I don't even know this person, but Melissa McEwan's latest in the series titled, Impossibly Beautiful, features this face today. She makes a significant point that the series is titled this because it seems that no matter how beautiful a woman is, it isn't good enough and will be doctored. Unlike some past examples of ads photoshopping faces to make them younger, whiter and thinner (to hide the unacceptable age, race and body of the real woman), this woman is by all convention measures: young enough, thin enough and white enough.Here are the photo comparisons that Melissa provided to compare the magazine cover to the far right candid shot and another previous magazine cover. Oh I see that her name is Carrie Underwood.
Now I would love to direct you to my theory 'below the fold' - but I am foldless here at make-a-(green)plan.
Maybe you could close your eyes for a brief moment.
Or not . . .
My theory is that the end goal is to develop the standard for all to seek (and by that I mean acquire via any consumer method you prefer) - the perfect American FACE.
In her slight variations . . .
With this being my closest match to the Carrie Underwood model.
and some versions possible consulted for personality types.
7 comments:
I don't know, her look is a little bland. And can you see how round her cheeks are in that first photo? That would definitely need some photoshopping, or at least the cheek-shading hairstyles you see in the later photos. Also her hips are awfully wide for fashion shots. Maybe catalogs.
a friend of mine is self-publishing a book and he has been looking and looking for a book-cover photo of a real woman - the one he got is only very, very slightly more human than most magazine photo covers, but the difference is arresting (to me, at least). It's just startling to see fine lines and pores in a photograph (much less fat or unapproved hairs or uneven shapes.)
Rosa, take a look at the whole series over at Shakesville, (especially because you have that friend in the business.) It is a study in our culture. I have not even scratched the surface in my little tirade. I confess that I posted this in response to reading the source post - because I needed a way to show these Barbie images.
I've been stuck on the Beyonce hair ad stuff - one of my coworkers has the issue of People with Beyonce's wedding photo on the cover, and I keep looking at it and trying to figure out if she looks lighter on the hair color box than in her wedding photos... I've been reading Shakesville because you link to it, too.
I'm *soooo* with you.
I guess I'm a bit of an oddity. I'm nearly 6 feet tall, and long and gangly, but have never really felt like I matched up, even though I'm supposedly pretty close to model height. Saying that, although my BMI is about 23, I'd have to lose another 20 kilos to be as underweight as most models today - most of the models my height seem to weigh in at about 55 kgs. Which is scary.
So go figure. I think that no matter who or what we are, we will never be perfect enough. The magazines want us to feel that way.
If we were content with the way we look, why would we feel the need to buy makeup, perfume, anti-angeing gooks, and a myriad of other useless products?
The scariest thing to the beauty industry is a woman who is beautiful in her own meaning of the term - and knows it! :-)
So yes, I am beautiful. And so are you! And so is every woman I know who is happy being herself.
Let's scare the marketing ratbags to hell!
You have got me grinning ear to ear. I am lovin' the 'marketing ratbags' phrase.
And, you are absolutely right. We are beautiful, aren't we?
Abso-darn-lutely ;-)
Marketing ratbags... nice, Daharja! LOL.
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