Okay the title is a bit fanciful, even for
a daily A-Z blog.
I am referring to the magazine models. They
all look so skinny and so pretty, with flawless skin, and airbrushed to
perfection.
I saw a documentary once, and watched the
photographers work with some photos.
They didn’t just clean up skin
imperfections, but sliced inches off the sides of thighs, enlarged the eyes,
and elongated the legs. They smoothed out laugh lines, plumped up lips, and
deepened check bones, all with computer software.
But the rest of us don’t want to look like the
pictures in magazines do we?
We all know the pictures are often not real
at all.
But without even realizing it we can take
it all in and it makes us feel less.
Are your thighs too big? For what? How big
should they be? Who says?
Are you too short? Too fat? Too thin?
Again, for who?
It is time to celebrate who you are; real
woman (or man) with all your uniqueness and quirkiness.
Don’t compare. Don’t judge. Just notice the
wonder that is you; the marvel that is your fully functioning human body. The
way your eyes work. The way your lungs breathe without your conscious mind
noticing. The way you can hear, and taste, and smell.
Celebrate yourself. And smile.
(This blog is part of the A-Z challenge. To find out more please follow the link on the right)
The abilities of Photoshop never stop amazing me! I saw a documentary similar to the one you saw; before that, I thought they just took acne off people. I didn't realize they took pounds off of people and made arms smaller and thighs trimmer.
ReplyDeleteCrazy!
We really need to reconfigure our ideal bodies... and start early teaching young girls that the magazines are not real images. Or maybe, one day, magazines will start using real images of people - that would be amazing!
I totally agree with being happy with who you are. This is especially important for young girls. I think documentaries like the one you spoke of should be shown in school, just so they can see that beauty is often manipulated and not real.
ReplyDeleteThanks a.eye. It is amazing. I was surprised myself and I thought I had some idea.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jaynce, ... what a great idea. I don't have daughters but I do have a granddaughter. She worries about how she looks and she is twelve. I will look for something to show her how the magazines work myself. I expect it will be a while before it becomes part of the school curriculum.