This has really pushed my button!

I will be in the minority but photoshop is just an advanced method mode of makeup and accessories used by women.

Photoshop, if done right, can be used to make a women look her best on her best day. If done wrong, it can make women look weird. Frankly, give the general public some credit. They know what a photoshopped image looks like.

Many will say "Well what about the kids". You know, the youth nowadays can identify a photoshopped image better than most of the older fellows. Does it change the fact that they still feel insecured about their bodies? Nope. Its not photoshopped pics or models or anything doing it. Its everybody. And its not anything new. Afterall, bullemia and anorexia was invented milleniums ago for a reason.

Overall, stop panicing over photoshopping. If you want it gone so badly, stop talking about it and ignoring it. Stop buying their products and stop even talking about the magazines you're not buying because of this. Just stop recognizing it and imagine they don't exist

It's a nice picture. She's gorgeous. I like it.

Physically impossible.

Fashion and advertizing are art forms. The fashion industry chooses the models they do because they are extreme versions of human form. They're trying to convey a fantasy. Also it makes the design process easier if they don't have to worry about flattering the model, it lets them stick to their vision. People who create ads are going to be looking for like shapes and repeating patterns. Some of the changes they make in photoshop, particularly in this one I think, are exaggerated to complement the background and the feeling they're trying to achieve. If you look back at Art History this has always been done, in different ways. Look up Mannerism. The artists would stretch and distort the human form in order to make it more aesthetically pleasing. It looks very strange, and I'd post an image or two but I'm not sure about the rules on nude art. In the 19th century there was a battle between those who wanted to portray women as perfect goddesses, entirely for the male viewer (often for their bedrooms, if you follow), and those who wanted to portray them naturalistically. Look up The Birth of Venus by Cabanel to see how women were portrayed then. Art swings on a pendulum back and forth from stylized to realistic over time.

My point is that you have to learn to separate art from reality. It's ok in my book that photoshop is used or that fashion models don't look average. We all know that photoshop is being used, and models aren't meant to look like the average woman. It doesn't bother me.

Also it's strange to me that this is the image that bothers you so much, considering all the other much more exaggerated and extreme images out there. Why does this one in particular bother you so much?

Edited to account for lack of coffee.

It's interesting how the more they push these images at me the more I find myself disliking skinny... and then I feel bad because all body types should be appreciated. *sigh*

To me, there's a difference between a naturally slender body type and starvation for the sake of being skinny. I remember learning in my teen years about models eating nothing but a single lettuce leaf. Something like that has nothing to do with appreciating a body type.

That dress look cool though although my girlfriend doesn't like geometric prints.


Oh. sorry we were talking about the model? I didn't notice

Heh, I was thinking the same ...

I happen to love geometric prints especially with a mod twist.

I really like the photo

*ducks for cover*

huge hair aside...

my teen eats like a horse and has pretty much exactly that body shape.
she's fit, healthy, has great stamina and eats plenty.
her doctor says she's fighting fit.

she faces constant accusations of anorexia from overweight women.

it's an interesting reversal of what i remember as a teen.
demonising the slim.

Not to rain on everyones parade, becasue I dont think super skinny is attractive either, but has anyone every looked at an add with a plus size model and said "Wow I would love to look like that" .. most likely no ...

Hmm, I think most plus-size models are what many people would consider almost 'average' body weights at this point. Maybe Lena Dunham would call them "thin for Detroit," haha They often have very beautiful figures, with no unsightly bulges (probably due to photoshop!), just larger overall frames.

I think it's funny how people just assume she's anorexic and photo shopped.....What if she's just naturally skinny like that? I've had friends who were skinnier then her and they ate like crazy but they couldn't gain weight. I don't think she even looks anorexic to be honest.

Companies spend piles of money on research to find out what we (consumer) like. Research says we like it, and it sells the stuff. So there you go. Even the plus size models are skinnier then regular plus size ladies.
Don't spend your money on companies that you don't like for whatever reason. Money is what talks to them.

huge hair aside...

my teen eats like a horse and has pretty much exactly that body shape.
she's fit, healthy, has great stamina and eats plenty.
her doctor says she's fighting fit.

she faces constant accusations of anorexia from overweight women.

it's an interesting reversal of what i remember as a teen.
demonising the slim.

The hair freaked me out too..............
I had a friend at school who was constantly abused for her weight, she was sporty and ate like a horse, but was naturally tiny. It was horrible.
I don't think the photoshop on this is bad at all, they've photographed her to elongate her legs, altered brightness to smooth skin tone etc but I have seen MUCH worse!

I've got the "lollipop, lollipop" song in my head

Thanks for putting that in my head! lol

I totally agree! It is stuff like this that creates all the eating disorders that young people have nowadays.

*head desk* over simplification much?

I think it's funny how people just assume she's anorexic and photo shopped.....What if she's just naturally skinny like that? I've had friends who were skinnier then her and they ate like crazy but they couldn't gain weight. I don't think she even looks anorexic to be honest.

For everyone who said we all know its photoshopped and can all tell the difference between art and real life ... Read this quote.

It's all well and good to say "don't get offended, dont let ads dictate how you feel, dont let the media teach you how to live" rah rah. But I get why it annoys the OP! You have to think about how these images affect society as a whole on a subconscious level. It sets the 'normal' bar, and when you have kids and impressionable teenagers soaking it all in; I agree, it becomes a problem and a shame. Teens often find a million little flaws with themselves that "no one else has" because they never see a blemish in the magazines; and poor self-esteem and eating disorders (both ends of the spectrum) can be borne from it. Remember as well, not everyone has the same starting block in life; you may have been raised to appreciate yourself and that the media can't be trusted for realism; but others grow up without challenging those perceptions. People can be surprisingly oblivious.

I'm not saying there should only be un-photoshopped, larger people in advertising; keep the skinny girls in business. Skinny is a body type, they deserve to be in there. But I do think there should be an equal number (or at least more than we have now ) of different body types and sizes out there; I mean where's the variety!

Edit: just to be clear I'm talking more about ads/media in general, not necessarily this ad in particular. Yes she's had some level of photoshop, but I have seen a lot worse. I accept this may just be her body type and she's healthy; maybe not; but on the whole the advertising industry has a lot to answer for.