Supermodel Cameron Russell talks shop and deconstructs the power—and privilege—of image.
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Watch Cameron Russell transform herself on stage from the image of her the fashion world has constructed to the real person behind the beautiful face—a compassionate woman deeply concerned about how superficial judgment conveys unfair advantages and derails justice.
I got these free things because of how I look, not who I am, and there are people paying a cost for how they look and not who they are. I live in New York, and last year, of the 140,000 teenagers that were stopped and frisked, 86% of them were black and Latino, and most of them were young men. And there are only 177,000 young black and Latino men in New York, so for them it’s not a question of will I get stopped but how many times will I get stopped, when will I get stopped.
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So, when I was writing this talk, I found it very difficult to strike an honest balance, because on the one hand, I felt very uncomfortable to come out here and say, “Look I’ve received all these benefits, from a deck stacked in my favor,” and it also felt really uncomfortable to follow that up with, “and it doesn’t always make me happy.” But mostly it was difficult to unpack a legacy of gender and racial oppression when I’m one of the biggest beneficiaries.
Talk about self-awareness. Wow.
Photo—TED/YouTube
