CIVIC THURSDAY : #RespecttoBulawayomodels

Not so long ago I was involved in a modelling project. Unfortunately to my dismay I was faced with so much disregard and disrespect of the models. Not to mention names, for obvious reasons, but I was genuinely touched by that act of disrespect, I decided to talk about it on today’s Civic Thursday. Seriously what would prompt a person to hurl nasty words to a model. Or is it that person’s upper hand, carrying the tittle of “job creator”, and “if it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t be here” kind of attitude? My question is, is there really a fashion show without models, if the answer is no then why do we still find such disrespect rendered to models when it is them who showcase the fashion or rather do the “modelling”. Then this also begs the question, do models fight for themselves? Or do they just take every disrespect and barbaric treatment as a price to pay for a chance to be a model. After asking my modelling friends, this is what they had to say: They think another factor is the primitive or rather ignorant way of thinking of many people in Bulawayo. Modelling is regarded a game for the immoral, yet we as models argue it is not. In continuation, a lot of people do not understand what modelling is all about, models are judged before they even do anything, having their names and images tainted. And even when a lot of models are getting groomed and have the etiquette necessary, some models lack it. In fact they are lured into the world of blessers and promiscuity. After asking fellow artists, the general sense I got is that modelling is a career, and should be respected. That if one wants to be taken seriously, they should work hard and know what it is they are trying to achieve. General people from my circle of existence (lol for the lack of a better word), think modelling has a lot of nudity, which in turn can be very problematic in this patriarchal society. Ultimately, I personally think that models should be respected, models should pride themselves, stand up for themselves and break the cycle khonala KoBulawayo. A lot of models are doing a lot of amazing work, having to walk on local and international ramps, winning crowns and carrying themselves with pride and intelligence. I’ve also noticed that a whole bunch of models do not wait for gigs ,they create opportunities by doing their own projects (e.g fashion lines).

#RespecttoBulawayomodels X0X0 MONDEBLACK