Entertainment of Friday, 15 July 2011

Source: News One

‘I Don’t Open My Legs To Get A Job’ -model

There is a widely held belief that several working ladies, especially those in the entertainment industry, are under constant pressure from their male bosses who demand sex in exchange of job security or promotion.

A few Ghanaian actresses have given hints that this practice prevails in their industry but so far, no one has been bold enough to mention names to substantiate this perception.

News-One caught up with Anita Ofori, a fashion model with extraordinary charming looks and asked if she had ever experienced this or has any knowledge of it. “Most girls have a problem with sexual harassment from their male bosses but I haven’t had such an experience so I can’t say it is a challenge for me.

Wherever I go, I don’t encounter that problem with men who want sex before giving you a job. No, I have not had such an experience,” was her immediate response.

When asked how she would have handled such a situation and how her female colleagues handled theirs, she had this to say: “It is a matter of not giving in. It is an individual difference, someone may agree and give in or due to the circumstance, may be compelled to give in but personally, I will not do it.”

Anita has been with Exopa Model Agency for the last four years and says: “I love modeling. I have passion for modeling from infancy.

So after Senior High School, I decided to join Exopa. I enrolled at the modeling school department and eventually graduated. So far it has been good. “It is the dream of every model to be known and also get contracts to get finances going so I think it has been good so far.

I have done a whole a lot with renowned fashion designers including Alfadi, Kofi Ansah, Imane Ayisi and so on.” Anita possesses the type of looks that can make a hardcore gay convert into a heterosexual and she is one of the top models under the management of Exopa Model Agency.

She hails from Cape Coast in the Central Region and currently a third year Sociology student at the University of Ghana.

Anita’s career has seen her catwalk on a couple of big platforms including the FIMA Festival in Niger, Ghana Fashion Week, Be Bold Show, Da Viva Show, Kwame Nkrumah Centenary Celebration Fashion Show, Jonathan Dimbliby Fashion Show for Kofi Ansah and a number of top fashion events across Africa.

She was also adjudged the first runner-up during the 2010 edition of Exquisite Face of the Universe- Ghana pageant.

Billboard adverts and bikini shows, she noted, pay well in this part of the world but she did not reveal the biggest pay check she has received so far.

Anita admires Tyra Banks and wants to be like her. She expressed the hope of establishing herself as a super model who would be recognized on international platforms. She is currently getting ready for the Exquisite Face of the Universe pageant to be held in Korea.