Lindsay Lohan, George Clooney, Gwen Stefani, Britney Spears, Kourtney Kardasian, Kate Moss, Rachel McAdams, Kim Catrall.
Celebrity Photos Before and After Photoshop.
What do you make of the photoshopping in these pictures, offered online recently? Shocking? Ho hum? Just more evidence that sexist males control the media?
And what affects you most? The blatant sexism? The agism on display where photo editors removed crows’ feet, smile lines, and other signs of age and/or personality? Something else.
It’s complicated.
Well, in a world where Lena Dunham and Kate Upton both garner a lot of attention and are celebrated, it’s not surprising that reactions are all over the board. (Lena writes and stars in an uber real show about
20-something girls in “Girls,” and Kate models and celebrates, well, the hourglass figure Nature blessed her with.)
One argument for sexism is that most of the celebs, as you can see, are female. George Clooney and a few other males are included in the 42 examples in the original piece, but the changes are generally more subtle when it comes to males.. Which brings us to the following Huffington post article which says:
“It is generally assumed that being bombarded with images of skinny, flawless supermodels and celebrities makes most women feel bad about themselves (or worse).
But a new study argues that it’s more complicated than that. Sometimes seeing those idealized images of beauty makes us feel crummy… and sometimes it makes us feel great. It all depends on the scale.
“Defensive Reactions to Slim Female Images in Advertising: The Moderating Role of Mode of Exposure,” a new report from professors at University of Manitoba and University of Michigan, theorizes that the effect of idealized female images on regular women differs based on how blatantly or subtly the images are presented.
After testing 37 women in three controlled experiments, the authors found the following:
When the idealized female images are presented blatantly — unobscured, focusing clearly on their beauty — we detect the ideal being thrown in our faces. We therefore fortify our own self-image as a defense mechanism, as if to say, “We see what you’re trying to do here… and we’re not falling for it.” As a result, our self-esteem actually rises.
But when the idealized female images are exposed subtly — presented in the context of another product or as an after-thought — it gets under our skin without us realizing. We end up feeling bad about ourselves.
The idea that seeing beautiful women can actually make us feel good about ourselves isn’t totally new. A study entitled “The Skinny on Celebrities” previously proved that women actually felt better about their own bodies when viewing slim celebs that they liked (versus celebrities they felt no connection to at all).
But the focus in the new study is is not who the models are, but rather how “in your face” they’re portrayed. This complicates the conversation on body image and self-esteem, which typically assumes the prettier the model or the skinnier the celeb, the worse she makes viewers feel.
That formula does still hold true in many contexts. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, about 70 percent of girls grades five through 12 said magazine images influence their ideals of a perfect body, a fact that’s plain to see in the online world of teenage “thinspiration”.
But ads, as opposed to magazine spreads and covers, appear to be a more intricate matter. To read more about the study, click to ScienceDirect.com or head to The Daily Mail.”
Less is more? .
So, the slight, subtle changes annoy many viewers more than the blatant ones. Who knew?
What do you think?
Lookism.
I think it’s rampant lookism, if nothing else.
My latest book, PRIVILEGED KILLERS, is a true story about a half-dozen Dark Triad people in my everyday life - narcissists, manipulators, and psychopaths. Three of 'em murdered people, and one came after my wife and me. Print and e-book versions of this (and CLEFT HEART) available at Amazon and elsewhere online. Also at your local bookstore.
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