I just ran across something rather surreal online tonight. There's this former SuicideGirl who's now on a board of directors for some "very important" children's charity. Now, she's all embarrassed by her former association with this website and is petitioning to get her photos removed.
Umm....has she ever heard of plausible deniability? Somehow I doubt that the people she works with at her charity are the same people who'd be looking at this website in the first place. Not only that, but her photosets are in the "archives" section, which I didn't even realize existed until this evening, and even then, it was no small feat to track them down. So, had she just kept her mouth shut...who would have known? Who would have EVER made that connection? But, thanks to her raising such a fuss about it, now everyone knows...and anyone with a web connection and a few bucks can log on and see her bare ass! Smart move, eh?
So what's this really all about, anyways? Regardless of what she claims, it's not about the children. "Or would they rather see children die because they are now opposing a very good foundation by maintaining my photos there and are too stubborn to let me properly do my job as the face of this foundation without subsequent scandal?" Please. Maybe she's a brilliant PR woman (I have no way of knowing), but I assure you she's not the only person on Earth that could do that job. And, besides, apparently she doesn't realize how mainstream the 'porn' scene has become. Think of all the Hollywood "A-list" celebrities who've appeared in Playboy over the years. Have their photoshoots done irreparable damage to their careers? Or think of actual porn stars like Ron Jeremy and Jenna Jameson: they've become such ubiquitious pop-culture icons that even those who aren't true porn aficionados are familiar with who they are and what line of work they're in. Or take me, a former "life studies" model for my college art department. (Think those pictures might come back to haunt me later in life???) Ultimately, it's no big deal...in fact, in true "no publicity is bad publicity" fashion, she could, if she had played her cards right, have used her position as a SuicideGirl to bring attention to her cause du jour...but no, she'd rather tear the pages out of that particular chapter of her life.
I'm sorry, but life doesn't come equipped with a "backspace" key. She make the decision to pose for this website, and now she's going to have to live with it. What's ultimately going to make the difference for her is how she deals with it. I'll admit, I've made far more than my fair share of mistakes during my almost twenty-six years on this Earth, but you don't see me petitioning anyone to get them stricken from the record. Nor would I if I had the chance: while my life has been no bed of roses so far, the fact is I wouldn't be the same person I am today had I not made those same crappy decisions. And I like the person I am today!
No, on the contrary, I believe it's more about money and attention. Just like everything, really. Surely she remembers that she got PAID to do those photosets...and that she had to sign a contract with SuicideGirls when she did them. Had she approached the management a different way; say, if she'd offered buy back the rights to those photos (in other words, to at least give back what she'd been paid originally), perhaps she could have avoided making such a public spectacle of herself.
But no, I think it was her intention all along to make a scene. Call it the Shannon Faulkner Syndrome, if you will. I myself donate ungodly amounts to various charities and have been a vocal political activist for years, but I don't make any big deal about it. Because, in the end, it's not about me. It's about Mario, the Bolivian kid I'm sponsoring through CCF. It's about my best friend Jolene's two kids, Skylur and Devin. It's about my youngest brother Daniel, and all the other kids who are going to have to live with the decisions we make today and the world we leave them tomorrow.
Yet, for the Shannons and the Dias of the world, it's all an exercise in self-aggrandizement, and that's why I have no sympathy for her or her so-called plight.
Umm....has she ever heard of plausible deniability? Somehow I doubt that the people she works with at her charity are the same people who'd be looking at this website in the first place. Not only that, but her photosets are in the "archives" section, which I didn't even realize existed until this evening, and even then, it was no small feat to track them down. So, had she just kept her mouth shut...who would have known? Who would have EVER made that connection? But, thanks to her raising such a fuss about it, now everyone knows...and anyone with a web connection and a few bucks can log on and see her bare ass! Smart move, eh?
So what's this really all about, anyways? Regardless of what she claims, it's not about the children. "Or would they rather see children die because they are now opposing a very good foundation by maintaining my photos there and are too stubborn to let me properly do my job as the face of this foundation without subsequent scandal?" Please. Maybe she's a brilliant PR woman (I have no way of knowing), but I assure you she's not the only person on Earth that could do that job. And, besides, apparently she doesn't realize how mainstream the 'porn' scene has become. Think of all the Hollywood "A-list" celebrities who've appeared in Playboy over the years. Have their photoshoots done irreparable damage to their careers? Or think of actual porn stars like Ron Jeremy and Jenna Jameson: they've become such ubiquitious pop-culture icons that even those who aren't true porn aficionados are familiar with who they are and what line of work they're in. Or take me, a former "life studies" model for my college art department. (Think those pictures might come back to haunt me later in life???) Ultimately, it's no big deal...in fact, in true "no publicity is bad publicity" fashion, she could, if she had played her cards right, have used her position as a SuicideGirl to bring attention to her cause du jour...but no, she'd rather tear the pages out of that particular chapter of her life.
I'm sorry, but life doesn't come equipped with a "backspace" key. She make the decision to pose for this website, and now she's going to have to live with it. What's ultimately going to make the difference for her is how she deals with it. I'll admit, I've made far more than my fair share of mistakes during my almost twenty-six years on this Earth, but you don't see me petitioning anyone to get them stricken from the record. Nor would I if I had the chance: while my life has been no bed of roses so far, the fact is I wouldn't be the same person I am today had I not made those same crappy decisions. And I like the person I am today!
No, on the contrary, I believe it's more about money and attention. Just like everything, really. Surely she remembers that she got PAID to do those photosets...and that she had to sign a contract with SuicideGirls when she did them. Had she approached the management a different way; say, if she'd offered buy back the rights to those photos (in other words, to at least give back what she'd been paid originally), perhaps she could have avoided making such a public spectacle of herself.
But no, I think it was her intention all along to make a scene. Call it the Shannon Faulkner Syndrome, if you will. I myself donate ungodly amounts to various charities and have been a vocal political activist for years, but I don't make any big deal about it. Because, in the end, it's not about me. It's about Mario, the Bolivian kid I'm sponsoring through CCF. It's about my best friend Jolene's two kids, Skylur and Devin. It's about my youngest brother Daniel, and all the other kids who are going to have to live with the decisions we make today and the world we leave them tomorrow.
Yet, for the Shannons and the Dias of the world, it's all an exercise in self-aggrandizement, and that's why I have no sympathy for her or her so-called plight.