Thursday, July 5, 2012

Photoshopping Women

One of my pet gripes is the way pictures of models are sometimes photoshopped so they don't look like how they really look.

Here's an example from Victoria's Secret:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/03/victorias-secret-photoshop-fail-thighs_n_1645735.html?ncid=wsc-huffpost-cards-headline

Why can't they let women be women with all their lovely curves?

FD

15 comments:

  1. All that airbrushing is why we have such a problem with anorexia. It is unrealistic to expect bodies to be that perfect, especially once you get past 25.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is a shame that the media continues to protray women in unrealistic ways. It sets up young women for failure, they see these pics and think they must also look that way or they aren't good enough.

    I saw an article on one of the morning news shows today about a teenager who started an online petition to get one of the teen mags to stop airbrushing their pics. The petition received so many signatures that the magazine in question has said they will no longer airbrush the pics. Maybe this will be the start of a much needed change in the industry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. faerie: I think I did a blog about the online petition to stop teen mags from airbrushing. A positive step.

      FD

      Delete
  3. It winds me up, as a mother of a 10yr old girl it pisses me off that the media put pressure on women but most especially impressionable young girls to conform to some ideal, we are close becoming or are already there a society that values how someone looks more than any other attribute.

    tori x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. tori: You have to give your daughter the right message so she doesn't feel she has to conform to some ideal.

      FD

      Delete
  4. I have seen pictures of women's bodies distorted so much they make Barbie look normal.

    Kiki

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kiki: Sometimes you wonder what they are thinking when they distort women's bodies in the pictures.

      FD

      Delete
  5. Yep....what happened to curves being a good thing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Belle: I still think they are a good thing.

      FD

      Delete
  6. Florida Dom
    I am thinking I am the odd person out on this topic; however, I really do not care about airbrushing. I do not look at magazines for realistic photographs, I look at them to see fantasy, to see fictional beauty. I was raised in a home where my mother and father and siblings and aunts and uncles and grandparents and friends and family friends all showed and demonstrated a persons value and were clear as to what was real, what was practical and what was not. When I look at those images I know it is impossible to look like any of the models because the lighting, the hair, the makeup, the angles, the photographer alone all affect how a person looks and then of course I know nearly everyone and everything is airbrushed.

    Instead of people placing blame on magazines how about families take some responsibility and accountability in how a child is raised? How about teaching by example and spending time with children and explaining and being supportive? Models have never looked like the walking people we are, not even in the 50's and it was because of lighting and the like. Movie stars do not like like the average person either and it is because of the fantasy world on the screen.

    Do I think it is a little crazy that as a society we feel the need to extend legs, thin bums and arms and thighs? Absolutely. And do I think media influences? Again, definitely. But where are the parents? Where is the upbringing to teach, to listen, to learn?

    People have been blaming the media for years and it has not changed. Ever. And it most likely will not because it sells, because people like fantasy. How about people teach and learn what realism is and the difference between fantasy and real life?

    All photographs seem to be photoshopped. If you own a digital you can make your image even prettier. It happens all the time and most likely will continue to do so. Does not make it healthy but I do not hold the media entirely responsible for body image and eating disorders. That would be like blaming comic books for boys who want to be strong and weight lift.

    ~a

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Side note: this reminds me of the constant debate about the Barbie Doll. It is a doll. A DOLL! Never, in any ad have I seen: all real women must look like this toy. We, as society make those decisions, Barbie never did. She is pretty, was much prettier when I was little and I never once thought I had to look like her. Again, my parents, my environment took the task of teaching me. How about people step up to the plate and be parents, care givers, teachers.
      ~a

      Delete
    2. Yes, the parents need to teach their children the difference between fantasy and real life. Still, I think many young girls tend to get caught up in the fantasy and feel inadequate. And women, in general, tend to have low self esteem in many cases, which is another problem.

      FD

      Delete
    3. Florida Dom
      I agree to both your points and I do think there is validity to them. For me, what I ponder more is why? Women experiencing low self esteem is not a feeling unique to women now, it has been an emotion felt for generations, many of them which leads me to question why? Photoshopping did not occur in the early 1900's yet women still felt inadequate, insecure and often compared themselves to other women. (I am of course generalizing there are women who do not experience such emotion.) Perhaps these feelings are innate, a more biological experience than one from nurture.
      ~a

      Delete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete