Seventeen Magazine’s “inaction sparked a global action”
Julia Bluhm, a 14 year old from Maine, started a petition asking Seventeen Magazine to feature just one un-altered photograph of its models in each issue. The editors of the magazine met with Bluhm, but ultimately refused her request.
This refusal has fueled people (young and old, female and male…) all over the world to spend the next 3 days (June 27-29) “Keeping It Real.” This involves tweeting, blogging, and capturing real (un-altered) beauty through photographs (with a chance to be featured on a billboard in NYC). As Shelby Knox tweeted, “. your inaction sparked a global action!…” For more information on the Keep It Real Challenge, check out the facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/409395502438909/
In the “Keep It Real Tool Kit” (available here:http://issuu.com/missrepresentation/docs/keepitrealtoolkit/1) there are many alarming and disturbing statistics, such as: 48% of teenage girls wish they were as skinny as models according to the Girl Scout Research institute. It is impossible for girls to be that skinny for a couple of reasons. 1- Most people’s bodies are physically unable to look like most models we see in magazines. Just like it’s impossible to make yourself 5’8 when you’re height is 5’2, it’s impossible to get rid of your hips, butt, thighs, and breasts and look like models in magazines. 2- The models are photoshopped! So the models themselves don’t even look like the people we see in magazines. So now we have “48% of teenage girls” wishing they looked like something that is IMPOSSIBLE to look like b/c it doesn’t exist in reality! Imagine all the harm that is causing!!
A few years ago I stopped reading typical fashion & beauty magazines. It’s a shame because I really enjoy looking at images of the latest fashion trends, I like getting ideas for new hair styles, and I really like the inspirational stories of female activists occasionally found in these magazines. But whenever I open one of these magazines I find myself feeling bad about the way I look. It’s a feeling that’s hard to shake off and I find myself wanting to diet and use new makeup to cover up “imperfections.”
Logically I know it’s ridiculous- why would I want to look like I have no pores, no freckles, no beauty marks… and why would I want to hurt my body & become weaker in order to look like the fake images in magazines? So I made a decision a while ago to stop reading these magazines. But instead of boycotting magazines, I would much rather change the content in the magazines.
There is nothing beautiful about creating unrealistic standards of beauty & encouraging low self-esteem. A change needs to be made. Join SPARKMovement.org, LoveSocial.org, IAmThatGirl.com, EndangeredBodies.org, and MissRepresentation.org, as well as individuals all over the world in encouraging magazines to “Keep It Real.”
I'm a public health specialist with a concentration in reproductive health & sexuality education, vegetarian, NYC native, equalist, and huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan.
