Recently I read an article from jezebel.com that brought on a pretty big “DUH” moment for me. In This article, Erin Heatherton, a Victoria’s Secret was being interviewed and someone asked her how she felt about Photoshop and what impact that has had on her. Her response was this, “”I think it’s people’s own prerogative to be able to look at something and know the difference between ‘this is what someone looks like with makeup on’ and ‘this is what they look like in real life.’ This is what happens when you do a photo shoot; retouching is an essential part of our job, you know. We’re not selling reality; we’re selling a story. It’s all about creating this fantasy. And I don’t think people should confuse fantasy and reality because no one is perfect–we all know that, and I think people should embrace themselves and not really focus on where people are depicted as perfect and where they’re not.” (Cited from jezebel)
I have to admit that I kind of did a mental double-take, because a model is perfectly articulating what I know I should be thinking every time I look at a magazine or advertisement. But what really struck me the most as I was pondering this statement, was that I don’t. Instead of having a pause moment and thinking “wait, this has been photo shopped” I find that instead I more times than not unthinkingly accept that the picture presented to me is reality. And that scares me. Because I can’t help but think that if I, a person who’s taken classes on this issue and reads articles about it daily, have a hard time remembering to keep in mind that the pictures, the stories I’m sold are a touched-up fantasy, then I worry how other women perceive these images too.
I shared in a previous post about my struggles with weight loss and fitness and I will still admit that I have a long way to go in finding that balance between what I am presented with as “reality” in media and what my ACTUAL reality is. I’ve noticed that when I read magazines or watch movies, unless there are straight up unicorns walking across the screen, I’m internalizing a lot of what occurs as reality, oftentimes subconsciously. I might be able to walk out of a movie theater after Lord of the Rings and know there aren’t orcs (okay, I lied, LOTR is my favorite and sometimes I wonder…) but “He’s Just Not That Into You” or “The Notebook” leave small things behind in my mind that I can never quite shake.
What I fear the most is that this fantasy reality is so embedded in my values system that fantasy is slowly becoming reality. And I think there is evidence to support a lot of this as models shrink in size, the majority of designers still refuse to acknowledge that presence of [plus-sized women by making plus-sized lines and the majority of actresses are incredibly small. The average size of a woman in America is a 14.
This might not be anything new but it still concerns me that I oftentimes don’t even know that I’m just accepting what I’m told and what I see as a true picture of reality. Am I the only one still struggling with this??
ShoutOut! James Madison University 
I totally feel you on this. Sometimes I find myself looking at a magazine and thinking “That girl is perfect – her hair doesn’t have a weird cowlick like mine, her skin is devoid of freckles, her waist is sooo slim – why can’t I be like that? There are times that I stop myself and realize it’s “a fantasy” as Heatherton says, but other times, I feel sad and have a woe is me fat-day. And I hate those.
Not long ago, my friend and I were watching The Heartbreak Kid with Ben Stiller and some hot skinny brunette on his huge HD TV. The hot chick sat down in the sand in her short shorts and BAM – cellulite city. We commented on it and agreed it was gross and wondered why a film editor hadn’t caught it. But why should they? This girl was at most size 2 – her thigh naturally got bunched up – who cares? Are we too afraid to handle the reality of our bodies?
LikeLike
I agree! It makes me so mad sometimes that I 1) can’t seem to keep in mind that it is all largely false and unrealistic and 2) that I find myself EXPECTING to see those perfect images now. If something is ever “off” in ad or a magazine, like a woman seems to have cellulite as in your example, I immediately hone right in on it. I think that you might be exactly right, maybe we are too scared to handle our bodies and like to pretend that the airbrushed perfection we see in magazines is possible.
LikeLike