Given that approximately 84% of hour-long network TV shows involve missing or dead white women, it wasn't difficult to see this one coming. After all, dead models are aspiring dead actresses!

So, two of my dirty little secrets are that I love 1) America's Next Top Model and 2) horror movies. Yes, the feminist in me had an icky reaction to this at first, but the macabre artist in me really loved these photos and the fact that the show went to this place, which is typically not thought of as something that appeals to traditionally feminine sensibilities. We know that most horror flicks are made to appeal to teen boys, but is it not also possible to have horror flicks and other artforms that are supposed to appeal primarily to women?

WTF?

It's not just that they are portrayed as being dead---they are obviously MURDERED! And not just murdered, raped (their legs in the air, their clothes disheveled) and murdered and their bodies dumped like trash.

Portraying someone as a dead corpse just laying where she died makes her inhuman. If her body was "tended to," like if it was a funeral scene and she was cleaned up, it would still be disturbing, but there would be evidence that other people cared about her.

I don't even think you could argue that any of them even look like they committed suicide. Not that portraying suicides would be any better, but you could make an argument that taking your own life is an empowering act, like Kate Chopin-style.

Why, why, why is that "hot"?

It kinda reminds me of the whole "heroin chic" fad from the 90s.

Yeah, I agree with teddy10- these women were murdered and that murder is supposed to be glamorous? And a dead, brutalized woman is supposed to be "attractive"? To what sensibilities? I just sent the network an email- thanks for including the link!

I don't want to defend the show which is... something else. But, to be fair teddy, the models were supposed to have been killed by other models, so not raped. Clearly, though, the positions fit given how they're supposed to be "sexy" and that apparently translates into "I'm dead but you can still fuck me."

Despite the show's claim that these models were "killed by other models," I think there's no getting around what Jill points out in her Feministe post about this -- it's about sexualizing violence against women.

I think (and wrote in a post over at my place -- http://abirdandabottle.com/2007/03/22/is-violence-against-women-sexy/) that this is just a more public face for what is already a very strong, but often private, connection between expressions of women's sexuality and violence against women. In particular, pregnancy is strongly correlated with increases in domestic violence....

JESUS.

JESUS.

Oh also...

"the models were supposed to have been killed by other models, so not raped"

"I'm dead but you can still fuck me."

Yes. Resorting to the old 'pit females against each other' tactic AND limp-pliable-fuckbait that you KNOW won't fight back! It's brilliant!

...If by brilliant you mean positively vomit-inducing, at best.

this puts tyra's little "kiss my fat ass" comment in perspective, doesn't it?

if she were really all about standing up for women, the idea for this shoot would have been dropped faster than those 40 pounds she supposedly put on.

dammit shai, i was gonna say that!

from actually watching her shows and hearing her say things like "you either get that fixed or no one will hire you" (to a model that liked and wanted to keep the gap in her teeth) it was frustrating to see feminists sticking up for her over the fat issue...she doesnt care about other women, only herself, which is why you heard about the fat thing so much...it was all about her favorite subject, her!

i didn't think of the pretense (women doing the violence) as pitting women against each other. i thought of it as the only viable way of hiding/diminishing/denying the fact that each model beautified MALE violence.

love this blog, btw. read every day. hardly ever comment. rock on!

I love horror films, too, but this is still pretty sick. Partly just because there's no context. In a horror film, there's a story: plenty of them are pretty misogynist, and I'm not defending them at all, but there's also the possibility of having fully developed characters and making a point with what you're showing.

Whereas these shots are just abused dead chicks, laid before us purely for the gawpage.

I can't look upon this as being much different from asking, say, a Miss Black America line up to dress up as flirty Southern slaves, or a load of Jewish models being asked to glam up as sexay Holocaust victims.

Yuck.

Whether or not they were supposed to have been killed by other models is sort of besides the point, isn't it? Or is violence against women only bad if its perpetrated by dudes?

I am so sick of the world.

Who the hell greenlit this idea? Makes the Vanity Fair cover look progressive.

Thank you for posting this! I was watching ANTM with a girlfriend and male friend of mine and I FREAKED out when this came on!!!! Why did they feel the need to once again eroticize women being dead? Was this supposed to be sexy? What was awful was the girl they eliminated tehy complained her eyes looked 'dead'

they were supposed to look 'sexy' dead! anyways i went off on a ten minute rant about this during the show and am glad to share the outrage here!

Wow - that is unnerving. I love that show, as vapid as it is, and had to miss this weeks's b/c it was my boyfriend's birthday. The one last week (where the girls were candy) pissed me off on several levels, this one is even worse (though at least seemingly executed better than the candy dish shots.)

I just sent a scathing email to the CW, and also filed a formal complaint with the FCC.

If they'll levy fines over Janet Jackson's nipple, I would expect much worse punishment for something like this.

To file a formal complaint with the FCC, click here.

If the conservatives can do it, so should we.

This level of graphic violence against women does not belong on a network pumped into millions of American homes, accessible especially by crime victims and children.

What's most telling to me is the critical comment on the final photo:
"All the other girls managed to have some sort of spark even in this sort of morbid situation. I think I look at you in this picture, and you actually just look dead."
Was this not the assignment? To look like murder victims? To look dead? Seems like the complaint is that she doesn't look dead-and-fuckable--just dead. Unnacceptable!

I like horror movies, but not slasher films, which strike me as pointless not only in their trite sexism but also in their weak plots.
I also like detective/crime drama movies and TV shows, and while they tend to have an abundance of female victims, the victims are never presented to the audience as glamourous, attractive, or sexy. They're just dead.

As this spread seems to be attempting to do just that, it disgusts me.

I'm not a fan of these "reality TV" shows that revolve around exploiting someone's dreams of fame and fortune so you can publicly insult and humiliate them in front of an audience. Why not kick a few puppies while you're at it?

"Tyra: (re: Brittany's decision to pose outside of the tub) This was amazing. So, if you didn't speak up, you would have had a beautiful shot, but you spoke up, and now it's probably one of the best of the bunch. (later) She's making those clothes look kind of fierce."

Oh man, I really gotta start thinking about what I wear before I leave the house, because really, I want to look fierce too if I ever get assaulted!

This episode was on the other day while I was at work... which is probably the only reason I saw it. It was doubly trashy beacause in the beginning of the show one of the models learned that her friend had died or had been killed. They still went on with the "look sexy dead shoot after that. despicalbe

Indeed, somabergeron, the model you refer to is Jael. Her friend back home had died of a heroin overdose the previous week. She was rightly having qualms about posing as a dead girl for a fashion shoot. Fuck's sake.

I find this very troubling from an artistic standpoint. As an artist, I often draw women in dangerous situations or dead. I think the pictures are aesthetically amazing.
The problem for me is, as other people have pointed out, the lack of context for the pictures. Also, the idea of models killing other models just reinforces the idea of women as catty and unsupportive.
I wouldn't file a complaint with the FCC though. They're a glorified right-wing censorship board, just like the MPAA. Discussion, like what's going on here, is more effective. Instead of filing a complaint, why not write an op-ed or article in your local paper or zines about it?

Agreed that these photos are stomach-turning. Also: WTF is up with their "political activism" shoot? I mean, of course they put the "pro-choice" girl in nothing but her underwear, while the anti-choicer is in a cute vintage dress.

Midgetqueen you're misunderstanding my comment:

""the models were supposed to have been killed by other models, so not raped"

"I'm dead but you can still fuck me."

Yes. Resorting to the old 'pit females against each other' tactic AND limp-pliable-fuckbait that you KNOW won't fight back!"

I was NOT defending the pictures. Only pointing out that they were supposed to have been killed by other women, not raped. I NEVER said that this was somehow better or that violence against women committed be women is somehow more acceptable, only clarifying the supposed theme. When I said, "I'm dead but you can still fuck me," I wasn't saying that was a good message, in fact I meant the opposite. Christ.

And Lucizoe, yes, maybe it was beside the point, the pictures are pretty disgusting. But AGAIN, just trying to clarify the supposed theme.

Oh, and Moxie, that's excellent advice. I completely agree that public discussion -- not censorship -- of images like these is the right response.

The link to send a comment to the people at the show doesn't work for me, and e-mail to feedback@CWTV.com doesn't work either.

Anyone have another way to give these asshats a piece of my mind?

I can't believe none of these women objected to the shoot. I can tell you that if it had been me (you know, were I three inches taller, basically) and they told me I was supposed to dress up as a murdered woman I would've looked them right in the eye and said "fuck you too". I know women who've been in abusive situations, and I would not take part in doing anything to glamorize a beaten or brutalized woman. If the theme is "model vs. model violence" then cool, pose me on a runway with a big ass knife, a blood stained dress, smuged make up and fucked up hair. Make me dominant. But all of these women are pictured as the victims, and I think that's the most telling part of this shoot. Damn it all. Good to know though, my 11 year old sister watches this show, I guess we'll be having a talk about this episode soon.

Ann: Oh dear goodness. I'm sorry. I didn't mean my comment that way at all, I knew you weren't defending the photos. I was just connecting the dots between your comment and the earlier one. We agree that violence is deplorable in any circumstance, but it's possibly even worse when advertisers think it's cute to frame such violence in pitting women against women. "A house divided" and all that.

Really, really sorry it came off wrong and looked like my gripe was directed at you rather than whatever sickos greenlighted this idea.

I'm a PR/advertising major myself. Seeing the sick proliferation of crap like this, in sales of everything from bubblegum to shoes to clothing, and in marketing of the models themselves, makes half of me want to get in there and hope to rock the boat and effect some change within; the other half wants to run the hell away and have no part of any association with the whole messed-up business.

This is wrong on so many different levels.

I don't care how hot it is.

What do you want to bet that someone working on the show was looking at Melanie Pullen's awful High Fashion Crime Scenes (http://melaniepullen.com/main_alt.html) and, because it's been such a success for her (designers clamoring to send her clothes for her "dead" models to wear), proposed it for the show? It's hardly a new idea in fashion or "art." And it's gross.

Ok, if they looked UNdead, the pics would be awesome.

But this is just plain dead, and plain sick.

Oooh! Zombie models! That would be great!

"Braaaaains. Must...eat...brains!"

"No! You can't eat brains! You'll put on weight! Nooo--"

[CHOMP]

"Mmm. Brains. Brains good!"

Oooh! Zombie models! That would be great!
"Braaaaains. Must...eat...brains!"
"No! You can't eat brains! You'll put on weight! Nooo--"
[CHOMP]
"Mmm. Brains. Brains good!"
*Cracks up* That was awesome, zombies are some of my favorite things & I love zombie movies. Actually, George Romero's zombie movies make same really interesting comments about the roles of women in society, & Dawn, Day & Land of the Dead all feature strong female protagonists.

I had posed for a series of photos for this gothic project when I lived in California. We shot them in a graveyard, and they involved us acting dead (I was the bride who was still wearing her wedding gown, dead of heartache on her fiance's grave). Those were fun. They were macare, but they didn't promote violence against women in any way.

I don't think that giving the ANTM people a piece of mind will do a bit of good. They all have the brains of cement and the egos of Tyra, so they'll just congratulate themselves on having offended the ugly people.

I had to quit watching that show, not because of the models and the cattiness, but because of the judges. They are just oo unbearable.

Moxie, I LOVE George Romero's movies.

I am a huge sucker for zombies. They also fucking scare me to death. Hehehe.

Oooh! Zombie models! That would be great!

"Braaaaains. Must...eat...brains!"

"No! You can't eat brains! You'll put on weight! Nooo--"

[CHOMP]

"Mmm. Brains. Brains good!"

...and from there, I'm suddenly wishing I could be the producer for the Hallowe'en ep. Vampire, zombie, werewolf, creature from the black lagoon, witch, monster-hunter...I suppose making the skinniest one a skeleton would be too cruel...

The zombie idea is much better. Did anyone see The Corpse Bride? That hot dead chick had personality. And she was avenged.

I'm getting really sick of how the fashion industry is sexualizing rape and murder. I can't open up a Vogue nowadays without seeing some "sexy" dead, dying, or otherwise injured or in danger woman pouting up at me. It's just ridiculous.

I enjoyed The Corpse Bride, although not as much as Nightmare Before XMas.
Law Fairy: Zombies are prolly the only scary movie creatures that actually scare me. I was too young to see any of the original movies in theaters, except Land of the Dead. Luckily, this theater I go to did a midnight screening of Night of the Living Dead. THAT scared me--well that & the guy that assaulted me afterwards.
Re: ANTM & intelligence. America's Next Top Model is one of my guilty pleasures. Usually, they have 2 or 3 reasonably intelligent women & the rest have the personality/intelligence of sand. I remember two seasons ago, this one contestant kept insisting that birds have no eyes. FtW?

"Killed by a jealous model" my ass. One of the photos had a woman with her organs stolen.

PEOPLE DO NOT STEAL ORGANS OUT OF JEALOUSY!

Speak for yourself, ghostorchid.

the worse part is that stuff like this makes us think of high fashion - this kind of photo is what we associate with really high end fashion houses. it says so much about our perceptions of beauty and glamour.

"Oooh! Zombie models! That would be great!

"Braaaaains. Must...eat...brains!"

"No! You can't eat brains! You'll put on weight! Nooo--"

[CHOMP]

"Mmm. Brains. Brains good!"

Heh yeah, I think I gained a couple pounds during the amateur zombie movie shoot I was in. :) Clicky on my name for a picture link! All of us zombies were quite hawt, I must say.

I mean, of course they put the "pro-choice" girl in nothing but her underwear, while the anti-choicer is in a cute vintage dress.

Of course! Because pro-choice women are only pro-choice because we are teh slutz0rs.

That said, I'm sure anti-choicers didn't appreciate being portrayed as unhip, and the way the girl was costumed it was a lot more Middle American hausfrau than vintage-loving fashionista.

Zombie models would be awesome! But then I'm sure folks would be complaining about howthe women were being portrayed as 'mindless' or something else of that nature. *sigh*

You think that is bad? Here is a site that will really make you upset. www.necrobabes.com There are also links on this site to other sites like this one. DISGUSTING!

As I'm not in the US i haven't seen this episode yet but today I stumbled across a repeat of the episode of series 4 when they had to be in coffins at the bottom of a grave.
What i didn't remember from that episode is that again, one of the girls had just heard a friend from home had passed away. Understandably she was very upset about being lowered, in a coffin six feet under but Jay's response was..'oh my gosh!... do you need a minute before hair and make up?'
In light of this episode I read about it really seemed as if maybe they were setting up the challenge in order to exploit the situation for 'good tv'.

EG, I actually laughed out loud in my living room when I read ""No! You can't eat brains! You'll put on weight! Nooo--" [CHOMP] "Mmm. Brains. Brains good!"

Fabulous.

I'm really exceptionally stoked about the way the feminist blogosphere took up my call to publicly denounce this episode of Top Model. I posted about it on WIMN's Voices the morning after the show (here: http://www.wimnonline.org/WIMNsVoicesBlog/?p=462) and then Feministe, Feministing and others picked it up, and by the time NOW sent out a press release the blogosphere was buzzing. It ended up making the Daily News, the Guardian, Fox News and even CNN. Wrote about that here: http://www.wimnonline.org/WIMNsVoicesBlog/?p=467

This is a great example of how blogging can be used as strategically as part of an explicit attempt to move public debate - and not just on the 'net.

I just wrote up a piece about media coverage of this grossfest for Bitch magazine.

(EG - email me if you have other snarky thoughts to share about Top Model or other reality TV shows - I'm working on a book on the topic.)