This isn’t the first article I’ve ever read about a celebrity being airbrushed into a unrealistic, unachievable alien. It’s not even the first time I’ve read about Jennifer Lawrence – a refreshing example of a more normal-sized human – being subjected to the treatment. I write about celebrity fashion for a (current) living. I’m well aware of the drill.
But for some reason this specific article made me angrier than the others. Maybe that’s because Jennifer Lawrence has specifically asked magazines to stop doing this to her? Or because she’s trying so hard to project a healthy body image to the young girls who worship her as Katniss and the old girls who worship her as anything character she plays including herself? Or it could be that I actually think she genuinely looks better before all the photoshopping!
I think the real reason I’m so annoyed is because I don’t get it. Truly. Why do the magazines do this? Are they in some kind of cahoots with the diet food industry? Does the person who does the touching up have a body dysmorphia issue? Does someone over in the photo department think this is a funny trick. Really. Why? What incentive do print publications have to create and support an image that isn’t real?
Who at this magazine thinks that it is correct and better to give Jennifer bigger boobs, a longer thinner neck, a lower hairline, thinner hips, narrower eyes, higher cheekbones and a more narrow nose? How did they even decide on all those specific edits? Did they sit around and say, “we the people of this magazine objectively believe that X changes make this celebrity more beautiful so we will make those changes for the benefit of this celebrity, our magazine and our readers.” I’ve worked at a magazine. I know there was a meeting about this photo. Is that how it went?
If the differences were major I would almost understand it more. Say they thought JLaw looked too round in the photo and wanted to do her a favor. It would still be completely wrong on all levels but at least it would make sense. The difference between photo A and B in this case are just bizarre. The original is already an incredibly gorgeous human being that we women can stress about attempting to look like every day of our lives. Why make it worse? This is not a rhetorical question (even if I am asking it to the Internet…)
And, I think most importantly, how is this still being tolerated in an age where every real photo makes it way online anyway? Why aren’t strong celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence saying, “I will not pose for your magazine if you airbrush me into oblivion.” Do they have that right, or no? And if they do, how many of them would it take to make that change happen? 10 big ones maybe? If ten major celebrities made a huge stink about all this, do you think it could finally be over?
Shortly after I read this article about Jennifer Lawrence being airbrushed I read an article about the fact that children as young as 6 are being treated for anorexia. I don’t have the data to back up a correlation between these two issues but I have the common sense to realize one isn’t helping the other. Why don’t women’s magazines – magazines for women that are almost all run by women – have the desire to do the right thing for their own audience? Why don’t they want to make it better for themselves?
I’m beginning to think the only logical answer is either, “because they’re all owned by Weight Watchers,” or, “because they’re all run by assholes.”Your thoughts?
Jessie Rosen
Jessie Rosen resides physically in LA and mentally in NY. She writes scripts, books, articles, sex stories, branded content and killer e-mails.
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It’s especially strange because she’s so beautiful in the first place. I think she looks better in the original picture!
Completely agree with you. Should real women start a petition asking celebrities to force magazines and other outlets to not photoshop them to extremes? I really think it would get traction. Just yesterday I heard that one of the stars from Pretty Little Liars tweeted a poster she saw and told her followers to not pay attention to it. That they don’t look like that and that the poster was ridiculous.
It just keeps getting worse too. Imagine what magazine covers will look like in 20 yrs. Yikes.
thenycdiet.blogspot.com
It is a little absurd. I mean I get it, fix the hair fly-aways, remove some extra wrinkles in the skirt, but her body is fine. And frankly, why don’t they get permission from the celebs to alter their looks. Is it in their contracts that modifications can be made after the fact to the pictures, and there’s no limit mentioned? I mean they pay these photographers tons of money to get good pictures to then just spend tons of money on people tweaking said pictures – what a waste!
I think the answer lies in that it is run by women. I figured out many many years ago that most typical straight women dress up not to please men, but to please each other. They dress up to tease men, and thinking of the difference between the two, you might find my point. Women are especially cruel to each other, and the ones that have it, value it above many other things. If a girl has brains but not looks, she values brains and not looks and ‘why can’t we all be like this’. If a girl has looks and can’t compete cranially, she’ll value what she has that gives her power and wonders ‘why can’t we all be like this’. I consider myself lucky that I wasn’t a guy women fawned over and most times thought of as kind of big brother because I got see them behind the games. I confessed many a man trait and have heard many female confessions in return. In all that, it seems that ‘pleasing men’ is kind of a cover up, and hides a good part of the truth: airbrushing is no different than showing your geeky awkward boy starved plain jane friend the magic of mascara, lipstick, and blush. People in charge of something usually live and breathe it, so women who make it to the top of a fashion magazine ARE a fashion magazine in their mind and soul. Why doesn’t it change? Because we’re still emotionally primitive and battling for resources, love, family, beliefs, and getting things our way. Just a wild guess though.
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My thoughts exactly! This is what I focused my studies on at school. Every paper I could write on photoshopping and body-image awareness correlation was written on that subject. There is plenty of research to show that this and our culture of perfection is driving girls (and guys) to crazy ideals with eating disorders. It makes me sick!
I was going to say what Jim said but he said it more eloquently than i could so i’ll just say “we all know ‘Networking’ is not a strong suit for females.
Men are not as critical of us, I’d say. Men are quite simple, actually. It’s unlikely they’d turn away a naked woman in their room. We’re the ones covering up with sheets, being self-conscious and trying the newest diet cleanse to lose 15 pounds by New Years Eve.
I wish I could say, “Yes, let’s start a revolution where women’s bodies are celebrated, and not altered and shaved down.” But the reality is, men are not the ones making us crazy about our bodies. We are! So, how do you stop it when the victim and the criminal are one and the same?
men are very simple and can be ‘programmed’ most love our its and bits too!
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The magazines are trying to sell us something. Period. This is why they create these images. By making women think that they need the products advertised within the pages of their magazines in order to look like the women on the cover, they can easily convince their readers to buy their products. Even though the end goal is perfection which is impossible to achieve, they can create insecurities within the minds of their readers that will cause them to buy whatever products are being advertised.
magazines nowadays are always trying sell us something or trying to make us look like someone