Feminist writers for websites like Jezebel, xojane, and the Huffington Post get very worked up about the fact that advertisers and beauty magazines use Photoshop... You might think we were in the darkest era of image manipulation in the history of mankind. In fact, it’s just the opposite. At no other time in history have women, especially young women, been so thoroughly acquainted with the power of editing and deceptive photography. Most 14-year-old girls know exactly the angle at which to take a selfie, so that their arms look skinny and their forehead isn’t emphasized. They will then edit that photo on Instagram, choosing the filter that makes them look tanner, and the exposure that plays down their skin defects... All the indignation also completely ignores what fashion magazines are. Vogue is designed to be luxurious and unrealistic. Nobody thumbs through its glossy pages in search of gritty realism—it’s unabashed escapism to a world where we all wear $400 eye cream and look good in leather skirts. Idealistic fancy is simply human nature. All the feminist bah-humbugs in the world won’t change that. The women who buy high fashion magazines enjoy them in much the same way centuries of people have enjoyed Michelangelo’s David. There is something triumphant about expressing an impossibly beautiful ideal.
Posted on: Sun, 11 May 2014 01:49:26 +0000
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