America's Next Top Model?..Please, not my daughter!

America's Next Top Model..Just one of America's many guilty pleasures..A dozen or so 18 to 20 something girls vying for the approval of a panel of "fashion judges" including the show’s creator, model Tyra Banks, as reality shows go, it is entertaining enough. Cat fights, sabotage and a self absorbed star, it is no wonder that it has a large following. My daughters watch this show every week so I am a watcher only by association. I never gave the show more than a split second of thought until one of my daughters exclaimed one Wednesday night during the airing of the program that she wants to try out for the show. I wasn't sure how to respond at first. She had just turned 17 and everyone she knows tells her to model. After all, she is a thin, pretty, 6'2" girl (above photo).

All I could think about were the scenes of the show where girls are fighting and screaming at each other. The judges are brutally honest; verging on cruelty for what I am sure is shock value for television. Then there are the nude photo shoots...don't get me wrong, nude is beautiful and under the right circumstances, quite freeing, but as a father, daughter + photographer+ nudity just doesn’t add up...I would fear the next step could be Playboy!..and again, don't get me wrong Playboy is....never mind...

It just so happened that not long after my daughter made her proclamation, a former model and America's Next Top Model judge, Paulina Porizkova was making an appearance at one of the designer stores at the downtown mall. I took all my daughters down to meet Paulina and hopefully get an idea of what it is like to be on the show. It turns out that Paulina was still extremely attractive (I kept that to myself) and very helpful. She told us that Tyra Banks was a "tyrant, that took credit for everyone elses ideas", I also asked why she left the show after just one season, her response, "I was fired, I think, all I know is that called my agent and told him they wouldn't need me the following season." She also told my daughter to stay far far away from anything to do with the show...whew, thanks Paulina!..I dodged yet another bullet! Anytime your kids make their own decisions and the right ones to boot, is a glorious thing for a parent, it lets us off the hook!..ps..Tara is modeling, clothed and not for Tyra Banks...