LA is a diverse city, and here lies the headquarters of a very memorable company; Suicidegirls. The Suicidegirls are a group of alternative pin-up girls who model on the website; www.suicidegirls.com. The site has expanded by leaps and bounds over the past few years. You’ll often catch glimpses of the girls at tattoo conventions, and some girls have starred in a Marilyn Manson music video and in TV shows.
The ethos of the website is a group of unconventionally gorgeous pin-up girls devoted to changing people’s ideas of what makes a woman beautiful. Women are all sizes, from worryingly thin to plus-size, and everything in-between. Most of the women are emo, goth, skaters, indie kids… The site is an appealing visual fest of alternative lifestyles.
The system the girls have to go through to model as full Suicidegirls - to ‘go pink’ as they call it, is very difficult. The majority of girls are responsible for finding their own photographers and setting up the shoots themselves. The ’sets’ as they’re called, are little pieces of art in themselves. The girls often explore elaborate fashion and make up set into a theme or a storyline. There are several thousands sets and models on the site, and you can waste a whole day on there. The site is very inspiring for photographers, artists and the fashion-savvy.
The site isn’t just pictures of models, it is also a thriving online community of people who discuss anything and everything on the message boards. The site’s community are fiercely loyal, but to an extent often where one wonders if there’s a reason behind the tension. If you dare to question the site- prepare to be jumped upon in the message boards. Models can be asked to leave for questioning the site’s policies and not showing the right community spirit.
It makes me a little sad about how this site started- planning to change how women are forced to conform to generic beauty standards. The hypocrisy is that these women are being asked to conform to the idea of non-conformity. There are some traditionally beautiful women on the site that are not tattooed or pierced at all. These and lesser tattooed girls on the site are sometimes criticized for not conforming to the site’s stereotypes. I love alternative lifestyle and fashion, but to be become fiercely precious about it is creating a community that mirrors exactly what it is trying to be alternative from.
It reminds me a little of being a film student, where we were suddenly encouraged to think of Hollywood as the enemy, and love French avant-garde cinema. What I think matters is being genuine to your own feelings and interests, regardless of what’s en vogue.
The alternative scene first appealed to me for it’s celebration of the individual, and when Suicidegirls began, it certainly strived to that ideal. It’s great to be passionate about your lifestyle, but to the point of forgetting your individuality to be accepted into any community is a little dangerous. As an artist, aesthetics are important to me. I enjoy my appearance but I like to think no matter what colour my hair is, it does not affect what I think and how I question my world. Unless both the hair-dye and tattoo ink has seeped into my bloodstream and befuddled me. That would be unfortunate.
Suicidegirls has had to deal with the fact it has grown beyond its smaller cult audience. Their smaller rival sites; such as Godsgirls, are hot on their heels, offering what Suicidegirls struggles to provide since it’s expansion. I personally still love this site, but it’s a shame that such a creative and forward thinking site is being threatened by it’s own success. It’ll be interesting where it goes from here.
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