controversy
People
Islamic Extremists Target Beyonce
8:30PM Ephraim Gadsby | The Muslim Brotherhood In Egypt is a political organisation that once included Sayyid Qutb, the man who inspired Al-Qaeda. It was founded to promote Islamic law, oppress women, etc. And now it wants to keep Beyonce out of Egypt! More »
Big Screen
Gay Groups Aren’t So Happy With Bruno
4:07AM Richard Lawson | Question answered: Bruno is bad for the gays! Some gay groups are beginning a campaign against Sacha Baron Cohen’s upcoming realityish comedy, about an Austrian fashion reporter who’s a bit light in the loafers. GLAAD seems particularly unhappy. More »Why Are They Getting So Mad At That Dude From The Muppets? We Thought Kids Loved Him?
9:13AM Jess McGuire | Let us touch briefly on the current brouhaha (always a great Monday morning when I get to use that word) surrounding the exhibition of photographer Bill Henson. His photographs featured images “of early pubescent girls, in particular a 13-year-old whose picture, naked from the waist up, adorned the opening night invitation” and the subsequent outrage from the moral majority over his work led to police raiding a Sydney gallery and seizing the particularly offensive images.
As Larissa Dubecki in The Age notes -
More » Harry M. Miller Knows Madd(ison) Tabloid Buxx When He Sees Them
9:57AM Clem Bastow | “Celebrity handler” Harry M. Miller has swooped in to assist the Gabriel family in dealing with the media storm surrounding 12 13-year-old modelling “sensation” Maddison.
What, so Ugly People Modelling weren’t enough?
Michelle Gabriel, Maddison’s mother, said she and husband Brian had been forced to call in Miller to help them cope with the publicity and manage their daughter’s burgeoning modelling career.
“It’s got the point where it’s too much for her and for us – she needs just to be 13,” Mrs Gabriel said. “I’ve been in contact with Harry M Miller because it’s the only way I can deal with things.”
They’d want his help; Michelle has been moaning about the press’ and politicians’ responses to her daughter’s entering the Face of Gold Coast Fashion Week contest, well, surely that should tell her something about the moral repercussions of pushing your daughter into the spotlight, in such a ruthless industry, at this young age?
Already the Vogue Forums are a twitter with chat of the “she’s not too young, she’s just not good looking enough” variety, how are you gonna deal with that, eh, Harry? That’s sure to be great for a young girl’s growing sense of self! More » Another “Too Young” Model Makes Fashion Waves; Parents Chastised For Lack Of Boundaries, Excessive Use Of Consonants In Naming Their Child
10:33AM Clem Bastow | In “do you even need to ask” news, headlines are screaming “Too young for fashion week?” as Gold Coast 12-year-old Maddison Gabriel has been named the face of Gold Coast Fashion Week.
We thought the fuss about Melbourne model (and 15-going-on-16-year-old) Claire Quirk was bad enough, but this takes the cake! As academic Karen Brooks says:
“Oh my god, that’s outrageous,” Dr Brooks said yesterday after learning of Maddison’s appointment.
“When is society going to let kids be kids instead of catapulting them into the adult world? It’s exploitation. We’re talking about a girl who hasn’t long stopped playing with dolls.”
Just when we thought our heads had stopped spinning at the fact that a 12-year-old would even be allowed to enter a modelling comp that wasn’t organised by Barbie magazine, we read her parents’ response to the outcry. See their application for Parents Of The Year after the jump. 
