Body Image Issues...Apparently Even Grandma Had Em...

[hsifeng]

You think only the women of today are driven to self-loathing because they are chasing some idealized version of ‘sexy’ that can only be created in Photoshop?

Think again.

Marketing the idea of a non-existent waist, upper legs that have never heard the word ‘cellulite’ and breasts that are both large and somehow filled with helium has been around

Comments

[hsifeng]

Thank you for stopping by and commenting; it is good to have multiple perspective and I appreciate your sharing yours!

[kass_rants]

You know, I consider myself very lucky that I did some modelling jobs when I was 12 and 13 years old before I really had a sense of what I was "supposed" to look like. I remember looking at the photos and saying, "That's not me!" And the photographer told me all about what they did to the photo to make it look that way. I thought it was awesome. And since then, I never thought I was supposed to look like people in magazines. See, I knew that people in the magazines don't really look that way either.

I think the truly horrible thing is that we look at these images and think they are what we are supposed to look like everyday. They're just not. They're not even ideals. They're more like cartoons.

[hsifeng]

”See, I knew that people in the magazines don't really look that way either…”

I see your experience with modeling much like my own experience with my parents being teachers (which taught me at an early age that authority figures are just people, and can make mistakes just like the rest of us).

This is valuable information that a lot of us ‘know’, but often doesn’t sink in past the constant reminders that we are too fat, wrinkled and “no-so-fresh” smelling.

Here’s hoping that repeated inoculations of unmodified images can help us all remember that this is smoke and mirrors.

:)

[slug_life]

[hsifeng]

*dies laughing*

Brilliant indeed! Thank you for sharing!

[corsetrasewing]

I find it easier to dismiss the artwork you posted as art, and not what I am supposed to look like than I do with altered photos in today's magazines.

[hsifeng]

More along the lines of this aite: http://www.yourcover.com/Articles/Most-Blatant-Uses-of-Photoshop-in-Magazines-Ads/

I can certainly see where the line between art and ads can be blurred; but that these images were intended to be the former not later. It was just shocking to see the level of physical distortion in a direct comparison between the models and the final images.

As someone who loves Betty Paige, Marilyn Monroe and a number of other 'real life' pin ups, it just struck me as particularly strange given what I had perceived as a more accepting time period for regular sized ladies.