The biggest problem MM has, as a site and as a community, is that it exists to assist a bunch of untalented amateurs into deluding themselves into believing that they are going to be big professionals some day. As a result, someone like Fedora gets the short end of the stick because she is actually genuinely trying to do something real and independent.
MM will always support models and photographers listing their more corporate achievements because corporate achievements make them feel successful. Even other people’s corporate achievements make moderators with lackluster personal portfolios feel like they are going to make it big some day. Never mind the fact that major corporations are always happy to mine the desperate wannabe underground for free labor. What do you think powers the music industry?
Fedora is not the first model or photographer to be forced to remove a link to APN. The rule appears to be that corporate credits like Hustler and SuicideGirls and GodsGirls and Playboy will be overlooked. But credits with genuinely independent sites like FedorasBox and BrokenDollz and Blue Blood and BellaVendetta are likely to come under scrutiny. That the scrutiny generally comes from moderators with very limited portfolios is a given. If they spent more time shooting, and less time persecuting and passing judgment on people like Fedora, then maybe they really would become big time professionals some day, just like their delusional fantasies.
I usually save the bitching for my close friends over beer, but this issue is so relevant to my intentions with why I make erotica in the first place.
ModelMayhem.com is a website where models, photographers, stylists, and makeup artists can post portfolios and network for free. There are forums, 20 pictures slots, ways to link credits to people involved in the creation of an image, and lots and lots of drama.
Did I mention that almost everyone I have ever worked with has a page on this ModelMayhem? It is just that popular.
Now, I have gotten a lot of headaches on this site. There are a lot of people who shoot strictly TFCD that flood the forums with non-professional casting calls, but that I can overlook.
There are a lot of so-called professionals who refuse to discuss industry techniques. Maybe it is such a competitive industry that they feel insecure about their ability to maintain their status. This I can overlook. I am confident in my skills.
There is a seemingly, underlying, (and publicly stated) agenda for model mayhem moderators to try to push alternative models, fine art, and nude models off the site entirely. They seem to feel that they would like things better there if all the WHORES left to do WHORE things. Because everyone knows that being seen nude by a photographer makes you a porn star. and everyone knows that Playboy is Tasteful. And Suicide Girls is art.
Boring!
I had a moderator tell me that they were removing my portfolio (which gets several hundred hits per day on model mayhem.) in 24 hours if I did not remove all PORN LINKS.
“Links” and “porn” are not well defined words of the English language on model mayhem. In the fashion guidebook followed by all elitist pricks on ModelMayhem, PORN is defined as “Eww” and “Link” is defined as any reference to something, whatsoever, no matter if you have to google a phrase, find a site, sign up for a subscription, and dig 5 pages deep before you get to see any vagina.
OMG! REFERENCE TO MY VAGINA IS RUINING FASHION!
So, with 24 hours to remove all reference to all my web clients from my portfolio, I was left a hole in my resume.
Did I mention Female nudity is allowed on modelmayhem. Penis is not. Female Nipples are not allowed to be avatars. I wonder if I photoshop some male nipples onto a woman’s body, if that will save the fashion industry from the evils of human sexuality?
I removed the one HYPERLINK (because I am smart and can read a dictionary) from my page. Done. 12 hours later, the MOD tells me I have a few more hours to complete their request or I will be banished. Wait, let me just post our conversation: [Link]
That is such utter bullshit. I have all sorts of porn references on my profile, yet not a single mod has said anything, and I used to post in the shoutbox daily.
And yes, they would be screwed if they made all of the alt models on there remove references to the sites they have worked for, as most of them would just say “Fuck you” and leave.
It’s such bull that you can post nudes, but you can’t reference “adult sites”, even if they are like mine and have a splash screen that clearly states “YOU MUST BE 18 TO ENTER”. Elitist Pricks. They think they are the entrance to mainstream modeling, but they are just another place for drama to ensue, much like myspace with a eating disorder.
Huh, that’s weird. I have all of the site’s I’ve worked for listed on my MM profile including alt-porn sites, and even sites with hardcore/fetish porn and no one has ever said anything to me. I’ve seen a lot of other people who list fetish and alt-porn sites too. It sounds like a case of selective censorship to me.
I’m personally pissed that my avatar can’t have nudity. I just think I look a lot better naked 🙂
The awesome part of all this is that they want to enforce rules that are not clearly defined.
I feel very singled out. The moderators gave no information about their intentions to eradicate ModelMayhem from whores like us. They simply said that Playboy is mainstream, SuicideGirls is art, not porn, and my site is pornographic simply because I require a subscription fee.
KT’s point is that you are not singled out. There are a lot of models and site owners that have had this debate with moderators on MM. Once you get in a debate with them, they never want to budge, but they should just have a clear rule. I think they should remove all adult credits and all adult casting. In the last two years or so, there has never been a time that some mysteriously unheard of girl isn’t making a thread about ‘what are your thoughts about SuicideGirls’ so they can generate drama and branding. Adult paysites are adult paysites and either they can have them or not. So long as their models and photographers pretend to not have anything to do with adult, it’s all ok, but it’s not like we don’t know what most of their people actually shoot. Enforcing a group lie is just wrong. When it comes to adult work, people should be encouraged to be honest and open about what they do. Otherwise you get girls claiming they don’t do nudes when most of their port is naked and photographers who are unwilling to admit what sites they are actually booking you for. To have everyone nudge nudge wink wink is actually dangerous.
Agreed. I do not claim to be the only one to have this debate with model mayhem and agree they should define rules before attempting to enforce them.
I had the same problem with MM. Granted my stuff isn’t half as cool as fedorasbox, but its still utterly crap.
Wankers.
Which is precisely why I stay off that site with all the bullshit. It’s trifling…
Frankly, I think there should be an alt model site like MM that just networks alt models (not like wickedtalent.com-which I love- but more of a networking site) and that would allow more esteemed vets to post anything they want. Fuck them. Lets start our own thing. That is the only way we will have control over it, I say.
I have an MM profile, an OMP profile..and right now I don’t give a fuck if everything is deleted. I haven’t gotten shit but crap off of there…more power to ’em. I get more on my own!
Sun “da bitch” Karma
An Alt-Modeling talent site…I’d sign up for that
MY POST FROM MODEL MAYHEM:
So, I’m a newbie here and was on here for a few days before my account was removed for “Networking in Porn”. I was not networking in it. I simply had my registered company name as my member name and a link to my website. But it was NOT mentioned anywhere in my profile (Which I’m still working on).
When I CAM’d and asked why my profile was removed after I had taken the link down I was told that “It was my name”. My name was not vulgar or obscene and is a registered LLC. So, I had to change my name to what it is currently. An abbreviated form of my real company name.
I am not here to promote porn or the adult side of my business but to network and find models that aren’t “Adult Actresses” to help me improve my glamour work and to maybe help me get into artistic.
MY QUESTION IS:
Is there a double standard here?
There are several models on here with names such as “Model Suicide” and “Blah, Blah Boring Suicide” with profiles that actively promote Suicide Girls (including links to the site).
There are also SEVERAL members with whole sections of their profiles dedicated to promoting their adult, paid members sites. One quote is “Lastly My Pay Site ” and “doesn’t mean I live to spend every day with a dildo stuffed up me, my legs wide open” (Edited to prevent me from “Outing” the person, even though I’m not sure what the rules are in that area)
So, is there a double standard? If you are a hot model, with lots of nudes up and you bring traffic to the site it’s okay for you to promote it?
OPEN TO COMMENTS:
Fedora says: I feel very singled out. The moderators gave no information about their intentions to eradicate ModelMayhem from whores like us. They simply said that Playboy is mainstream, SuicideGirls is art, not porn, and my site is pornographic simply because I require a subscription fee.
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SG asks a subscription fee as well, so shouldn’t they be referred to as “PORN” as well? I know how much everyone at MM talks about SG… I’m glad you posted all this, and the conversation you had with the moderator!