Who is Salt ? Probably a failed wax figure of Madame Tussauds Museum who lost itself in a photoshot of Angelina Jolie's movie. They are thousands each year to escape the stockrooms of wax museums around the world and to be find again in the cover of magazines. That would be a good lie for bad photoshoppers.
But, the truth is that, by dint of wanting to show the celebs' perfect skins, usual retouches have turned into an attack of the image.
Cheaper than make up and surgery, Photoshop allows you to remove cellulite, bad skin and excesses of fat. Britney Spears is the one who uses it the most, along with Kim Kardashian and Beyonce Knowles. But it could stay at the level of vanity. The real danger is when it comes to slenderness. Photoshop editors want us to believe that the world is full of sylphes, with extraordinary thin waists and legs. And when they can't plane the hipline, as they usually did on the pictures of the luscious Christina Hendricks, they put the celeb's face on the body of a model ( moreover already photoshopped ). The following example is glaring : they contented themselves with the fact that they have inverted the body.
And now, Kimora Lee Simmons has a body she will never have in real life. Magic ? For celebs maybe, but for their public, it is dangerous. If we, reasonable readers are able to override this call to diet, many remain impressionable and think that the only way to be beautiful is to be slim. For a woman such as Kimora, who sports the curves with class, flaunting herself with a fake slim body is a shame, the most pathetic thing I have ever seen. Celebs and magazines must give themselves a sense of responsability : they are the one who drive teenagers to anorexia, or to excessive surgeries. Yes, surgeries between 18 years old. How awful is that ?
The brands, especially, are guilty, when they reduce the waist of their already scrawny models to such an extent that they seem to have been got out of Buchenwald. "We have changed" they said, "now, we are celebrating the models who are assuming their curves". Yes, they seem to. But after some hours of glory, the iconic Crystal Renn have returned to diet. How do you spell 'hypocrisy' ? Before all the girls of the world would suffer of body dysmorphic disorder, we need to think without our wallets, and stop our frenzy of slenderness. And the world of fashion have to be honest for once, and stop acting like it was suffering of split personality : Photoshop is not its Mister Hyde, but actually its main tool to drive us to conformity. And if we wanted to be different ? To be ourselves. For example, I would like to go to a shop and find something else than size 6 ( size 4 for US ). Because the last time I have slipped into a size 6, I was 10. It is really time to grow up.
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| Crystal Renn, proud of her curves, but better liked with hollow cheeks |
Exercise your eyes :
http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/ you will never read a magazine as you used to.
As a curvy girl who has had eating issues and had loved ones die of eating issues, I think the media needs to at least recognize it is part of the problem and spend more time empowering women and less time manipulating them. Thank goodness for fashion blogs where real women write about both international and local fashion so that young girls can see that fashion can be more subjective. Great post! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletehttp://curvywithconfidence.blogspot.com
I think digital photos are the modern paintings, and such as antique sculptures and historical paintings of political figures, imperators, women and men, have been idealized, so are photos.
ReplyDeleteBut it is the old-fashioned stereotypes, which I am not comfortable with, and I agree with Dana, that the Internet and blogs can really make a difference and challenge the uniformity of fashion magazines, which is a good thing.
I think this is the problem with modern day society. Women, and even girls as young as 8 and 9, think being "Size Zero" is the perfect body shape. You know what I say to that? I say:
ReplyDeleteGET A LIFE PEOPLE!
Be PROUD of who you are! If we were all meant to be perfect, then we'd be born like that. Perfect is BORING. Take care of yourself, and you'll be amazing. That's how to be beautiful! You don't even have to be pretty. Who said you had to look pretty to be beautiful? Being beautiful is being who you are and not giving a damn about what others will say. Being beautiful is picking yourself up when you fall. Being beautiful is being there for others when they're there for you. Most importantly, being beautiful is being proud of your flaws and being who you are.
And I think it's taken AGES for people to realise you can be a plus size and be gorgeous. Like in NY Fashion week. Check it out!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11240617
The women in there are really pretty. Can I say this?
Don't let airbrushes fool you. Don't let yourself be humiliated in to who you are. Remember:
You have to be strong to be different.
Sorry it's so long. I can have a lot to say :/