I had come across a couple of these sites a long time ago when the site was new, but an alert reader sent me some links with a TON of retouching websites. She’s written
I found some exciting and disturbing news the other day. First off, I know some ladies already knew this but when you actually see it you can’t believe it. i found these websites on photo retouching from models to cars, or anything. Its amazing what they edit (airbrush) out. They take out what I think personally makes a human, human. Ladies you just have to see this. I knew they airbrushed models, but when you see how far they take it you can’t help but think there never was anything wrong with you. It’s almost sickening to feel that I have been comparing my skin and flaws to that of a computer-generated model. And then you can’t help but wonder if anything you see is real anymore! Secondly, Ladies embrace your stretch marks like never before because I found out that a lot of celebrities undergo c-sections almost 2 weeks earlier than the due date just to avoid stretch marks that seem to come most at that time. These women put their children at risk, just so they can look good afterwards. That is the most vain and cynical thing I have ever heard. Someone put it quite nicely, “motherhood is a sacrifice, and if a person isnt willing to make that sacrifice then they dont need to have children.” Women with or without stretch marks, but had your baby when it was necessary for the baby and not your selfishness, you are brave and courageous. It’s these people who go to extreme lengths and put their child at risk who are the cowards. They are too ashamed to look like a mother. It’s so sad!
Click here and here to see more.
FTR, I have not looked at every single photo myself – yet. :)
Along this line is a new book called “Body Drama” and it’s excellent for teen and pre-teen girls to help establish an appreciation for our bodies and how different and miraculous they are. It’s by Nancy Amanda Redd.
Totally hear what you’re saying. And in principle I agree with you. There’s a ‘Be prettier, be better, have clearer skin, be thinner’ sort of vibe clinging to so much of who we are as a society. It rubs off on our kids, it creates competition where none need exist, and it just generally gives me the heebs.
That said, I do freelance photography taking pictures of all kinds of things, including people. And to be fair, several people have asked me to clean up their portraits to remove temporary blemishes or, as another example, to make an adjustment reducing the frizz associated with one freaky day’s blow-out humidity.
I agree that it’s uncool to doctor images so much that the end result bears no resemblance to the original shot, but if a woman has a premenstrual acne explosion and a photo shoot on the same day, I’m usually glad to do what I can -at the person’s request- to produce photo that she will feel body-positive about.
I agree with you, McBeth, there are absolutely times when retouching is fine to do. Any time they change a body’s SHAPE, though, I think it’s way too far. I saw a couple of already-perfect legs cut nearly in half to look thinner and some beautiful waistlines narrowed beyond normal. To think that that is the basic image we see is pretty shocking. Essentially, what they show us on a regular basis is not what humans are supposed to look like, you know? It’s not even on the same level as cleaning up scars or zits.
That said, the main intent I had in posting this was not to pass judgment, but simply to share awareness. If we know HOW unrealistic the images we see are, we can know we aren’t un-normal after all.
That was incredible to look at. While I was actually impressed with the subtlety of one website, most were overkill. One site was downright disturbing with the pageant girls. I couldn’t believe they changed a little girl’s beautiful green eyes to blue. So sad. And sad that the mother (or father or guardian?) feels the need to do that to their photos.