Will Photo Editing Eventually be a Thing of the Past?
By: Jen Mueller,
SparkPeople Blogger
7/7/2011 10:00 AM
: 50 comments
: 9,544 Views
I've never been a big fan of fashion magazines for a number of reasons. First, I've never considered myself to be a "fashionista". If you saw me on the street, my standard outfit is usually sweatpants and a t-shirt. Second, I always end up irritated at the pictures of skinny models in the advertisements and articles. These images are unrealistic to 99.9% of the people looking at them, yet so many (especially young girls) strive to look this way and beat themselves up when they fall short. Some of these models truly look like the pictures portray, but most have the benefit of photo-editing software (commonly referred to as "Photoshopping") to smooth out every line and give a look of perfection. Now the American Medical Association (AMA) has adopted a policy discouraging this practice.
The policy encourages advertisers to work with child and adolescent health organizations to develop guidelines for advertisements, especially in publications targeted to youth and teens. The goal is to discourage the practice of editing photos, especially when they create unrealistic expectations of body image. A good example of this issue was a Ralph Lauren ad in 2009. As you can see in the picture, her waist appears to be smaller than her head. Although this model is normally thin, she doesn't look so disproportionate like the ad portrays. This look is thanks to photo-editing software, which probably did a number of "touch-ups" including trimming her waist.
Here's a quote from the AMA on this issue "The appearance of advertisements with extremely altered models can create unrealistic expectations of appropriate body image," said Dr. McAneny. "We must stop exposing impressionable children and teenagers to advertisements portraying models with body types only attainable with the help of photo editing software."
It's hard to say how much of an impact this new policy will actually have on advertising and photo-editing practices. But I think we would all benefit from seeing people more like they actually look- since we all know that no one looks perfect. I am pretty accepting of my body and its flaws. But looking at these kinds of ads often leaves me thinking "Geez, how can I get my skin to look so perfect? Why don't my thighs look so smooth and cellulite-free?" So I know if it leaves me questioning my appearance, it certainly has an effect on young women who are just beginning to learn about self-esteem and body acceptance.
What do you think?
The policy encourages advertisers to work with child and adolescent health organizations to develop guidelines for advertisements, especially in publications targeted to youth and teens. The goal is to discourage the practice of editing photos, especially when they create unrealistic expectations of body image. A good example of this issue was a Ralph Lauren ad in 2009. As you can see in the picture, her waist appears to be smaller than her head. Although this model is normally thin, she doesn't look so disproportionate like the ad portrays. This look is thanks to photo-editing software, which probably did a number of "touch-ups" including trimming her waist.
Here's a quote from the AMA on this issue "The appearance of advertisements with extremely altered models can create unrealistic expectations of appropriate body image," said Dr. McAneny. "We must stop exposing impressionable children and teenagers to advertisements portraying models with body types only attainable with the help of photo editing software."
It's hard to say how much of an impact this new policy will actually have on advertising and photo-editing practices. But I think we would all benefit from seeing people more like they actually look- since we all know that no one looks perfect. I am pretty accepting of my body and its flaws. But looking at these kinds of ads often leaves me thinking "Geez, how can I get my skin to look so perfect? Why don't my thighs look so smooth and cellulite-free?" So I know if it leaves me questioning my appearance, it certainly has an effect on young women who are just beginning to learn about self-esteem and body acceptance.
What do you think?
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Comments
As for photo retouching, I have several books on Victorian era fashion and in one is a photo of an 1890s woman with a very obvious and poorly executed waist touch up. - 7/12/2011 3:29:55 PM
Not sure where artistic license stops and social responsibility begins. The excellent photographer in my home town always fixed graduation pictures removing blemishes and dark circles, making cheekbones look higher and necks slimmer. He worked with tiny brushes but the effect was the same. Everyone likes to look at their old graduation pictures to see how good they looked in their prime but these photos showed them better than they ever looked.
I've got to the point where perfect images no longer attract me; I assume they are fake. I find it refreshing when women who have good but not perfect figures wear swimsuits instead of swim dresses or cover ups. We are at the point where women with anything close to a normal figure think there is something wrong with them and try to keep people from seeing their bodies. Women are not supposed to have 6 pack abs and hip bones that could put someone's eye out. Women are supposed to be smooth since the naturally carry a little more body fat than men. - 7/11/2011 5:05:47 PM
BTW: sweatpant & a tshirt can be stylish, if you wear them correctly & with self confidence! - 7/11/2011 12:50:54 PM
I like the idea of ditching edited photos to portray the "perfect" body b/c everyone's idea of the perfect body is different and if someone is always putting a picture in front of us of what their perfect body looks like, it'll change our own perceptions of perfect, thus creating this epidemic of thinking we have to be super thin to be perfect. - 7/8/2011 9:36:59 AM
I agree that photo editing is not needed but as a society we also have to recognize that IF those women (& men!) look that way 'in real life' it is b/c it is there JOB to be that thin. & note I say thin, not healthy.
Even if I had the time to make myself look like that, I wouldn't want to, it is not attractive at all. The RL photo is gross & I feel bad for anyone who aspires to look like that. I think they have bigger issues than their dress size - 7/8/2011 9:31:35 AM
- 7/8/2011 8:18:11 AM
I have stopped listening to the fat-bashers in my life. I more or less stopped skinny bashing. Positively correlated to not letting myself get hungry or too tired.
Sometimes you know you have to take your business elsewhere. It's a dead giveaway when some entity or person has a hypocritical agenda. That is the ideological equivalent to intermittent reinforcement--getting positively stroked on a sparse schedule. It's how Atlantic City turns the average-skilled and average-pocketed gambler into a financially-on-the-edge full blown gambling addict.
Intermittent reinforcement can create low self-esteem and eating disorders.
I do know that the model, in un-Photoshopped real life, Filippa Hamilton, 5'10", 120 pounds dripping wet, got canned by Ralph Lauren for being "too fat" ... - 7/7/2011 9:17:17 PM
Skinny bashing does need to stop. When you reach your desired level of 'skinny' - how would you feel if people put you down and gossiped about your eating disorder? That's absurd. Stop hating. Let's just be happy with ourselves. Live and let live. - 7/7/2011 6:05:48 PM
I also agree with SNEAKYVEGAN. I don't think magazines had as much of an effect on me growing up as seeing all the thin, attractive girls at school. That's what I wanted to look like - not overweight, with good skin. Of course, maybe those girls, the ones I wanted to look like, are the ones who wished that they looked like supermodels.
- 7/7/2011 4:46:04 PM
One thing that does bother me is some of the skinny-bashing. Some women really are very thin. It doesn't always mean they have an eating disorder. Some women work very hard to stay thin. Some women are naturally very thin. We would all go ballistic if someone called a heavy person some of the names that Sparkpeople members have called thin women. Enough is enough! - 7/7/2011 2:53:07 PM
Even since I've been on my journey to a healthy lifestyle, one thing that strike me every time is that before I make any progress, I have to love myself and be comfortable in my skin, and it is because I love myself and want to live a longer fuller life that I make better eating choices and exercise everyday. - 7/7/2011 12:56:19 PM
It is also up to us as Moms to educate our children and to teach them true beauty comes from within. - 7/7/2011 12:30:43 PM
Too much ink for the average American to handle, I guess. - 7/7/2011 12:16:23 PM
Jessica Alba is a good example of this (google Jessica Alba photoshop). She looked fantastic before they took 20 pounds off. Then she looked ridiculously "perfect".
We need to know what REAL people look like. This editing nonsense is so superficial. Why do we want everything shiny and perfect? - 7/7/2011 12:09:36 PM
Ridiculous, the lot of it.
I approve of the policy, but doubt anything will change because the dollar rules the land, and people's insecurities fuel the entire "beauty" industry. Sad, but true. Change the world, one person at a time. Don't rely on the media, in any way, shape or form, to propel the change. Also, while I agree we have work to do at home, too(well-put LIBCHIC, btw), the responsibility/power of it all is so HEAVILY on the media/advertising world's shoulders, they make it very hard to undo the damage. Never impossible, but we have to set an example that the "hard" work of changing your lifestyle is worth it. - 7/7/2011 10:17:54 AM
I never edit my photos to change the way a person looks. I take photos as you are.... :) - 7/7/2011 10:09:58 AM
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