"Scouted by a modeling agent when she was just sixteen years old, Cameron Russell first approached her job with some reservations: She was a precocious and serious student with her sights set on college-not the runway. But it was a job, and modeling seemed to offer young women like herself access to wealth, fame, and influence. Besides, as she was often reminded, "there are a million girls in line" who would eagerly replace her. A ferocious, visceral memoir, How to Make Herself Agreeable to Everyone chronicles how Russell learned to navigate the dizzying space between physical appearance and interiority, and making money in an often-exploitative system. Being "agreeable" led to more success, more bookings, more opportunities to work with the world's top photographers and biggest brands. As her prominence in fashion grew, Cameron discovered the work of modeling to be deeply isolating and frustrating. Instead of giving her freedom, her job required her to perform the role of compliant femme fatale, in which she found little room for transformation or growth. So she began organizing with her peers, and together they began finding their place in movements for labor rights, climate and racial justice, and brought MeToo to the fashion industry"--
The model and activist who helped organize the movement to bring equity to the fashion industry chronicles how she learned to navigate the often-exploitative modeling industry and helped bring racial and gender justice to the fashion world. Illustrations.
A bold and innovative memoir that explores who holds the power in an image-obsessed culture, from the model and activist who helped organize the movement to bring equity to fashion.
Fiercely intellectual, deeply vulnerable, and unapologetically honest.Imani Perry, National Book Awardwinning author of South to America
By elevating me for something I have no control over, the industry and economy signal to all women: There is almost nothing you can do or create that is as valuable as how you look.
Scouted by a modeling agent when she was just sixteen years old, Cameron Russell first approached her job with some reservations: She was a serious student with her sights set on college, not the runway. But modeling was a job that seemed to offer young women like herself unprecedented access to wealth, fame, and influence. Besides, as she was often reminded, there are a million girls in line who would eagerly replace her.
In her powerful memoir, Russell chronicles how she learned to navigate the dizzying space between physical appearance and interiority and making money in an often-exploitative system. Being agreeable, she found, led to more success: more bookings and more opportunities to work with the worlds top photographers and biggest brands.
But as her prominence grew, Russell found that achievement under these conditions was deeply isolating and ultimately unsatisfying. Instead of freedom, she was often required to perform the role of compliant femme fatale, so she began organizing with her peers, helping to coordinate movements for labor rights, climate and racial justice, and bringing MeToo to the fashion industry.
Intimate and illuminating, How to Make Herself Agreeable to Everyone is a nuanced, deeply felt memoir about beauty, complicity, and the fight for a better world.
