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LouieFat is the new thin?
April 14th 2008 01:29
The illusion of retouched beauty
Exhibit A from telegraph.co.uk shows Cameron Diaz altered with bulk
Further proof that the media has the ability to pollute even the most pure of ideas, the Telegraph.co.uk is reporting that fashion magazines are now photoshopping under nourished models to look healthier on their covers.
Designed as a response to the controversy surrounding the negative body image supported by the industry, publications are now going to extremes by removing protruding hip bones, adding a few pounds here and there and doctoring faces to look fuller
Recently I did a post on the size 16 Miss Surrey UK winner Chloe Marshall, I had a positive response to rewarding an “average” shaped women instead of the stereotypical waif. This latest trend however is just as ridiculous as the support of the heroin chic look of the 90’s.
Beauty the photoshop way
From the telegraph.co.uk
Belinda Coleman of the retouching agency Shoemakers Elves says "It is now deemed just as negative to be too thin as too fat. Everyone is scared of being highlighted as the magazine or label that promotes very thin girls, so they are being a lot more careful about the images they present."
Defending the action, Nicky Eaton head of press & PR for Conde Nast (GQ, Vogie, Glamour) said "There have been cases where models are booked way ahead of a shoot and then they turn up two months later looking less healthy and perhaps a bit underweight. We wouldn't be happy showing them that way, so it is then that we would need that person to look a little bit fuller."
The old cliché goes that “the camera adds 5 pounds” so I’m wondering how much weight these girls must lose between being hired and turning up in the studio for the shoot. Or, with what kind of frequency does this turn of events occur, considering that for years the standard was very much the other way.
Susan Ringwood the chief of the eating disorders charity beat sums up my opinion quite well "Altering models' bodies to appear fuller-figured proves that the industry acknowledges there is a serious issue with projecting images of very thin models, but [it is] missing the point," she said. "They should be using naturally healthy models in the first instance, instead of having to make them look that way."
Where will this all lead is anyone’s guess. The aim should be to achieve a balance between anorexic and obese, after all promoting eating disorders in either direction is a detrimental practice. One thing that is certain the “middle ground” is never easy for an industry notorious for over reacting to criticism.
Going to extremes
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