Seeing is Believing: Retouched photos vs. the Real You

Editor’s Post by Deborah Hetrick Catanese

Seeing is believing. Or is it?  Not if they retouched photos with photoshop!

How do retouched photos affect your image of yourself?  Do you compare yourself to impossible standards?  Or do you let the lovely images you see in ads and fashion magazines inspire you to greater standards? Does photo retouching cause you pain or pleasure? This topic is the source of lively discussion in the world of fashion and women right now, so Project Motherhood is jumping  into the fray!

Aerie, the lingerie arm of American Eagle, recently began their “Aerie Real” campaign by announcing that women in their ads and on their website will not be photographically retouched or “improved” to attain some impossible (false!) standard of what females are supposed to look like. This should be music to our Mama ears and candy to our Mama eyes, especially if any of those kiddos you have at home happen to be girls!

I remember believing that the gorgeous women I saw in those magazine ads were just naturally, well, gorgeous, and I loved looking at them and admiring their beauty. Of course I knew that they had the best of make-up and hair artists, which goes a long way towards enhancing one’s look. But sometimes it felt demoralizing nonetheless, when I compared myself to these beauties, as much as I tried not to. This was especially self-defeating to my teenage self, what with the body issues that went along with that overly critical phase!

But when I gave myself the gift of a photo shoot for a high-ish numbered birthday beyond which I had no expectations of looking good naturally ever again, the photographer proved me wrong.  Even at age 60, I was not photoshopped.  Since seeing is believing, take a look at my 60th birthday photo in my bio on our blog, About the editor. Unrealistic retouching of photos is not necessary for a beautiful result if good lighting, poses, photography, and of course, great make-up techniques are used, even for older women like me.

But recently, I’ve been looking at some of those before and after “Photoshopped” pictures, the ones where they nip away at the waistline of an already lovely model or increase the length of their already smashing legs. Well, to me, those retouched photos of women are truly astonishing, outrageous, and totally UNFAIR to women and young girls everywhere! Standards of beauty need to take into account the wide array of bodies, features, and the intangible traits that go into making a female “sexy.” Sexy doesn’t happen in Photoshop, it radiates from the inside, out!  And we can indeed look terrific, just the way we are!

As a woman over 60, I know FOR SURE that the measurement of one’s waist or the size of one’s dress or the distance between one’s eyes are not the measure of a sexy woman. As if in response to my previous sentence, I learned today that American Apparel is using a 62 year old woman as a model for their lingerie, with the words “Sexy has no expiration date” appearing under the model’s lovely grey-haired image. Yes, that’s what I’m talking about!!! And even when you look closely, you can see the photo is NOT retouched, since we can see…oh, gasp!…a few flaws (just like the wrinkles you saw around my eyes in my photo)!  In spite of her age and her real flaws, our model looks lovely!

So, we are indeed seeing some progress, with events like the above and “plus size” models now walking on runways and even featured on magazine covers with their curvier features. But a few more reality checks still need to happen.

For one, in the modeling world, “plus size” is often defined as anyone size 8 or over. Um, that means some of my thinnest friends are PLUS SIZE?!  And another issue results when, in our efforts to liberate the OK-ness of being larger, some of the naturally slender women of the world are now being chastised and told rudely that they need to eat their dinner. As a woman who used to BE one of those skinny-minny young women who could eat day and night without ever gaining an ounce, I think that smacks of prejudice from the other side of the equation, so let’s give our healthy but slender sisters a break as well.

In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Senior Vice President and Managing Director Ivan Bart of IMG modeling gave me hope when he said, “…As long as the talent [a model] is at a healthy weight that he or she and his or her doctor believe is right for them, and they’re exercising, since that’s a healthy way of life, then the industry should reflect that.” Bravo, Mr. Bart. And Bravo to Aerie and American Apparel as well.

So let’s spell it out, loud and clear! Every woman who does not fall magically into those BMI index charts does not necessarily have an eating disorder, nor are they necessarily eating more of their share of dessert. I personally know an older woman who was called “mildly obese” by her doctor while presenting at 5’6 ” tall and wearing a size Medium! Not helpful, especially since we all know that pressuring someone to gain weight or lose weight often guarantees the opposite behavior! So let’s agree that there are many kinds of beautiful, and many real sizes and shapes that come quite naturally.

If you lovely mamas want a REAL treat, check out what this change can mean for all of us on the Aerie website by clicking where it says… “SEE BRAS IN YOUR CUP SIZE”.  It will then give you choices of bra sizes to click on. Once you do, you see a number of very pretty bra styles recommended for your particular size along with a lovely woman wearing each of those styles…a REAL woman who wears the same size as YOU! I couldn’t believe my astonished eyes, after years of torture trying to find bras that worked for me. So I kept happily clicking away on all different sizes, and sure enough, each time there would be a different model, manifesting the endless variety of beautiful women and their different sizes – large, small, or everywhere in-between.  Different sizes, with flaws and photos un-retouched. Maybe, at last, seeing IS believing!

Are you as thrilled with this as I am?! Along with the “Times, They are a Changing” aspect, I love that our voices were heard on this issue.

Therefore, we at Project Motherhood are raising OUR voices with another suggestion:

You know those disclaimers at the bottom of blogs that say, “I was (or was not) compensated for writing this piece”?  Or those warnings on cigarette packs?  How about requiring this phrase under certain glossy images…”The girl in this photo WAS RETOUCHED.”  That should settle this particular issue about retouched photos.  Is is so hard to just speak the truth,  as in…”Fashion by Aerie, Make-Up by Prescriptives, and Photo Retouching by ______” ??

Looking for more beauty tips? Here’s Some Great Ones!

• Essential Oils For Self Care
• Self Care Sometimes Means Letting Go
• How to Choose The Best Blush
• How to Find the Right Makeup Palette For Your Skin Tone
• DIY Peppermint Lip Scrub
• Our Favorite Smashbox Products
• The Difference Between a BB and CC Cream

So, join us at Project Motherhood, lovely Mamas! LIKE this post, TWITTER us, COMMENT below, and Speak Up for our daughters. And for ourselves! Tell them that you want retouched photos to be labeled as such.

Fashionably yours,
Deborah