Catpaw – diary of an angry cat

Well, Saturday saw what could only be deemed as the first ever “Model Riot” in the world, a sure sign of the End of Times.

Early Saturday morning something/someone sparked off a panic at the tryouts for the noxious “America’s Top Model” travesty. I’ve previously ranted about the fashion industry’s views on women. This is yet another sad chapter n the industry’s desire to feed off the pipe dreams of thousands of young women. Evidently about 10,000 turned out for the auditions in Manhattan… sorry, I’m having difficult time understanding why 10,000 women would willingly offer themselves up to the degradations of the fashion industry…. The images captured on video show a dangerously overcrowded lineup with inadequate crowd control. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the basics of crowd dynamics and know this was a situation that could quickly spiral out of control – and guess what? It did.

It is still unclear exactly what started the stampede, really it wasn’t a riot, it was a panic stricken mob with nowhere to go. Two rumours are still swirling, someone tried to steal a purse from one of the waiting hopefuls and someone yelled bomb. The gods must have been looking out for the women who had lined up for hours because only 6 were injured.

What amazes me is the information that has come out that the organisers of this even never bothered hiring extra security or alerting NYPD to the event. I accept that perhaps they were a bit surprised by the sheer number of women who showed up, but as I said, it doesn’t take an Einstein intellect to understand you can’t have massive numbers of excited and excitable people in a line without a lot of organisers to help maintain control. Once it became obvious how large the lineup was why didn’t they PICK UP THE BLOODY PHONE AND CALL FOR EXTRA SECURITY? But what should we expect from an industry that sees females as nothing more than marketable meat.

3 people have been charged with inciting a riot. I wonder if they thought it would be funny to start the panic – you know the same mentality that finds it amusing to yell “Fire!” in a crowded room?

Of course the producers of America’s Top Cattle Call have expressed “concern” over the incident. How about expressing concern over how these young women will be treated by your industry? No? Nothing? I thought not.

Stumble it!