Kat Love
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Note: One does not have to agree with Kat's philosophy, in whole or in part, to hire her. This philosophy page serves the purpose of explaining the "why" about Kat Love as a model. Why nude? Why non-commercial? Why freelance? And why vegan?
The Human Form
I reject the connection between nudity and shame because such a connection should not exist. Nudity is inhibited only by socially created customs and emotional aversions. Hence, nudity is not NECESSARILY linked to shame, rather the link is CREATED.
Some human laws can be justified. Denying free and independent beings the right to nudity is not justifiable; in fact, such a denial is unjust. When one is required to wear clothing, it alienates one from oneself and from others. This occurs through the clothing barrier which shields our most natural form from each other and more importantly, from ourselves.
I specialize in artistic nude modeling because in art, the human figure is seen as beautiful and not necessarily as an object of shame or sex. My work is not an exploitation of nudity or exhibitionism but is rather a statement against society's illusion of shame when it comes to nudity.
Anti-commercial Modeling
The Marxian notion of historical materialism asserts that all aspects of life (religion, government, class system, education...ect) are rooted in the economic structure of a society. Capitalism is the most exploitative and unethical economic system that provides the structure by which people consume. This structure encourages waste, greed, and selfishness.
Commercial models are one of the many types of powerful pawns within the capitalist system. Advertising increases consumption and thus participation in the exploitation of humans and the environment.
For example, if I were to appear in an advertisement for Gap baseball caps I would be directly encouraging consumers world wide to purchase caps which were produced in a Dominican Republic sweatshop in which workers are hit, belittled, and touched inappropriately in addition to being underpaid at a rate of about 40 dollars for 56 hours. It is undeniable that these sweatshops violate even the most basic human rights. Those that model Gap clothing encourage this violation of human rights in in two major ways. (1) Increase consumer desire for sweatshop made goods (2) because the models are paid by Gap, the modes are compensated with money that was gained through exploiting workers.
The above example is just one out of the many ways in which commercial models participate in and sustain the unjust capitalist machine.
The Modeling Industry
The modeling industry reflects the economic system in which it thrives. The goals of modeling agencies, managers, and schools is to gain money by any means possible which includes maintaining power over models.
I think the most dangerous rhetoric of the industry is that modeling is impossible without representation. Essentially, they don't ever point out that models can be their own manager or that a model can learn how to screen photographers and potential assignments without the help of an agency. The industry survives on the dependency of the ones they exploit. They profit off of models and maintain power over them.
Veganism
Veganism is the belief in animal rights. As believers in animal rights, vegans do not eat animals or their products, wear animals or their products, and do not support animal testing.
No... meat, eggs, dairy, refined sugar (bone char), gelatin, honey, fur, leather, wool, silk, toiletries with ingredients such as glycerin, urea (animal urine extract), stearates, and avoiding cruel brands such as Proctor and Gamble (animal testing meanies).
I became a vegan due to my animal rights, environmental, and human health concerns. I believe in the connectedness of all things. Not killing animals truly means not killing oneself.
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