It’s Time To Stop Photoshop

In the name of a flawless face and a perfectly packaged product, Photoshop comes to the rescue. But in the process the picture is altered and unrecognizable from the original.

In one (now famous) ad, Julia Roberts no longer looks like the woman we know and love despite the age lines that now appear on her face. It’s the death of natural beauty in the name of manufactured — and unattainable — beauty.

The Lancome foundation ads featuring Roberts were banned in the UK after protesters decried that they were “misleading.” The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) pulled ads of Christy Turlington for the same reason.

The US is now joining this protest about unrealistic depictions of women in the media that Jo Swinson has been so passionate about in the UK. In an effort to boost the self-esteem of youngsters, Seth and Eva Matlins “have launched a campaign to pass a bill that would regulate the digital retouching of models in magazines and advertisements.”

As founders of the magazine and fashion line Off Our Chests, they’re no strangers to distorted representations of women. In large part, their campaign is fueled by the Dove Self-Esteem study, which revealed (among other disturbing findings) that a whopping “80 percent of women felt images of female stars and models in the media made them feel insecure about themselves.”

But will anti-photoshop legislation make young women realize that they’re up against a type of beauty that can only be created by digital technology? Will it give the gift of self-esteem?

It certainly won’t make matters worse.

In the meantime, we can keep up the conversation. We can discuss how beauty is portrayed in the media, work to instill more self-confidence in young women and encourage them to be less critical of themselves and others.

Advertizements will persist, but perhaps extreme examples of photoshopping won’t. Either way, we should remember that beauty is beyond magazine covers. It exists at all ages and weights and comes from a place inside that even Photoshop can’t touch.

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