America's Next Tat Model

I love watching shows where I get to pass judgment on people. Who saw the premiere of Top Model? Anyone? Just me then?

Last night's episode began with a larger pool of girls (around 20) and was whittled down to 12 over the course of two hours. The lady above was removed in the first round of cuts. I was not surprised, but somewhat confused why they bothered to introduce her in the first place. She would have been the most interesting contestant in the show. When she appeared on screen, I whispered, "she's my favorite." My wife glared at me.

As the only woman on the show with multiple tattoos, she's not only attractive, but very unique. I understand that beauty is not a prerequisite for modeling, and that being unique is actually a handicap (there was a big to-do about including two "plus-size" models among this season's participants). This makes sense. For practical reasons, it helps if all your models have approximately the same dimensions.

Of course, tattooed girls are not excluded for practical reasons. Tattoos don't interfere with your ability to wear a dress, but they might take the attention away from that dress and have people looking at the model instead. We can't have that! The model is a mannequin to display product. To the eye of a high fashion tastemaker, the difference between a size 6 and a size 14 is narrower than the gap between plainskins and those with decorated bodies.