There was an article in the Evening Standard yesterday saying that magazines face new curbs on how they airbrush images of models and celebrities in order to combat rising image anxiety among children and teenagers. Well that is a very good thing. Children should not be given false body images. They should be allowed to be happy with their own individual shapes and sizes. Young kids are going on diets when they shouldn’t and even my 10 year old son was asking me about steroids and six packs the other day so he has obviously heard people talking about it. Scary stuff.
Moving swiftly on however, WHAT ABOUT US?? The sad, increasingly invisible 40/50/60 somethings? How are we supposed to deal with body image and lack of wrinkles and fat on models our age in magazines?
A few weeks ago I was asked by the studio where I teach if a photographer could take some pictures of me taking a class. Once he’d done that he took some individual ones of me posing in peculiar positions. I was sent them all last week – hideous. But one in particular stood out. I looked odd. Sort of not really human. Like somebody had put my face on Fatbooth.
Turns out, on closer inspection that my face had been photoshopped to within an inch of its life. All my wrinkles and sun spots had been removed, my teeth and eyes had been whitened – I looked like a freak. Especially when you put the before and after shots together. Obviously my children thought I looked FAR better in the touched up one. Son said “mum, look in this one you look 30 and in the real one you look 60”. Great. But surely it isn’t OK to use images of smooth, flawless skin to promote something when it’s not true? Surely that’s a Trades Descriptions Act thing? SURELY they are trying to say, look at this amazingly healthy instructor who clearly doesn’t drink alchohol or smoke or eat bad things or go to bed too late. That is wrong, because it’s not true. I realise i am not a particularly good example of a fitness instructor, there are many who don’t need to have their photograph digitally enhanced – so all it did was depress me.
I really should show you. It’s hilarious.
DD's Diary
May 18, 2011Oh go on, show us! I’ve just posted a pic of me with a moustache on my blog …. kind of! I’m sure you look fabulous before and after anyway x
Family Affairs
May 18, 2011I can’t possibly – it’s horrible – although if I get asked enough times, maybe I will! (I’m such a tart) xx
Leelee
May 18, 2011Show us!
janelle
May 18, 2011aw gwaan…do a before and after…x
Family Affairs
May 18, 2011Only if you add your Marie Antoinette photo xx
English Mum
May 18, 2011Do it! I want to see 🙂
Family Affairs
May 18, 2011I can’t. It’s worse than your bikini shots Lx
Jon Storey
May 18, 2011I think we need to see the evidence!
Family Affairs
May 18, 2011OK the list is increasing….still thinking about it xx
Expat Mum
May 18, 2011Show it. Show it. Show it.
Actually I admit to photoshopping a photo of the Man-child the other day. (Took me bloody ages). I was doing his passport photo myself, like the cheapskate I am. The British Embassy has very tight guidelines regarding how big the head to photo ratio should be and his sodding mohawk wouldn’t fit in! So I just painted over it and gave him a much smarter hair-do. I explained why and he was OK with it. I also photo-shopped some of the worse zits, poor thing. I explained that he would have to keep this passport till he’s 20 and he doesn’t want a constant reminder of such a temporary and not very nice thing. Ok, perhaps that wasn’t what a good mum should do, but I felt sorry for him!
Family Affairs
May 18, 2011That was a good thing to do x