Everywhere we turn we’re faced with pics of gorgeous celebs. They’re even all over Teen.com! Sure, we can focus on the celeb’s cute outfit or be jealous of their life, but really most of us probably turn it back on ourselves. It’s easy to see a pretty actress, and then think, “I wish I looked like that” or “If only my body looked like hers.” But something we don’t think about is that the pics we see are often totally Photoshopped. There’s a reason we don’t look like our fave celebs — they don’t even really look like that!
It’s time teens stood up to magazines and advertisers. We think it’s more important to see models and actresses of every shape and size. Or how about not airbrushing the cellulite off of actresses? Or showing when their skin isn’t perfect? Well, one teen is taking action. Last week, teenager Julia Bluhm,(pictured to the left) staged a protest in support of her Change.org petition, “Seventeen Magazine: Give Girls Images of Real Girls!” in front of Seventeen’s headquarters.
Julia said in an interview with The Huffington Post, “I’ve always just known how Photoshop can have a big effect on girls and their body image and how they feel about themselves. You need to see something realistic — you need to see a reflection of what truly represents a teenage girl nowadays.” Julia was simply asking that the magazine feature one unaltered photo spread in each issue.
Seventeen editors ended up speaking with Julia later and basically said they’re committed to helping promote healthy body image (although they didn’t technically agree to do less Photoshopping.) “A” for effort though.
Some celebs have already been drawing attention to this issue. Britney Spears once posted unaltered pics of her Candie’s shoot on her website. The before and after pics looked totally different!
Oh, and just last weekend, AnnaLynne McCord posted a completely make-up free pic of herself on Twitter, saying:
“I woke up this morning and decided I’m over Hollywood’s perfection requirement. To all my girls (and boys) who have ever been embarrassed by their skin! I salute you! I’m not perfect — and that’s okay with me!”
That’s ok with us too, AnnaLynne! Gosh, we love her confidence.
What do you think about the Photoshop debate? Are magazines and advertisers doing enough to show real girls? And what can you do to show you love yourself, flaws and all?