Teen Petitions Magazine to Publish Photoshop-Free Photos
Photo: cocoperez.com
A teenager from Maine is petitioning Seventeen to print images of real girls, without any photoshop enhancements, in an effort to help young women accept themselves exactly as they are. Julia Bluhm, a 14-year-old from Maine, has started a petition on change.org asking the youth publication to print at least one photoshop-free spread per month, and she’s getting enough support behind her to really make a difference.
Here’s an excerpt from the petition letter:
Girls want to be accepted, appreciated, and liked. And when they don’t fit the criteria, some girls try to “fix” themselves. This can lead to eating disorders, dieting, depression, and low self esteem…
Here’s what lots of girls don’t know. Those “pretty women” that we see in magazines are fake. They’re often photoshopped, air-brushed, edited to look thinner, and to appear like they have perfect skin. A girl you see in a magazine probably looks a lot different in real life.
That’s why I’m asking Seventeen Magazine to commit to printing one unaltered—real—photo spread per month. I want to see regular girls that look like me in a magazine that’s supposed to be for me.
Bluhm’s call-to-action comes on the heels of Glamour magazine’s pledge to stop photoshopping models’ bodies to appear smaller or thinner, and so far she’s done a great job rallying support. Her petition has picked up 12,992 signatures (out of a hoped for 15,000) and she’s only gaining steam as each day goes by.
It’s admirable and impressive that a girl Bluhm’s age is willing to fight for and promote a more positive body image among young women. Her request for only one photoshop-free spread per month seems very reasonable, and hopefully this a first step toward us seeing more honest and real images of women in the media.
—Candice
Curious to read more about other photoshop debates from the last year? Click here to see more posts.
