Once upon a time, I loved reading magazines. OK, it was not that long ago, maybe 6 months ago. I had to stop buying them because I needed to save every single cent I had for my trip to America. I was very upset by this as reading a magazine with a row (ok, maybe 2) of dairy milk in hand and ignoring everything and everyone around me was one of my favourite past-times. To clarify: I rarely purchased the weekly rags, just Madison, Shop Til You Drop, Marie Claire and Good Reading (I still get this one). Oh, and two food magazines a month.
With the rise and rise in technology, we have seen increasing reliance on the magic of photoshop. With that increase, there are a plethora of bloggers and journalists who are on the “anti-photoshop” crusade. The most prominent criticism seems to be that magazines are portraying already unrealistic looking models to be a slimmer, air-brushed, perfected and let’s face it, fake, version of themselves. They say this is bad for our self esteem, and that people feel bad about themselves when they look at magazines. We should give people more credit. I actually think that people are smart enough to know that what is being portrayed is the best possible version of a photo the magazine and photographer could come up with and that photo is not something even realistic they can aspire to.
Kim’s been photoshopped. But I don’t care.
I’ve got to be honest here, I have never given two hoots about photoshopping in magazines. I don’t care if they do it. I know that the images in front of me are unrealistic. I know they’ve been photoshopped within an inch of their life. I don’t care. I don’t look at a magazine, and see these beautiful, fake creatures staring up at me and think “OH MY GOD, I AM SO FAT AND UGLY“, I just think: “Holy shit, is that Chanel dress really $30,000.00, how bloody ridiculous!!“.
I don’t feel any blow to my self esteem when I look at magazines. I just don’t. My self worth is wrapped up in sooooo much more than comparing myself to a model or celebrity. I personally don’t think that magazines and advertisers are giving me any message about how I should aspire to look like the models. Because I don’t. I don’t want to and I don’t aspire to and I don’t get offended when I see them in all their photoshopped glory. It’s not sending me an unrealistic portrayal of what women should look like, because I know most women don’t look like that! I actually get more upset about those bloody cleaning product ads which are always focused on “Mums” because it reinforces the gender stereotype that women stay at home and get all gaga about Spray n Wipe! (disclaimer: I do get excited about Spray n Wipe, but not because I’m a woman, because I’m a clean freak).
Models and “celebrities” are paid to look amazing. They have skilled photographers and photoshop masters to make them look even better. A model’s income is derived from how s/he looks. Thin, tall, good looking. As much as it pains me to say it, there aren’t many hugely successful fat and unattractive actors in Hollywood.
They want to look “glamorous” and “unattainable” when they’re on the front cover of a magazine, because if everyone could do what they do, and look like they do, they wouldn’t be as valuable anymore. Photoshopping makes them just that little bit more unrealistic and unattainable to the average person.
Magazines sell these glamorous picture to give people a little escapism. Sure, I never really read Vogue with all those outlandish high fashion models, but even in Shop Til You Drop, I can’t affordevery chain store item they put on the models in the fashion pages. I also don’t think Shop Til You Drop has as much outlandish photoshopping as some other magazines either. Bar that one incident where they made Leighton Meester’s legs look like giraffe legs. I know that food magazines photoshop their images as well. They do it to make you want to cook the meal. I know my version isn’t going to look as good as the one in the magazine, but who cares if it tastes great anyway?
I think this is funny, not offensive.
Sure, I’ve written about photoshopping fails before. I was pretty outraged when pictures surfaced of the Kardashian Kollection photoshoot, where it became obviously Kourtney Kardashian’s baby bump had been photoshopped away. I mean, that’s a baby in there, something that will be human life soon, it’s not the same to me, as photoshopping hair and wrinkles. Yes, it is pretty funny when the photographer’s staff can’t actually grasp the mistake they’ve made in that they’ve photoshopped someone’s arm out of the picture.
To put a disclaimer on my talk about magazines, I actually haven’t really picked up my love affair with magazines where I left off. I’ve purchased a few here and there, but not regularly like I used to. Why? It’s certainly not because magazines make me feel like shit looking at the models. Because they don’t, never have and never will. I realised that I can get 90% of what’s in a magazine, on the internet. Let’s face it, I’m pretty stingy, so if I can get something for free, I’m going to take that option!
So how do you feel about photoshop? Do you read magazines? Do you care about photoshopping? Do you think it sends a negative message?
