The Evolution of Beauty
If you haven’t yet seen this short video, The Evolution of Beauty, go ahead and check it out.
I’ll wait :)
Crazy, isn’t it? On one hand, it’s kind of depressing because we, as a culture, embrace these unreal standards that nobody could ever live up to in real life.
On the other hand, it’s very liberating because, in theory, you’ll never feel bad about yourself again when you see those picture perfect models and celebrities in print.
I’ve blogged about this before but since then, as a designer and Photoshop user, I’ve come across even more examples (click on Samples) of how you can’t really trust what you see. And this one, though it’s been around for a while, is always worth a second look, particularly if you have pre-teens/teenagers, who will definitely benefit from it.
If you’re feeling particularly fortified, check out this video or if you prefer something less visually disturbing, check out either of these videos.
Your thoughts?
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WOW. thats all I can say. Sure puts things into perspective. I’m going to save that link of the 14-year old for my 11 year old…
Great post.
Disgusting, isn’t it?
About a month ago, I found daughter looking at herself in the mirror. She told me her ‘legs are fat’. The girl doesn’t have an ounce of fat on her, and she is perfectly healthy well proportioned. Not skinny, not fat, y’know? She figure skates four times a week and loves sports. I told her ‘ uhh, those are MUSCLES ‘.
How sad. Sad that they form these opinions about themselves when there is absolutely nothing ‘wrong’.
I shouldn’t have used the word ‘wrong’.
You know what I mean.
Unbelievable, really. And why? Just WHY????
I love people’s real faces more anyway. Layers of perfect foundation and botox-frozen faces frighten me.
Wow. Great post Izzy. I sent the link for the mag photo to my teenaged cousins. Thank you.
i love that first video- it says it ALL in such a short amount of time. i’m borrowing it love, and posting it on the ster site as well. thank you in advance
My thought is…I am so fucking glad I don’t have a girl. It’s shameful what society and media are doing to our girls. It’s time to put a stop to it, and I applaud the Dove campaign.
The Barbie Girl video made me cry. Sometimes I think I’m overemphasizing to Tacy the importance of being healthy, but that video reminded me that I’m laying the foundation for her self-esteem. Those photos are of DYING women, not healthy women.
And from what I know about anorexia, it is borne out of a desire for control just as much as out of a desire to be thin. Which ties back to the What a Girl Wants video. We want to protect our daughters, but perhaps the better course of action is to teach them how to protect themselves - that they are in control of themselves, not under the control of guys or their friends or the media.
This is totally ridiculous. It makes me really sad when I see the 11 year old saying that she feels pressured by others about sex…where did their innocence go?
And the first video is amazing. I am going to put it on my blog also.
Thanks
I saw that on Technorati but didn’t check it out. Very disturbing. What’s happening to us?
The retouched image of the little girl really freaked me out. WTF?!
I am amazed. And actually baffled. Why do people always feel the need to change their looks. What’s wrong with NOT looking perfect?
The photo of the little girl scared me. Why would you want to make that beautiful child look like an adult?
Now, for me, my oldest daughter will be seven very shortly - when and how do I begin to teach her to have a healthy body image? In our house we emphasize being healthy, looking healthy, and try to model a healthy body image - no talk about being fat here, or if we do it is talk about being overweight and that it is not healthy. It is a very fine line to walk - how do I keep my daughters from becoming like the ones in that second video - the really disturbing one where those women are dying?
I don’t know.
I’m going to show my daughter this post and the videos and explain to her that what you see is not always real.
Thanks for addressing this.
That video is amazing. I can’t even believe the touch ups. That scar. Jesus. They make it look so real. I am amazed.
Thanks for posting all these links, Izzy. I love them every time I see them.
Yeah, when you see the photo retouching stuff it’s weird enough, but I love how that video reminds us that ad and mag and fashion folks seem to feel a need to retouch a photo that is already of a woman who:
-is in the top precentiles for our standards of beauty in order to become a model in the first place
-has professional makeup artists and hairstylists work on her before the photo is taken
-has a professional stylist to choose clothes that are stylish, pricey, and flattering and that fit, then to drape and pin them so that they show to best adventage before the camera
- has a professional photographer to create the right lighting and direct her to a pose that will work most effectively to create the image they are looking for
But that’s not unattainable enough? Please. AS Cindy Crawford once famously said, even she doesn’t roll out of bed looking like “Cindy Crawford, TM”
I also love the goofiest picture of my former model sister sitting at a table with a zit on her nose and a bag on her hair in sweats. It’s so her, and so not the image.
I know that Dove is probably making a ton of money from this campaign, but I’m just glad that a beauty company is raising this issue, and putting the message in the mainstream, instead of ignoring it, like most companies do.
It’s so disheartening to see beautiful girls with such distorted images of beauty… I’m 5 months pregnant right now, and I wonder how I’m going to teach my child (boy OR girl) to filter the real from the fake in the media.
I honestly did not know so much could be done with retouching….
Fan-freakin’-tastic post Izzy. Wow. I knew the retouching happened but that site before&afters were unbelievable. I also hadn’t seen those clips before and was blown away. I grew up with little confidence and didn’t find my footing for many years. I really hope I can raise Bumper to be a confident woman. Education and open communication is the best (only) place to start.
I saw this on Today this morning. It’s sad that all of this re-touching being done is ‘normal’ in society’s eyes, but wonderful that Dove is spreading the word. As a mother of two daughters self-image is always at the forefront of my mind.
Not only are they sending the wrong message out to every young impressionable girl out there who longs to be “popular” and thinks that by doing this is to emulate the women they see in magazines, but they’re also destroying the confidence of the model that they’re retouching.
It’s no wonder that girls are starving themselves all over the place. Not even the models themselves can live up to the expectations of the media so what hope do the “normal” girls have?
I’m not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but if someone said to me “scuse me we’re going to airbrush out your wrinkles, make your tits less saggy, suck in your gut and remove your scars” I’d be knocking their head off their shoulders.
I earned all this!!!
That’s a little creepy but it confirms what I’ve always thought, that we’re all normal looking even underneath all that makeup.
Thanks for sharing that video - that’s amazing. I enjoy looking at fashion pictures of beautiful people in elaborate clothes, but it’s much in the same way that I admire acrobats in Cirque du Soleil. I don’t consider them “normal” (not as an insult to the models or the acrobats - what I mean is that their profession is to look a certain way- they don’t look or move like that when they’re just hanging out, getting pizza).
However, I don’t know how you bring up a little girl to not feel pressured by those images?
I don’t either and it’s a weighty concern for me. That imagery is everywhere and I feel so helpless to deflect it, which I hate. Did you watch any of the other videos? The Barbie one was so gross it actually made me cry.
So you mean that the women we see in magazines are real? Gasp!
It’s sad that we actually buy into all that crap, and believe that the pictures are real. Even pretty people have blemishes and dark circles. No one can be as perfect as you see in the magazines. Thanks for shedding some light on this.
Thanks, I’m saving this to show to my daughter!
Having been naturally thin all my life–and now after three kids having a normal body–I confess to feeling occasionally bad that I can’t wear size 7 jeans anymore. What’s wrong with the world when they deman that we kill ourselves to look a certain way? And what’s wrong with us that we believe it? Thank you for this reminder.
I just watched the bad one. Oy. I am fortunate to have a forgiving metabolism at ths stage, and at one point I strove for thin-ness to the point of obsession. Scary. Especially since i have a daughter. I try to be conscious of what I am modeling - good and bad. Very thought provoking!
I love that video - I was amazed, and felt SO much better about myself too.
The truth needs to be told. There is a documentary airing next month on HBO called Thin. I’m looking forward to seeing if they expose some of the real issues. I hope they do.
It’s great that this is out there, showing everyone what really goes on.
I’ll tell you what, it makes me wish for a team of beauty experts to meet me in my bathroom in the morning!
The saddest thing, at least in our family, is that I’ve raised my 14 year old daughter to be much more aware of the tricks advertising and fashion use to suck us in, so she’s got a much better self-esteem about her flaws than I do. Sometimes I look at her, and she’s absolutely beautiful, and all I see is her flaws, even though I’ve taught her that they’re fine…. but because I’m so fricking brainwashed I still see them as flaws when they’re really just who she is.
I think it’s not difficult to show your children that much of what they see on TV and in magazines and catalogs are false images. I know my daughter is very aware of photoshop. She knows how to use it herself and I’ve caught her photoshopping her own pics every once in a while. But she also knows that she is pretty and pretty counts more than being plain, and she works it for all she can.
We’re such a screwed up society. I keep saying “it’s what is inside that counts” but then I get caught up in my own stupid drama and say someone is ugly or wears horrible clothes. What a double standard.
I just saw this via girl con queso. it made me cry.
Wow. That video was awesome. I can’t imagine what it is like to be a young teenage girl these days. It was bad enough when we were kids. It’s insane. Love the post!
Wow, that first video was so interesting and really says it all. Why are we promoting these false images of beauty? I’m sure most people don’t know the extent to which these pictures are touched up.
And the second video was so disturbing! There was a shot of Jennifer Aniston in that second one that was sickening. I didn’t know she was ever that skinny.
When I see something like this, one thing I don’t understand is why they even bother with a model. Why not just create pictures, since it’s not real anyway.
I’m going to go ahead and put this folded piece of paper into the box labeled “depressing.” And… I will still feel badly about myself, even though I am educated about the lies and the affectations of the beauty industry. It does its job on my self esteem.
I’m so glad we kicked the tv out of our house. You forget how messed up the media is when you’re not exposed to it day in and day out.
That link to the Jon Benet girl whose photo was retouched made me sick. There are so many truly pretty girls and why do they need to be “perfect”?
My daughter is 8 and she’s already complaining that she’s fat. Oy.
This one’s commendable! I also support the anti-ad campaign in which media distort the real meaning of beauty. I hope everyone shall wake up from being materialistic. Please remember we still have our poor neighbors who are in dire need for foods and shelter, without their consciousness of what physical beauty is all about.
Wow! This is a great post. I will make sure to pass this information on to my stepdaughters. Hopefully, with more awareness like this, by the time my daughter is their age, I won’t have worry. Thanks for being so diligent!
i’m so glad you posted this. this really, really hits home for me….
…stealing (er…gently lifting) for urbanmoms. :)
Wow! Very eye-opening. Thanks for posting this Izzy.
that was a great post, disturbing how the media is brainwashing society. i’m saving that link too for my teenaged neices.
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I’m really late in responding to this post, but thanks again for sharing. What’s most disturbing isn’t so much that we see her getting made up — most of do things to make ourselves feel better about our outward appearance (color hair, perms, makeup), but the fact that the entire package has been manipulated is appalling. I don’t think teenagers have any clue how much of a celebrity’s public image is totally manufactured. I wonder if the model in the photo ever looks at the billboard and thinks, “WTF? Who is that?!”
If kids are disturbed by the Barbie nonsense, how about trying humour? Show them this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrdtXxzhBWA