Scantily clad celebs often grace the covers of fitness magazines, baring their washboard abs, toned thighs and sculpted arms. It's no secret that most of these photos are retouched to add definition, slim away bulk, smooth fine lines, remove cellulite and even out skin tone. Can images like this be good for us? Should readers be warned that what they see and read isn't realistic? This writer thinks so. In an opinion piece, Martha Brockenbrough of MSN Entertainment suggests that celebrity bikini photos and articles should carry warning labels, much like cigarettes do: "WARNING! ARTICLE CLAIMS DIET AND EXERCISE GAVE 41-YEAR-OLD CELEBRITY A BODY THIS SPECTACULAR. SHE'S ACTUALLY PROBABLY HAD PLASTIC SURGERY, A PERSONAL CHEF, HOURS WITH A TRAINER, AND A LITTLE HELP FROM PHOTOSHOP, SO BEFORE YOU START FEELING GLUM, JUST REMEMBER WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT IS AN ILLUSION, A MANUFACTURED IMAGE TO SELL MAGAZINES DESIGNED TO MAKE YOU FEEL BEASTLY SO THAT YOU SPEND MONEY TO IMPROVE YOUR LOOKS DESPITE THE CRAPPY ECONOMY." Joking aside, I have to agree. Despite knowing that these images aren't 100% real, we still aspire to be like them and feel bad about ourselves when we see them. The cumulative effect of seeing these images from childhood to adulthood cannot be good for your self-esteem or body image. And what does it teach our sons, brothers, fathers and husbands about a woman's body: that you could look like that if you only tried harder? That having washboard abs after having three kids is doable, even expected? That a woman's body should be one of her highest priorities? Read the article for yourself and then tell me: Do you think celebrity photos and fitness articles should carry warning labels? If not, do you think that they're realistic and truthful?
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What does amuse me is the reaction people give when they see celebrities at their worse. When they no longer workout/have their roots showing/ not perfect in some way. We almost pleasure in it!
Why do we raise them up only to knock them down?! LOL Report
I think the idea about labeling them as "art photos" is great. The truth is that you can't trust what you see in pictures. Even MY OWN pictures, I sometimes alter to take out a spot on my face. C'mon now.
Jocelyn Report
I thought that was awesome. Report
Quite frankly, a warning label would not have even been noticed ! Report
P.S. If you have tweens or teens in your life check out http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.co
m there are great before and after photos and videos of how altered photos and films we see every day are. (It's aimed at girls, but I had my son and brother watch the alteration videos. I think its important that the young men in the world have realistic pictures of women in their heads too!) Report
The images we see in magazines are NOT real. We are aspiring to a level of perfection that does not exist. Report
You talked about the "anti-skinny culture here" on SP, and said "I'm wondering what gives people the OK to bash thin women. Many thin women have traits that we are trying to learn here (such as only eating when you're hungry), and it doesn't do any of us any good to continue to view them as "other" women who "aren't real.""
If it seems as if there is an anti-thin attitude going on here, it may be in direct response to society's fat-bashing stance for the last 30+ years. Does that make it right? No, but it's understandable.
IMHO, this issue is whether skinny women are that way because they buy into the media hype. Additionally, the point of this website, if I'm not mistaken, is to encourage and support a *healthy* body, which doesn't fit into any particular size/shape category. I have very thin friends who are unhealthy, and overweight friends who are healthy. The problem is, the media doesn't promote heavier people or hold them up as the ideal body type regardless of how healthy they are; it does that with thin people though, whether they are fit or not.
Additionally, I think you will agree when I say that our culture is much more inclined to "bash" overweight people than thin people. In fact, thin people are celebrated in our culture--there are very few fashion magazines devoted to overweight women and men, and there are very few designers that make anything larger than a size 10. In fact, during London Fashion week last week, there was quite a stir created when designer Mark Fast decided to use models who weren't the usual size "0", and incorporated three models who were sizes 12-14. Interestingly, two of the people that worked for Fast QUIT over his decision (talk about fat-bias!). I think that is a perfect example of how the majority of the fashion world and society at large feels about people who aren't thin.
There is an old adage that makes my skin crawl: You can never be too rich or too thin. This is the type of mentality that I am talking about when I broach this subject. I don't fault any woman (or man) who is naturally thin. One of my best friends used to eat tons of junk food and drink copious amounts of weight-gain shakes to put pounds on, but nothing worked. He remains thin to this day. He also has an immense amount of self-loathing and body image issues.
I, on the other hand, am the opposite: I was born with a curvy body, which became a chubby body (after my 1st child), and then an obese body (for a variety of reasons--most of which I have no control over). I also ended up with very poor self-esteem and even went so far as to make fun of my body. I thought, "I'd rather make fun of myself before anyone else does."
The bottom line is that if you are here, you are probably working on getting healthier, which is what's really important. I'm guessing we are all here to get fit and healthy and I don't fault anyone for wanting to accomplish that, no matter what their body shape or size. The problem is that the media is perpetuating unrealistic expectations of what women *should* look like, and there are way too many of us that have spent years unsuccessfully trying to conform to those expectations.
Bravo to you for doing what's in your best interest. May we all live long, healthy and happy lives, no matter what we look like. Report
One thing that bothers me after reading the comments on this page, and on the entry about Olympic athletes and "fit v. thin" is the anti-skinny culture here on SP. I'm wondering what gives people the OK to bash thin women. Many thin women have traits that we are trying to learn here (such as only eating when you're hungry), and it doesn't do any of us any good to continue to view them as "other" women who "aren't real." Report
I don't know how the images of "perfect" models affect mens' ideas of what we women should look like. I know my husband admires the thinner women on magazine covers (I'm an 8 and they're probably all a 00), and even though I've been assured that I'm beautiful, I've always felt "fat" and like an ugly duckling compared to the swans on magazine covers.
Clearly, even though I know that they're not real, the illusion still affects me. I hope that some day I'll be confident enough that it won't anymore. Report
In 2002, Jamie Leigh Curtis posed for a picture in a magazine that was completely un-retouched (see this link for the picture: http://www.wordspy.com/graphics/jam
ie_lee_curtis_after.jpg --and read this article about her decision: http://articles.sfgate.com/2002-08-
27/opinion/17558665_1_camera-angles
-magazine-usa-today ).
Since then, she has decided to stop dyeing her hair, stop wearing high heels, and rid herself of her large collection of jewelry.
She and I are on the same beam. I am so happy that I don't feel the need to compete with younger women by hiding my well-earned grey hair. I refuse to make my feet suffer by stuffing them into a pair of pumps that research shows completely disrupts the natural stance of the human body and creates a variety of foot, knee and hip problems later, in the name of fashion. I don't need to impress anyone with how many jewels and baubles I have collected.
I have nothing to prove to anyone, and I don't swallow the media idea of the perfect female consumer. I have the good fortune of gaining a sense of self and security as I age. And, one can't underestimate the power of good old common sense...
Thanks to Jamie Lee for being a role model to those of us who are willing to let go of the unrealistic demands forced on us by society and drop the veil. Report
Take a look at this site! It shows before and after pictures of photoshop.
http://www.hemmy.net/2007/05/25/cel
ebrities-before-and-after-photoshop
/ Report
Of course, I feel like celebrity air brushing is so widespread and accepted that the warning wouldn't help... how long has it been out in the open that these women are not real? If a reader doesn't realize that by now, I doubt they'd realize it even if the magazine screamed it in their face. Report
I think Healthy is the answer. ...Weight only do not determine if you are healthy.
If you have good blood pressure, good cholesterol numbers, good blood sugar and are un general good health; what more can you ask for..
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They thanked me and told me they'd pass my letter on to the editor :o/ Report
Talk to older ladies and they'll tell you that while they used to day dream about being a star, celebrities were always considered WELL above them. Something to look up to, but never to become.
These days, we all think we can look like celebrities. It's madness!
This is not going to change until we as a society stop the stupidity of wanting to be a celebrity and just focus on being the best we can be, whatever our chosen career may be... Report
When it's alleged to be reality, it should not be re-touched. When re-touched, labels on advertising photos should say they're art with photos, not photographic records. The exact wording requires consideration, but this is a serious problem. As long as women's bodies are treated as commodities by businesses, women will continue to be treated as commodities by societies. It's one of those -- and I make this reference advisedly -- chicken and egg questions. Women suffer more now, but men, too, can be hurt by this. Report
I just don't let them influence what I think about my body. In fact, I don't even follow celebrities who are the focus of the physical. I prefer ones who do great things like James Arness and his support of the Cerebral Palsy Foundation. Report
SO… yes, I most definitely think these magazines need to come with truth labels. So that we can know, those abs aren’t hers, she didn’t sculpt those calves & her arms are not really that toned. Honesty is always the best policy
Report
love other womens opinions!!
http://thebluntblogger.blogspot.com
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As for European women not being insecure, of course they have insecurities, why would anybody think they don't? Fashion shows/magazines bother European women too. Maybe they are not obsessed like North Americans because on average, Europe doesn't have the same overweight/obesity rates and Europeans, they are better educated on human anatomy, what is a healthy weight, what is not... Especially Mediterreneans, they really know how to eat healthy, all this fruits and olive oil stuff have been known to them for centuries, and they appreciate a womanly figure. They don't look at skinny american teenage starlets and wish to look like them... Report
They have the same magazines. Report