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Pretty White Girls in Pain

   

   The heroin chic hierarchy of beauty was based upon colonial narratives of superiority, positioning the “frail and gaunt physicality of the waifish heroin chic model” (White, I-26) as the primary subject. Women are placed into positions of humiliation and subservience “to fit the demands of a cis white heteropatriarchy” (Strings). The heroin chic trend, although centring women, is yet another masc-heteropatriarchal tool of control.

   The trend reflects “the thin ideal in the 18th century” (Strings), which prioritized thinness as a reflection of self-control. To provide “new and different rationales for slavery”, Europeans outlined “the qualities and characteristics that they claimed were associated with whiteness” (Strings). This developed the narrative that thinness is superior and “black people are more likely to be fat and therefore undisciplined” (Strings). White women are conditioned to believe that the ideal is to be as small as possible, to take up the least amount of space in society.

   Whiteness supremacy created a strict guideline of what it means to be a woman that did not include women of colour. As if in some way anything associated with black femininity is inherently unfeminine. Heroin chic idealizes the teenage white body because of its supposed femininity, causing the fashion industry to sideline the voluptuous black body, so to speak.

   The depiction of suffering in heroin chic imagery places young women in powerless positions. The more incapacitated a woman, the easier to manipulate. The patriarchal West allows for the cis-masculine to maintain control, and the rest to conform. The feminine youth are targets for control because they are easily manipulated and perceived to be subordinate (Choudhari, Reasons for abuse). The prevalence of femme youth in heroin chic imagery is a reflection of the pedophilic nature of the heteropatriarchy.

    For piece 15, I appropriated a Corinne Day photograph of Tara St Hill. She appears to have just finished sobbing – her hair is all frizzy, and her face is still wet with tears. With the clothing she is wearing and the heart image on the door, I felt as though she were a teenager. I placed cutouts from the original coloured image in the foreground to draw attention to different characteristics. The heart in the back reminds me of the decorations I had put up in my room as a teenager. This heart mirrors the youth of the model. Her distressed expression reflects the glorification of pain in heroin chic. Day decided to take a picture of her friend crying, which feeds into the misogynistic desire to see women as powerless. Her outfit is eclectic and revealing and, whether this is intentional or not, sexualizing. The mismatch of her top and bra makes me believe she just carelessly threw some clothes on.

   The edges of the image are burnt, supporting the red glow of the original image. This ties into piece 4, a red-tinted image which depicted a young Jaime King smoking a cigarette. I wanted to recreate the feeling of shock that I got from this image. In piece 4, I was taken aback to see a young girl smoking, and for this young girl in piece 16, I was reminded of that feeling. The cigarette burns are holding the piece together, but also causing the burning on the edges. There is a disconnect between the model's age and its actions. The patriarchy values young, impressionable girls partaking in activities far beyond their years.

    Piece 16 comes from two images of Jaime King, taken by her boyfriend at the time, Davide Sorrenti. I was deeply disturbed to see this image of a nude teenager. She was too young and naive to have this image taken of her, especially because she appears to be asleep and therefore unable to consent. The overt sexualization of King directly reflects the way young girls in heroin chic imagery are depicted; fueled by the patriarchal need to control women's bodies. It feels non-consensual to gaze upon her, and to the cis white man, it would feel like they have the right. Her youth contributes to the narrative of male dominance as the youth are easy to control.

   The coloured image highlights the sexualization of this girl, and the second monochromatic image on top represents youth. The top, dreaming figure reflects children who have fallen victim to the patriarchy, such as King. When looking at heroin chic imagery, it is easy to get used to images like this, but it is necessary to remember the disturbing background of these depictions. The nude image of King is a stark contrast to her dreaming figure, the dreaming figure which, in actuality, should be the true her. Due to the value of whiteness and feminine youth, King is continuously sexualized in heroin chic imagery.

   The third piece (piece 17) in this section is from an image taken by Davide Sorrenti of Jaime King. When I came across this image, I was reminded of the trauma King sustained as a child at the hands of the fashion industry (Osterhage, 2024).
    I printed two copies of this image, one in its original black and white, and the second with a blue tint. I just began tearing pieces into horizontal strips to assemble a new piece. I wanted to show the layers of suffering at the hands of the patriarchal system in the fashion industry. It takes young girls and corrupts their youth, exposing them to atrocities, working them to the bone, and getting them addicted to drugs.
    The blue tint allowed this piece to reflect the melancholic tone I am trying to create. Due to her whiteness and youth, King became a central figure of the heroin chic aesthetic, but her fame only supported the destructive patriarchal systems that caused her suffering.

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