Written by Karen D. Swim, Photo copyright 2008 Darnok, courtesy of Morguefile.com
Yesterday as I was scanning Google trends I noticed that one of the top searches was model suicide. This morning, I took the time to read the story. I had no intention of blogging about it. In fact I had a scheduled post, but the story and the comments really bothered me so I thought I would share it here.
Ruslana Korshunova, a 20 year old Russian model nickamed the Russian Rapunzel, plunged to her death this weekend from her home in a tower in New York. The police are investigating her death as a possible suicide, yet that has not been confirmed, as of this writing.
Korshunova was a cover girl for Russian Vogue and French Elle. In the article she was described as sweet, and as is common no one saw signs of depression.
Many of the morning comments were disturbing with jokes made about her blowing off the roof because of her weight to people wondering why this is news. One of my young nephews committed suicide in April and I can honestly tell you there is absolutely nothing funny about suicide.
While making light of death is disturbing enough, the comments also reveal deeper issues with how we feel about beauty. Our culture is obsessed with beauty yet on some level repulsed by the obsession. Men and women strive to emulate the models of beauty yet we objectify those very same models and ridicule their seeming perfection.
Even as we buy potions, creams, miracles in a jar and flock to the latest fitness craze, we rejoice when a supermodel falls from the runway or when a celebrity is filmed from an unflattering angle. We seem to want to tear down the very images that we as a culture have elevated as a model of “success.”
We hungered for news of Britney Spears’ decline. Her mental illness and odd behavior held us capitvated while lining the pockets of big media. We have plastic surgery to correct our flaws, and restrict our diets to perfect our bodies. We want flawless skin and perfect abs like the airbrushed photos of models and celebrities. Yet we poke fun of these same images when they gain 10 pounds or are caught looking less than fabulous.
Today, a young woman is dead. She was beautiful but more importantly she was human. I did not know her but today I mourn her loss and all others who felt that death was their only way out.
Do you think we’re obsessed with beauty? Have the images of beauty ever influenced your own behavior or attitudes?