What You Read is What You Get.: Magazines listening to the members of society?

Tonight, while skimming through articles on Yahoo!, which I love to do when I get bored, I found an article that caught my eye. It was titled "Teenage Girl Wins Victory in Seventeen Photo Retouch Battle" <--Click! This particular article told the story of a fourteen year old girl who created a petition for Seventeen Magazine to feature one completely un-retouched photo spread a month, and it received 84,000 signatures, which is pretty spectacular! Seventeen Magazine then called the girl in to talk to her, and signed a Body Peace Treaty that pledged to "never change girls' body or face shapes" and use images of "real girls and models who are healthy." One of the comments under the article pointed out that although they signed this treaty, it did not say that they would stop using photoshop to fix blemishes, eye bags, skin tones, etc. This is true, but I think that it is definitely a step up. Altering appearance based on skin tone and hair color and retouches may change the image somewhat, but at least there's a better idea of what a person may really look like.

I was reading in another article at one point in time that photoshop used to be strictly for magazines and professional photos, and now anyone can get their hands on a photo application, even the free ones online, and change their appearances. Because of these applications, we never truly know what a person may look like online. I, for one, only use these photo editing tools when someone asks me to do a photography job for a special occasion, and sometimes I take pictures of myself and edit them when I get bored. But for the most part, I've shied away from fixing blemishes and marks and eye bags. I want people to see me for who I am. Of course, when I was younger, it was the exact opposite. Whenever I took a picture, I couldn't help but edit it. I had a very low self-esteem because I could never see myself as beautiful or gorgeous. I would consider myself an ugly duckling and leave it at that, and a lot of the time, I tried not to think about how I was appearing to people. I even wore makeup to fix my skin complexion because I was self-conscious. But then, one fine day on Formspring (chyeah, that question site that was really popular for about a year), I received an anonymous wake up call saying that I couldn't ever post a non-edited picture of myself. To fight back, I took my edited picture off and put the original up. It killed me, but I did it. Whoever left the message got pissed at me, which ended up being kind of funny, but at that point, I realized I could be real. I stopped going on Formspring because of the online bullying and stabs toward my appearance, and life got better. I got better.

Teenage years are very awkward. Trust me, we all go through it. I had three years of awkward going on before I started to balance out. Even the models in the magazines went through awkward stages, and magazines that display those beautiful, skinny, flawless girls are poison to take time to look through. I've finally reached the point of being okay with myself, and because of that, I finally feel beautiful. Sure, some days I look in the mirror and don't like what I see. I still struggle with my body image, skin flaws, and my crazy, poofy hair. But I refuse to wear anything that is not eye makeup, and I refuse to photoshop my pictures unless it is out of complete boredom and those pictures are clearly labeled "edited" or are in an "edited" album. I've definitely become more accepting of myself, and even though sometimes I wish I could lose weight, I know that being super skinny is not what defines beauty. It's the light in your eyes, the confidence to be yourself, and knowing that no matter what anyone thinks, there is at least one person out there who says different. I'm blessed to have friends that remind me I am a beautiful woman, even on the days where I think I am the ugliest person alive. I will always fight the edited, photoshopped beauty, because that beauty is not what defines a gorgeous woman. A gorgeous woman has a strong heart, sharp mind, and the ability to see past this world and all of its judgmental glory. There is beauty in everything and in everyone, and I guarantee you that as long as you take the time to get to know it and give it a chance, that beauty will shine through. So live your life and have fun, and don't let photoshopped magazines tell you otherwise.

Editing can be beautiful...