Advertisers are not in the business of promoting reality. They sell us dreams, and their success depends on how well they gauge our aspirations.
This is not new…and neither is airbrushing (a process that’s been around long before Photoshop came onto the scene), which makes this video all the more gratuitous. There is a sanctimonious vibe to it, as if we relish proof that models really aren’t as attractive as they appear. But more disturbing is the implication that, somehow, preservation of our self-worth hinges on this.
Photo manipulation takes time and effort (I don’t think I need to point out that even this video has been edited, and obviously speeded up), which could in turn cost industries the only medium they care about. Looking at it like this, it makes sense to select a model who already approximates the desired end-product.
And yes, such women do exist. Every now and then, someone I pass in the street would merit a second glance, leaving me to wonder if she’d abandoned her post next to a bottle of perfume, or on the latest cover of some fashion magazine.
Most of us women look nothing like her, and we never will. But ask yourself this…
Does it really matter?
Pass Me the Smelling Salts 
Everyone has a choice to decide for themselves whether it matters or not. It is time women became more accountable for their role in their treatment generally.
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Very true, most of us are now in a position to make ourselves heard, yet the issues we face are no less befuddling (possibly more so). I’m hoping there will be a day when our confidence won’t have to come at another’s expense.
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Reblogged this on Tarek Elbakry's Blog and commented:
Art & Design!
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