The Tempe 12 tour bus made its final stop when it rolled onto the UA campus Friday with models signing autographs, raising awareness about the five-year-old calendar and to debunk the stigma that comes with being a model in a swimsuit calendar.
UA students Kara Bauman and Chrissy Bertrand represented the Wildcats in the calendar and said the experience was incredible, albeit occasionally nerve-wracking.
“”I’ve done a little modeling, but I’ve never done legitimate swimsuit modeling before … so I was a little hesitant just because there’s 500,000 calendars out this year, and the idea that I could be on that many walls in a bathing suit is pretty vulnerable. It’s like people can say whatever they want about you, and you don’t even know who they are and you can’t defend yourself,”” Bauman said.
Bauman, a journalism junior, said despite being selected from the 80,000 women who applied to be in the calendar, all the girls were very down-to-earth.
“”It’s cool because it’s not just a bunch of hot girls in swimsuits. It’s girls that are really intelligent. They have brains and a personality. Every single girl in the calendar are great girls,”” she said.
Tempe 12 creator David Freedman said that ideology was part of the selection process.
“”It’s not just their looks, but they have a personality that they’re outspoken, driven, smart,”” he said. “”Just really down-to-earth, cool girls that you want to hang out with at the end of the day.””
Freedman, who graduated from Arizona State University in 2005, added that the girls are more than just pretty faces, saying they included the models grade point average, “”just to show that these girls have brains. Yeah they happen to be gorgeous girls, but there’s a lot more to them than just their looks. In most cases, these girls have no desire to really become a model – it’s not their aspiration in life – it’s to pursue their degree, whether it is becoming a doctor, lawyer, broadcast journalism major, a dentist. It really varies all over and we really wanted to show their GPAs because … there’s a lot more to them.””
Bertrand, a retail and consumer sciences sophomore, agreed that there is a stigma attached to being a model or appearing in a swimsuit, but said it was just how stereotypes worked.
“”You know, seeing a girl in a swimsuit with blonde hair, you’re going to assume she’s not very smart, she’s all about looks or whatever, but I’m a very laid-back, fun and outgoing,”” Bertrand said. “”I have a very busy social life, but I’m able to balance that with a 4.0 GPA.””
While the models don’t receive any monetary award, Freedman said they are treated especially well.
“”They’re treated to a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We flew the girls out to the Palms in Las Vegas this year … and they get to shoot with David Rams, our photographer, who is one of the top photographers in the world,”” Freedman said. “”They get the hair done, their make-up, the meals catered – they get treated like a queen.””
Bauman, who is balancing four jobs and school, said she wasn’t sure if the experience was going to help her in the future, but didn’t rule anything out.
“”Modeling has always come last, behind everything. … My dream job is to be in the sports world and to become a sports reporter,”” she said. “”Whether or not this is going to help launch my career … who knows. But I definitely want to stick with sports reporter.””
Bertrand said modeling was something she would would like to explore and adding the photographs taken from her Tempe 12 shoot is a huge step toward that.
“”The people you meet through the photo shoot and through promotional work that we do ð- you know a lot of them are owners of restaurants and owners of bars and video production … it’s kind of like you remember these people from Tempe 12 … that can help my future,”” she said.
