Recently, a 14 year old created a protest online to convince Seventeen Magazine to stop photoshopping the bodies of its models in fashion spreads. The convincing argument that inevitably pushed Seventeen to agree to stop was that these photoshopped images distort the idea of beauty for impressionable young girls and create a sense of poor self-image.
I call bull on that.
I have never looked to a magazine such as Seventeen or Teen Vogue for an accurate depiction of the average woman.When I was younger, I realized these pictures were – an art form being sold to me. And to be honest I enjoyed it.
It was interesting to see the way a photographer could make a leg look long just by adding light and capturing a model from a certain angle. I liked that men could look like they had ripped abs just by adding makeup and body oil. It was all very appealing.
I don’t want to open a magazine and see people that look like an average, everyday person I could find on campus. Part of the appeal of the fashion world – and these magazines – is that the people look absolutely stunning. No, I don’t look like that, and no, most people don’t. That is part of the appeal of these magazines.
As for the young girls acquiring a poor self-image. I’m sorry, but if looking at a photo makes them want to stop eating and hate themselves, they have deeper-set issues that a magazine could ever give them.
The blame game our society loves to subscribe must end. McDonald’s doesn’t make you fat; poor self-discipline does. A magazine doesn’t make you hate your body; insecurity does.
What happens when these girls are confronted with women that actually do look like these photoshopped models do in the real world? You can’t ask the maker of people to stop creating beautiful women. Accept that some women are prettier than you.
Instead of abolishing an art form, perhaps we need to better inform young girls that fashion photography is an art. This is a product being sold, so we should view it for what it’s worth. Get over yourselves, and quit being so shallow.
