DOLLY'S MODEL SEARCH WINNER BACKLASH

If I hear one more person complain about the DOLLY Model Search Competition, I'm seriously going to start throwing beauty products at their heads.

I hate to sound so negative, but it's just ridiculous. For those of you who were living under a rock for the duration of your teenage years, the DOLLY Model Search competition is just as the title suggests an annual model search competition for teen readers.

Now I'm not usually one to glorify model competitions, lord knows I was a tom-boy whose priority in life was to be home in time from school to watch the end of Passions and go bike riding. I know, awkward, but I'm a TV soap opera junkie. And I wasn't even introduced to eyeliner for a few years. Whilst that might be the "old school" or traditional sense of what a teen or "tween" should be, I don't see anything wrong in what DOLLY are promoting. Admittedly, it is a model search competition, so yes sadly there is only one winner who gets to jet off to New York City to be introduced to elite model agency reps. Rejection is tough, but it is a part of life. If there are any girls who genuinely find this campaign offensive then by all means come on out and say it. But to these disgruntled mums who are whinging, I say quit being a keyboard warrior and try something new, help your child build-up their confidence. If modelling isn't for her well then help her find an activity that may suit her talent.

The thing that annoys me most is the negative commentating being made throughout multiple media outlets. Move on. It is and always has been a significant part of growing up, whether you're a model, or just a reader who gets to observe the exciting process. Furthermore, all of these 2GB radio announcers probably haven't even picked up a copy of DOLLY in many years, because if they did, they would see how much the mag promotes a healthy body image. They won the Inaugural Positive Body Image Award less than a month ago!

It's no secret that I'm a mag hoarder, but I think more girls would benefit by picking up a copy of DOLLY or accessing their website which includes articles by credible sources as opposed to random sites full of low life's who have nothing better to do with their time than to post hate threads.

Just in case you were wondering, the whole catalyst for this media uproar was Miss Kirsty Thatcher. The 13 year old was crowned the winner of the Original DOLLY Search yesterday; she will appear on the cover of the August issue of DOLLY, which is on sale next Monday. Sending huge congratulations her way! Even more so to the judges, this includes reader votes as Kristy proves to be more than just a pretty face, having landed a spot in the Queensland Theatre company as an accomplished pianist.

PS just a reminder that our very own Miranda Kerr’s career was launched after she won the DOLLY model Search competition in 1998, so clearly it hasn’t harmed her. 

Do you agree with me? Am I over reacting? Either way it has created free publicity for the mag, so I guess the editor is probably stoked.

Wogarella,

Xx

*Images sourced from www.dolly.ninemsn.com.au and Vogue Italia 2010.