I was thinking this morning, as I stumbled through our apartment with a fine case of bed head and two-day-old makeup, that I just can’t compete with media women.
By media women, I mean all the models and actresses that gracefully float in the windows of department stores. They line magazine racks outside every checkout counter. They smile and charm in more commercials than I can imagine.
I’m painfully aware of these facts as I wake up each morning to a husband that still seems to think I’m beautiful. He looks at me with crazy adoration in his eyes. And, when I tell him these things that I’m thinking today, he charmingly recounts the day he met me: “Girl. I was like ‘Who is this little thang wearing orange gym shorts, t-shirt, and a baseball cap?’”
A few years back, I walked the after-Christmas aisles of a department store with my sis-in-law. There it was – a larger-than-life photo of a lingerie model with a perfect tan, perfect curves, and perfect skin. When I voiced my protest, my sister-in-law laughed and said “Do you think that’s what she looks like in real life?”
I just looked at her and blinked. Even though I was in my mid-20s, the tone in her voice had a very-so-subtle hint of “Mandy, you should know better.”
As a photographer, she did know better. She explained that every wrinkle, blemish, scar, and mole had been edited right off…
Really?
Really.
I guess, with all this chatter about fake women, I should tell you that the dark circles in the corners of my eyes were removed in that picture that currently sits at the top of my blog. Yeah. And those funny shadows on my chin? They were removed, too.
Really?
Really.
Really?
Wow.
Love you.
YES~it’s so true. They really do photoshop all those flaws off. Now, granted some of those women are really, really skinny, but I hate to think what it took to get them so unnaturally thin.
And most of the guys I know don’t like that Skeletor look anyhow.
I have to look at those mags all night from my register. It really bites. Because even though I know their tricks, an image is so powerful for women and little girls.
We really need to do something about this.
I love this quote by Jewel,
” There is a pretty girl on the magazine, but all I can see is my dirty hands turning the page.”
You reminded me of it:) I just love her:)
I tend to simply avoid looking at magazines and staring too long and what I deem to be a “perfect” body of a woman (one that I’ll never be) because it makes me sad.
And then I go about my day thinking about other things, and then life is better.
have you seen this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U
and just so you know… you are beautiful.
really?
really.
(there’s a spam monster at the end of this post.)
Al: sorry.
Yes! I have seen it. I actually posted about it in like the second month of my blogging expedition. Thought about re-posting it here.
here’s another link that hopefully won’t get eaten by the spam monster. It’s Faith Hill photoshopped.
http://jezebel.com/gossip/photoshop-of-horrors/heres-our-winner-redbook-shatters-our-faith-in-well-not-publishing-but-maybe-god-278919.php
to be fair… i don’t think i edited anything on your face in that picture, you may have, but i didn’t
i don’t like to mess with beauty, in whatever form it comes in. and your personality is what makes your photos great.
Wow! Well… Then I retract all above-mentioned statements.
I wouldn’t know how to edit it if I had the right stuff. Thanks, Josh. you da man.
well there were some i edited, but nothing like the videos posted here. the most i ever do is soften skin a little, and saturate/increase contrast on eyes.
nevertheless, the point of the post is well taken. and i couldn’t agree more. it’s why i’m such a fan of getting personality through photos, because i think ultimately it means so much more and translates so much better than how good someone is at photoshop.
And that’s what I think makes you a great photographer… You want to show things as they are. people. personalities. relationships.
Thanks for “keepin’ it real” Josh!
Like your Dad said, Mandy, “You don’t mess with perfection.”
Josh obviously know that, too.
you are
simply
beautiful.
=)
When your sis-in-law said it with the tone of “you should know better” my thought was… but even though we know better, it’s hard to remember the lesson.
What our eyes take in is easier to believe than the truth, it seems.
But my eyes take you in as beautiful… soul, voice and face
You are an expression of God’s artistry. Your own canvas, specially crafted by Him. You are beautiful! I think there is nothing better than the gym shorts and t-shirt look!
Thanks y’all… I didn’t intend to go fishin’ for compliments with this. Just voicing something I think most of us women feel…
It’s impossible to compete with something that’s not real. Not that we should have to compete anyway. But we do. Or at least, think we do.
Gitz is right – we all know better. But it’s easy to forget. Really.
thanks for being real on your blog!
youre beautiful!
after seeing those photoshopped vids last year- i have a hard time even appreciating what i see on magazine covers anymore. in my mind….i scoff at them. its phony. and that makes ME feel better, in a twisted way. cuz when someone tells me i look nice – i know theyre seeing the real thing…wrinkles, blemishes, jiggles and all. but its me. take it or leave it.
I love most of the things about my school. But one of the things I can not stand is that this problem comes out of the magazines and media and into real life around here.
Of course people aren’t airbrushed, etc. but they all act as though they are. Going to the mall in the OC hurts my self-esteem. Everyone dresses as though they’re going out on the town…and I’m in $20 jeans, a t-shirt, and my free flip flops.
I know they’re all hiding something deeper, but it still seeps into my mind.
I loved that you posted here. You read my heart as I talked to my 17 yr old daughter last night.
I actually just let her read it. Powerful..
my name is col (colleen) im heidi’s daughter above, she would kill me that i am not capitalizing, but capitals are for freaks.
this is a cool place even for non -adults.
im using my moms laptop but i just wanted to say:
the guy upstairs makes us beautiful thats all i have to say.
enjoy the song its rad.
Wow H. wow… I’m honored that you’d give my words to your daughter.
Why not??? Hey she said she commented??? Is she in spam monsters cave??
Col: wow! Thanks for stopping by… I’m 30, so it’s good to hear I haven’t lost my cool factor yet. (wait, might’ve just lost it with the phrase “cool factor” dang it.)
She’s behind me finishing up her government homework. She’s asked me if you were lying about your age? I told her you found a gray hair(oopsie)
k, i told my mom she is so ancient being here. to get off and let hip people come on. she shushed me with thos mom eyes.
off to homework this blog thingy is kinda freakish cool and a big test for my edmuncation manana (tomorrow in cali). yea i spelled it right!
Col:
Some of the coolest people I know are OOOOOLD. And, I mean, like great-grandmother-with-a-whole-head-of-grays old.
I actually found another gray around New Years, but who’s counting?
In about 10 to 15 years, you’re gonna realize that “cool” has little to do with age, and everything to do with attitude, then you’re gonna welcome people (like your mom) into your world, no matter what generation they come from…
Uh. Good luck with your edmuncation today!
So Josh, you’re sweet. Really.
And Mandy you so “ha[ve] the right stuff.”
Here’s to real women everywhere!
Miss Mandy… thank you ^^^ she’ll be back !!
Love ya Girl! (even if I am different gen)
yeah…it’s all done in photoshop. I know this, because I was a professional retoucher all summer…it was my job to make people look good…you wouldn’t believe some of the stuff that goes into those photos to make people look attractive. I know, and I still struggle with it sometimes…
and by the way, I have a few gray hairs. that I’ve had since last year.
I tried to edit a pic of myself once and zapped all my hair off.