It’s no secret that magazines turn to Photoshop to get rid of that extra wrinkle or stretch mark when it comes to editorials. It’s come to be a common practice in the fashion industry, and something that celebrities and models alike have actually started to rely on.
But now, girls are starting to stand up against the fact that they don’t want to see “perfect” images in magazines. Julia Bluhm, a 14-year-old eighth grader from Maine has started a petition to get Seventeen magazine to post one unaltered photo spread per month in their magazine. Bluhm, a member of the SPARK movement (a girl-fueled activist movement that tries to end the sexualization of women and girls in media) began her petition in order to raise awareness about the amount of Photoshop that there is in magazines. Her petition has since gone viral, and raised quite a stir.
In a release, Bluhm said, “Seventeen magazine is supposed to be a relatable magazine, right? How can we relate to computer altered photos? Seventeen is popular with my friends and lots of teen girls. If they agree to print one unaltered spread a month, they could start a trend that will help so many girls like me feel better about their bodies.”
She went on to state that Photoshopping is an open secret in the industry, but a lot of girls her age think what they’re seeing in magazines is real, and then often feel as if a skinny, shiny-haired and clear-skinned girl is the ideal in society.
Her petition, on Change.org, now has over 14,000 signatures and is still growing. We think showing off “real” girls is a great idea (check out our Beauty Street Style for a glimpse) and hope to see more people doing the same thing. Obviously, this is something that the entire industry needs to embrace, and they seem to be slowly, with Cate Blanchett appearing on the cover of Intelligent Life sans Photoshop just a couple of weeks ago, just to name one example.
So we want to know – will you be signing the petition?