Why Do Boys Only Want To Date Me Because I’m a Model?

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my six or so years in the teenage dating game, it’s that boys like to date models. 

Actually, scratch that- boys like to say that they date models. 

As a gal who signed her first contract at the age of 12, being a model has been a part of my identity for as long as I’ve been a teenager, for better and for worse. For every beauty shoot I’ve been able to post on my Instagram, someone has found an outtake from a shoot I did for a maternity store when I was 16. For every casting I got to skip school for, there was an extra three hours of homework I had to catch up on. One time I did a shoot for a phenomenal makeup company, and then had to sit through biology class with a giant zit on my forehead that had appeared as a result of the heavy amounts of photo-ready foundation applied. 

Don’t get me wrong: being a model has given me amazing opportunities and helped me build confidence that I never would have had otherwise, and as someone who was a gawky teen (especially in my formative years), I am immensely thankful for it. But, as in everything, there are downsides. And no downside of modelling has ever been so prominent or irksome as the effect it has on boys. Specifically, mega-douchey boys.

This problem first reared its ugly head at a party when I was around fourteen years old. A cute guy was chatting me up, and he seemed to be into me. Finally, he leaned in for a kiss, and I closed my eyes, waiting for him to go in for the kill. 

I waited for a couple of seconds, but still there was no kiss. I figured he was hesitating because he was nervous or something. Then I heard the fateful question: 

“Wait, you 'model', right?” 

This dude had pressed pause on our makeout sesh to confirm the rumour floating around my new high school, effectively deciding to forgo putting his face on my face to ensure that he was going to get extra brownie points with his friends for kissing a model. I was shocked, and after a few minutes of awkwardly humouring this guy, I left and went to go tell my friends my horrifying story. 

Little did I know that this was just a taste of what my future in the dating world was going to be like. 

Almost every single time a boy has asked me out or tried to wheel me at a party, he has asked me about whether I still actively model almost immediately. For some reason, this insignificant piece of info seems to be more important to boys than my interests, sense of humour, or taste in music. This makes it incredibly difficult to decipher whether or not a guy is into me because of who I am, or because of the fact that I’m signed with an agency. 

More often than not, it seems to be the latter. 

I have a couple of questions for these model-obsessed boys: do you understand that to be a model, my best assets are my 12-year-old-boy physique, not any ~*~*unearthly model beauty*~*~ I may possess? Do you think that if I was a famous fashion model I’d be in some basement drinking Jager? Dude, if I was at Cara Delevingne’s level of fashion notoriety, do you seriously think I’d be flirting with YOU?

I hope someday soon, guys will stop caring about whether or not I get regularly dolled up to pose in front of a camera. Because right now, it’s putting a serious damper on my love life. 

I guess until then, I can always date girls.

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