to be
the President of the United States, -
5:32 - 5:35but your resume reads
"Underwear model 10 years" -
5:35 - 5:36people give you a funny look.
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5:36 - 5:38The next question people always ask me is,
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5:38 - 5:39"Do they retouch all the photos?"
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5:39 - 5:41and yeah, they pretty much
retouch all the photos, -
5:41 - 5:45but that is only a small component
of what's happening. -
5:45 - 5:47This picture is the very first picture
that I ever took -
5:47 - 5:50and is also the very first time
that I had worn a bikini, -
5:50 - 5:52and I didn't even have my period yet,
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5:52 - 5:53I know we are getting personal,
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5:53 - 5:56but, you know, I was a young girl.
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5:56 - 5:57This is what I looked like with my grandma
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5:57 - 6:00just a few months earlier.
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6:00 - 6:02Here's me on the same day as the shoot
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6:02 - 6:04-- my friend got to come with me --
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6:04 - 6:08Here is me at a slumber party a few days
before I shot French Vogue. -
6:08 - 6:11Here's me on the soccer team
and in V Magazine. -
6:11 - 6:13And here is me today.
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6:13 - 6:15And I hope what you are seeing is that
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6:15 - 6:18these pictures are not pictures of me,
they are constructions, -
6:18 - 6:22and they are constructions by professionals,
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6:22 - 6:25by hair stylists, and make up artists
and photographers and stylists -
6:25 - 6:26and all of their assistants,
and pre-production, -
6:26 - 6:28and post-production,
and they built this. -
6:28 - 6:30That's not me.
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6:30 - 6:32OK, so the next question
people always ask me is, -
6:32 - 6:35"Do you get free stuff?"
(Laughter) -
6:35 - 6:37I do have too many eight inch heels
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6:37 - 6:39which I never get to wear,
except for earlier, -
6:39 - 6:43but the free stuff that I get
is the free stuff -
6:43 - 6:44that I get in real life and that is what
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6:44 - 6:46we don't like to talk about.
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6:46 - 6:48I grew up in Cambridge and one time
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6:48 - 6:50I went out to a store
and I forgot my money -
6:50 - 6:51and they gave me the dress for free.
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6:51 - 6:54When I was a teenager
I was driving with my friend, -
6:54 - 6:56who was an awful driver,
and she ran a red and of course -
6:56 - 7:00we got pulled over,
and all it took was a -
7:00 - 7:03"Sorry, officer" and we were on our way.
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7:03 - 7:06And I got these free things
because of how I look, -
7:06 - 7:09not who I am,
and there are people paying a cost -
7:09 - 7:12for how they look and not who they are.
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7:12 - 7:13I live in New York, and last year
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7:13 - 7:17of the 140.000 teenagers
that were stopped and frisked, -
7:17 - 7:2186% of them were black and Latino
and most of them were young man. -
7:21 - 7:25And there are only 177.000
young black and latino man -
7:25 - 7:27in New York, so for them it's not a question
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7:27 - 7:29of "Will I get stopped?" but
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7:29 - 7:31"How many times will I get stopped?
When will I get stopped?" -
7:31 - 7:34When I was researching this talk
I found out that -
7:34 - 7:36of the 13 year old girls in the United States
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7:36 - 7:3953% don't like their bodies.
And that number -
7:39 - 7:42goes to 78%
by the time they are 17. -
7:42 - 7:45So the last question people ask me is,
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7:45 - 7:47you know,
"What is it like to be a model?" -
7:47 - 7:50and I think the answer
that they're looking for is -
7:50 - 7:53if you are a little bit skinnier
and you have shinier hair -
7:53 - 7:55you will be so happy and fabulous.
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7:55 - 7:57And when we are backstage
we give an answer -
7:57 - 7:59that maybe makes it seem like that,
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7:59 - 8:02we say "It's really amazing to travel" and
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8:02 - 8:04"It's amazing to get to work with creative inspired
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8:04 - 8:07passionate people,"
and those things are true, -
8:07 - 8:10but they're only one half of the story,
because the thing -
8:10 - 8:13that we never say on camera,
that I have never said on camera is -
8:13 - 8:17"I am insecure."
And I am insecure because -
8:17 - 8:21I have to think about
what I look like everyday, -
8:21 - 8:25and if you ever are wondering, you know,
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8:25 - 8:28"If I have thinner thighs and shinier hair,
will I be happier?" -
8:28 - 8:30you just need to meet group of models, because
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8:30 - 8:32they have the thinnest thighs
and the shinniest hair -
8:32 - 8:33and the coolest clothes
and they are the most -
8:33 - 8:37physically insecure women
probably on the planet. -
8:37 - 8:40So when I was writing this talk
I found it very difficult -
8:40 - 8:43to strike an honest balance,
because on the one hand -
8:43 - 8:46I felt very uncomfortable
to come here and say, -
8:46 - 8:48look I received all these benefits from a deck
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8:48 - 8:50stacked in my favour.
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8:50 - 8:52And also I felt really uncomfortable
to follow that up with -
8:52 - 8:56"And it doesn't always make me happy".
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8:56 - 8:58But mostly it was difficult to unpack
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8:58 - 9:01a legacy of gender and racial opression
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9:01 - 9:04when I'm one of the biggest beneficiaries.
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9:04 - 9:08But I am also happy and honoured to be up here
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9:08 - 9:11and I think that it's great I got to come,
you know, before -
9:11 - 9:12ten or twenty or thirty years had passed and
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9:12 - 9:15I had more agency on my career,
because maybe then -
9:15 - 9:17I wouldn't tell the story of how I got my first job,
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9:17 - 9:20or maybe I wouldn't tell the story
of how I paid for college, -
9:20 - 9:23which seems so important right now.
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9:23 - 9:25If there is a take away to this talk,
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9:25 - 9:27I hope is that we all feel more comfortable
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9:27 - 9:30acknowledging the power of image
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9:30 - 9:33in our perceived successes
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9:33 - 9:35and our perceived failures.
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9:35 - 9:36Thank you.
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9:36 - 9:42(Applause)
- Title:
- Image is Powerful: Cameron Russell at TEDxMidAtlantic
- Description:
-
Cameron Russell has spent the last decade posing as a supermodel. By answering some of the most common questions people ask about her career, she shares her thoughts and feelings about being a model.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 09:59
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