On November 25, we interviewed Iman Abdulmajid, the former model who now has a top selling line of make up advertised for women of color. We had a great conversation with her, and learned a lot about her opinions and experiences. One thing that I definitely want to remember for my teach-in is a line she said someone had told her once. “Compare and Despair” is what she taught us, she said that if you compare yourself to another person, it will automatically make you feel bad about yourself. As a model, or a someone in any other kind of career. I think it’s a good thing to teach people. Compare and despair touches right on my group’s topic. If more girls could hear this line, their might be less problems with the girls in our generation worrying about how they look.
When talking to Iman, I feel that I learned more about my topic. I always thought their was one way women were represented in magazines, just one thing, and one way to view it. When we asked her what her opinion was about women’s representation in the media, she responded with a quite clear and simplistic answer. She said that she didn’t really believe their was one representation, their are two ways girls and women are shown.
In advertisements often girls are shown wearing very little clothing in a provocative way, while in fashion and runway girls are often skinny to a point that it is unhealthy. Often, she told us, girls have to be airbrushed so that you can’t see their ribs as clearly. While she was against both of these things, she made it clear that it was not a clean-cut subject.
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She also discussed with us the hight of discrimination in the modeling world. it is very hard to get jobs as an African American model. She discussed with us how she used to have to make her own foundation for a shoot or runway show because their were no makeup lines designed for women of color. This interview had a great impact on me and my group, I think it was really a great experience to get to hear an inside perspective on the fashion industry and how they do things. We also got to hear about her story and how she became a model, she is a very impressive person. I was struck by how strong she is, she has always stood up for her race, and is an inspiration for many young models. I had a wonderful time getting to talk to her.
