Teenaged Girls

This post has questions sensitive issues, if moderators decide this is an inappropriate topic for this place, I apologize in advance.

While relaxing at the cottage, a friend and I were flipping through Elle magazine, September 2004 issue. While she was looking at the fashion, I was looking at photographic technique, trying to learn something from it. I am personally very picky about looks. I recognize beauty, however it takes a *lot* for me to actually say "Wow, she truly is beautiful". (Not sure how that sounds, but please don't think of me as a shallow teenaged male)

After flipping through the entire issue (it's big and thick) and talking about both fashion *and* photography, there was one model that really stood out for me. I found her truly beautiful. The photography, combined with the model's good looks just dropped my heart. It seemed that everyone agreed with me.

Once I got home, I searched the net for this model. I found her, dutch supermodel Kemp Muhl. I even found scans of that Elle magazine on this page:

http://www.bwgreyscale​.com/editorials/2004_0​9-1.html (7th section, second photo really floored me)

After looking around even more, I found a little interview of her. I was surprised to hear that she was only 15.

Fifteen.

No Jacko jokes please, I was shocked myself. In the world of tank-top tees, and miniskirts, dressing sexually alluring is almost a norm for preteens. Of course I completely agree pedophilia is a definite problem (taking advantage of an immature mind, let alone sexual abuse) but the fact that I was (jokingly) falling in love with a girl that's 4 years younger is a little disturbing.

It's true that we all had raging hormones going through highschool, we all started liking the other sex (or same sex... I'm not going to be discriminating) at an even younger age. I've even had a 17 year old like me, but I didn't let that go anywhere because of the age difference (only 2, but at this age, it's a big difference I believe), or even just how young she was.

I might be blowing this way out of proportion. I am definitely not one to go to Catholic high schools to peep at young girls in their uniforms. It's just the fact that I found the girl so attractive (not only sexually, but in fashion.. sex appeal usually comes into play) that bothers me.

Your thoughts please.

(P.S., I'm deathly afraid of the time my sister hits the teens... I'll be watching her male friends like a hawk)

I looked at the fashion shots. Yeah, she has adopted all the mag's looks. Its a factory look, a cloned thing IMHO. What would Elle editors do about her under-age situation? Nothing, they're complicit. Its they're 'normal' stock-in-trade...

She is attractive, but not as goddess-like as you made out, but then again, I don't like the waif (or even the bad-girl-waif) look.

I don't have a problem with mentioning how attractive a girl is, as long as that is as far as it goes.

Hehe. I'm still a photography newbie, so a nice shot for me can be completely off for a seasoned photog. And yes, looks are subjective, so what I think is goddess-like... other's may completely disagree.

But this thread was never meant to discuss how beautiful (or not) she is. I completely agree with Vetteography, but it just seems like these days it's forbidden to comment on the attractiveness of an underaged girl....

.. or maybe it's just me?

Who says to professionals would agree on what is a nice shot anyway??

Interesting situation you are in, but it happens all the time, particularly males for females, because females can more easily dress and look older than males. No harm done, provided it goes no further and in this case that is not likely. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

There's no way that girl looks 15, they way she's dressed and made up, I wouldn't give this another thought if I were you.

My photography club had a professional fashion photographer come and visit us last week, he's had his photos on the cover of vogue and a bunch of other magazines, and gets flown around the world to do shoots. He told us big modelling agencies will take girls as young as 12 to start grooming them for when they're in their prime, which is apparently 16-20 (remember i'm repeating what I was told, not stating an opinion). He said big Japanese companies, who spend a fortune on models, won't even look at a girl if she's 18 and hasn't been on the cover of a big magazine. He also said if girls start to think about getting into modelling in their 20s it's already too late, unless they're exceptional.

As an aside, this guy's been doing fashion for years, using large format in the studio and 35mm for outside location shoots. He was asked a question about whether he used primes or zooms, and didn't know what a prime was. He answered only about large format, he only uses primes on them, i'm not even sure if you can get zooms for those beasts. When asked about what 35mm camera he used, he said "some standard Canon EOS 35mm". To me, he was a guy who made the scene he wanted, and happened to take a photograph of it, and he didn't seem to care so much about equipment as many people.

KevC wrote:
http://www.bwgreyscale​.com/editorials/2004_0​9-1.html (7th section, second photo really floored me)

What really floored me was the prices of some of those garments! That's some L glass she's wearing there!!

Somebody feed that girl, and something more substantial than a diet milkshake

I've been concerned about models and what they will do to "make it" in that profession. And what some agency/customers demand for the industry.

I avoid magazines that glorify such work, and am quite vocal when I hear my nieces carry on about this stuff. This can be very dangerous to young and impressionable people.

Not hard to avoid the clothing, nothing there for the real world.

But then again, nothing in those spreads is real anyway. Make believe world, make believe lives, make believe values.

Geez, the damage they do.

I think it's sort of funny that if a guy who is 22 tries to pick up a 17 year old girl it's wrong becuase shes under age (18 is considered legaly an adult in the U.S. but not sure about other countries), but it a guy is 30 and tries to pick up a 25 year old women no one would blink an eye about it. It's the same age difference either way. As long as the age difference is only a FEW years (5 or less), whats the difference?

I believe the age difference matters less and less as the age is higher and higher. 40 year old William Randolph Hearst married 22 year old Millicent Willson. I believe the biggest changes in maturity occur during the later teenaged years. When I was 17, I believed I matured way more than when I was 16. Same with 18, and 19... and soon enough, 20. These few years are when the human mind really grows and understands life.

Sure, some relationships are fun but as JAZZ D.P.G. pointed out, kids are extremely impressionable at those ages.

JAZZ D.P.G. is completely right, it seems very dangerous as many runway models are borderline anorexic. I do believe, however, to some degree, as long as the correct values are taught, and the kids understand they must decide right from wrong, good from bad, it's not so bad.

However, we are, again, straying from the topic at hand. Thank you, tim, for pointing out that I have nothing to worry about. After watching a fashion shoot (the same video as the interview) I can definitely tell she's a very young girl. It still does not change the fact that I find her incredibly attractive, which makes me feel dirty.

Of course, as I stated before, if I was presented with such a situation, I'd definitely wait till she has grown older, or put any relationship over a fun friendship out of my mind.

IMO she is very beautiful, but definately does not look 15! But then I was 14 when I started getting into nightclubs here.. with legal age being 18! With the right make-up, hair and outfit, no one ever questioned my age. Now I am 36..but look about 28..and am engaged to a man who is 27. The age thing doesnt affect us in any way, but we do have the occasional laugh when we think about things like, when I was finishing high school at 15... he was 6 and in year 1!!! That sounds so wrong lol

She's 15 and you're 19, correct? Yes, I do agree there usually (not necessarily) a difference in personal maturity between a 15y/o and a 19y/o. Definitely more so than the 25y/o and the 29y/o.

I remember in 7th grade it was status for a girl to date a 9th grader. When you were 15 it was status to date someone in senior high. I'm pretty sure that's still the case. Girls will continue to be attracted to older guys because...they're older (and we keep hoping they're maturer than guys our age).

Of course you'll find the girls (couldn't see the pic now) in fashion mags attracted, but that's because they're made up to look older. They're dressed like 20-somethings and their poses are provocative etc. You're reacting like any other normal male. It's a fanatasy those images are catering to. Same with the 15y/o girls who has posters of Orlando Bloom in a wet white shirt (naturally open to the waist). Just the age difference is reversed.

At my high school I knew lots of girls who dated guys who were in their 20's. It takes two to date, so most likely the neither party have a problem with it and were happy. At the same time I do know of girls who get used by guys in their 20's. It's such a status thing to date someone in that age group, and it's very easy for a guy to find some girl who's eager to date him only because of his age. I've seen a few girls at the school I work with that have gotten quite messed up by dating older guys. An older guy expects totally different things from a relationship, and many times the girl isn't prepaired for those things, or go along with them to keep him.

Don't sweat it, Kevin. It's hard wired into your genes. (Jeans?)

I remember reading that girls normally look some (e.g. 5) years older in fashion shots than they really are (maybe some kind of X-factor )... and this is the very reason why the talent scouts search for girls as young as possible.

But then, it might be utter BS. Don't remember where I read it.

But I also have to add that this girl looks like 15 to me, if I look at her eyes...

Best regards,
Andy

I'm 21 ... my girlfriend's 18 ... does that make me a perv?