wasnt this already posted...?

Airbrushing is just part of the business now.  However, I think it's really refreshing to see before and after pics.  It makes normal girls realize how a glossy pic is retouched to look perfect.  There is no such thing as a perfect, so don't thrive for that.

i really don't care about airbrushing, and i don't think there needs to be a disclaimer. most altered photos are trying to sell something - a product, a lifestyle, a persona, etc. people creating these images want to make the most visually appealing picture, even if it isn't real. realistic cgi doesn't come with disclaimers. i mean, come on. do we need a disclaimer across a movie screen to tell us we can't climb walls should we get bitten by radioactive spiders? should movies not edit out wires, lest we believe humans can actually fly?

I like the idea of including the message about the fact that the photographs are airbrushed, but personally, I think they should do away with all forms of digital alterations. As a person who is struggling to recover from an ED, it makes the process A LOT harder when I am constantly bombarded with stories about weight loss, dieting, and girls that look like no normal girl could ever look.

Unfortunately, I feel we have no one to blame but ourselves. Society, as a general rule, prefers to look at extremely pretty people, no matter how unrealistic they make appear. Therefore, the media bends to our whims and sells beauty. If society refused to purchase magazines that uses touched up pictures, then maybe magazines, movies, etc would change. After all, it's all about money, right?

"I don't think that idolizing images of women with unattainable features is healthy." <YES!!!! THANK YOU!

Real women are beautiful; skinny, curvy, stretch marks, age spots, celluloite . . . you name it, a woman has it. It's complete bs that we're all expected to look like Victorias Secret models, never have pimples, never have an ounce of flesh that God forbid jiggles (except for our breasts, of course) . . . hell, some men are still under the impression that women don't even have bodily functions. (Ever been in a relationship long enough that you've been through the "accidential fart incident"? If you have, remind yourself of the look on your SO's face [in the pre- laugh it off phase]. Yep, I'm right, aren't I?).

We're human; let's portray women as the beautiful human beings they are instead of making them feel like their every flaw is going to be criticized every time they walk out of the house. Women should feel that they're allowed to have flaws: they should feel like it's ok to eat the amount of calories they need instead of half of what they need to maintain the figure society says they should have, they should feel that to have stretch marks after pregnancy is a normal part of life and should not be afraid to wear a bikini until they have plastic surgury, they should be able to not have to worsen and prolong a zit by covering it in a pound of make-up so people don't ask about their new third eye, and they should be able to eat a brownie without hopping on a treadmill for 2 hours immediately after to make sure they don't gain another fat cell.

There is beauty in every human being if people are willing to find it. Flaws are what make us each beautiful in our own unique way, and all airbrushing does is force us to conform to the same mold: skinny, with flawless skin and hair, and a J-Lo butt and C-cups (which is quite hard to find in the same package without plastic surgury). The realistic form of the human body has been thrown so far out of proportion that it's become truly pathetic; that which is unreal is considered normal, standard, and is pushing us to take unhealthy measures because society says that's what we should be, and could care less about the limitations of each individual human body. Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes; why give it a universal mold to make us feel ashamed of what truly makes us beautiful?

To include a warning about airbrushing to individuals ages 16 and under is a step in the right direction, however, I think what we should aspire to is to ban airbrushing of the human body altogether. To remove red-eye and to use color and lighting effects is a matter of a professional finish which is different, but I say that regarding humans, that which cannot be covered with make-up (which should be used to enhance, not to alter) should be left alone. If we can live in a world where it's ok to be imperfect, where it's ok to have a zit that make-up can't completely cover or to have a bloated period day without wearing Spanx for fear of being seen as fat, maybe people would be more inclined to see what makes us beautiful inside so girls don't have to spend hours getting ready to look "presentable" enough to matter in the world. That's a change I'd like to see happen.

Thank you so much for this post, great job!

@MissPixieGlitter@xanga - Agreed.

AIrbrushing is okay in small amounts - wrinkles, bags, bruises etc. But when you make the person three sizes smaller, change their skin colour or whatever, THAT'S when I have a problem.

@Jasper_Speaks@xanga - I agree.

LOL they made poor ol' flat Keira more busty

I think there should definitely be a disclaimer....as someone who went through an eating disorder and a TON of self-confidence issues, I can say that it plays a huuuuge part in the total despair for a lot of girls who just feel that that "standard" is impossible to reach. Which is is. Thanks for posting this :)

@MissPixieGlitter@xanga - ROFL.  That's going to be next.  We have to think about the children you know.

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No, I don't think that there needs to be a disclaimer across ads, magazine photos, or anything else.  I also don't think it would ruin "the magic" (whatever that means).  Teenage girls with self-esteem problems are going to have self-esteem problems regardless of what they see in a magazine.  If not the model in the magazine, it's going to be the girl down the hall who is skinnier, has bigger breast, is prettier, smarter or whatever else causing her to think she is inferior.

Jessica Alba looks just as hott in both pictures. She's a babe with or without it.

@CapsizedHearts@xanga - Yes.