The Dolly Model Search, the adolescent beauty contest which first launched the relatively successful modeling careers of Jessica Hart, Miranda Kerr and Abbie Cornish, has crowned its first winner in a decade in the form of “well balanced” Brisbane teen Kirsty Thatcher (pictured).
The search was axed in 2002 by ex-editor Mia Freedman, who wanted the magazine’s almost exclusively young female readership to value more than just the way they looked. “I think magazines like Dolly and Girlfriend can play a great role in educating, inspiring and energising the teenage girls who read them. Which is why I wish they wouldn’t hold up modelling as the ultimate prize, a career to aspire to, a life to covet,” she wrote of the competition yesterday. “Because the reality is very very different..
Indeed it is. But according to current editor Tiffany Dunk, the competition now involves an increased focus on positive body image and the personality, attitude and hobbies of contestants rather than just their hauntingly beautiful skin, hair and ability to sell anti-acne medication.
From a quick read of 13 year old Thatcher’s profile page her interests include ballet, basketball and the piano and her future ambitions include modelling fulltime and launching her own organic skin care range. There’s a blueprint for that right?
