Protests against "Germany's Next Top Model"

15,000 fans, most of them female, flocked to the Cologne Lanxess Arena on Thursday to attend the finals of "Germany's Next Top Model" live. Supposedly, the cards have never sold out as fast as this year. What makes the TV station happy is critics of the show's horror. Stevie Schmiedel, head of the initiative Pinkstinks protested yesterday with many others in Cologne against the casting show of Heidi Klum. For them, the program promotes eating disorders and self-hatred in young girls. We talked to her after the demonstration.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde: What did the producers of "Germany's Next Top Model" say about your campaign?

Stevie Schmiedel: The people of Pro7 allegedly smiled only mildly and said: 'You can see, the Lanxess Arena is filled.' According to the motto: The girls want that. As if that argument were enough!

Nevertheless, before the show started, you had a great time at the Cologne Cathedral. How was it?

Wonderful. Although it rained partly in torrents, 300 people were waiting for us in costumes, with funny signs like "Heidi, I do not have a picture for you today" and a lot of balloons with our slogan "Simply top, no model". There were great women, like DJane Franca or a hip-hop group. We celebrated really colorful and cool!

How is this a protest against the top model show?

By showing that there are also great girls who do not chase after GNTM who do not want to be dictated to what they are like. And by demonstrating to young people, we are there and doing great things for you.

But does that really bring something?

Yes, many girls, but also young men came to us and said: Thank you for making a sign. For the fact that women also have other interests than being beautiful. Volunteers have distributed flyers to people who did not yet know that there is an organized protest against the prevalent image of women in the media. We also shot a video of the action that shows women who exude just as much power as a model with a Victoria's Secret look. It will oppose the images of skinny models with another equally strong image. But alone, if the 500 people we have achieved on-site, what brings when the fun, that's great.

Did passersby also bitch?

A few people looked around uncomprehendingly, and most of them liked it. Only one woman said to a girl: 'You're really pretty, what are you doing here?' That has nothing to do with it! Besides, does the woman know what the girl looks like? In any case, the girl only laughed in response. And such a laugh always gives me the joy and the courage to continue like this.



Video for the demo with a song by the rapper Sookee

Petition calls for Heidi Klum to explain about anorexia

Vortex also caused a signing action of the 20-year-old Laura Pape. Pape has a book written about her anorexia and describes herself as part of the "Generation Germany's Next Top Model". In her petition she urged Heidi Klum to draw attention to eating disorders and the dangerous consequences in their program. "There is, of course, a connection between what we see on TV and in newspapers every day and our own physical feelings." Although Pro7 then actually built a link to a consulting page on anorexia on the Topmodels homepage. But Heidi Klum himself could not convince Pape. At a press conference before the show finale she poisoned according to Köln.de: "Is the woman who wants to market my book at my expense, among us?"



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