Teen Girl Petitions Seventeen Magazine to Stop Airbrushing Models
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| Wed, 05-02-2012 - 12:52pm |
Eleven days ago, Julia Bluhm, a 14 year old eighth grader from rural Waterville, Maine launched a petition to ask Seventeen magazine to feature one un-retouched photo shoot a month. She said, "They have already done a lot to help girls improve their body image. Their Body Peace feature is great. I thought that they could take it one step further with an unaltered photo spread."
As of today, May 2, Bluhm's petition has nearly 24 thousand signatures. She is surprised how quickly it's taken off. "I didn't think it would get this big," she laughs. Even though she hasn't quite reached her goal of 25 thousand signatures, editors are already listening. Bluhm says Anne Shoket, the magazine's Editor-in-Chief, has reached out and asked to see the petition.
I think that's pretty awesome! Would you like to see magazines, especially those appealing to young women, adopt a "one unaltered photo shoot per month" policy?
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To play devil's advocate.....
I can also see why magazines reject the calls for the end of photoshopping. Fashion magazines are about fantasy - not reality. They are also about selling clothes and lifestyle - not body image. Those magazines were never intended to be about reality....and quite frankly, I don't want to see pimples or cellulite in a fasion magazine.
Like it or not, Photoshop is here to stay. I Photoshopped my personal photos to make them at their best for scrapbooking today.
I firmly believe that if we want our children to be successful, we need to educate them about life. This includes sales pitch and advertising. If we want children to be aware of what unaltered women look like, it's as simple as telling them to look at the women in the street. We educate them about plastic surgery and how the women who have it done are presenting a false facade. And we educate them about the role of fashion magazines.
Honestly, I'm tired of the whole backlash against fashion magazines. Let's just learn about advertising and it's use of fantasy. And then educate our kids.
"Their views became widely known through an online petition started by Julia Bluhm, a 14-year-old from Waterville, Me., who blogged about her frustration with how many girls in her ballet class were complaining that they were fat."
I think Julia has lost a grip in reality. Ballerinas are expected to be wafer thin if they are to have a future in the dance. Why would one choose that dance style if they object to the physical ballerina ideal? It's like being a computer techo and complaining about sitting infront of keyboard all day. Or going to a pub and complaining about the drunk people.