HERE IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT! >:( I mean, how stupid is this? Here you have a tall, slender, absolutely gorgeous model... that the people in the photo editing department of Ralph Lauren take a photo of, and edit her down to an unrealistic, skeletally thin woman. The image on the right is Fillipa Hamilton as she really is; the left is the Photoshop trainwreck! And what's even worse about this? Hamilton was fired shortly after the photo shoot during which the photo that was edited took place. Why? Because they (Ralph Lauren) told her that she was "too fat" to model for them anymore. WTF? They fire her because she's too fat?! She's anything but!
This whole controversy began when the website BoingBoing posted the photoshopped picture of Hamilton on their page, stating, "Dude, her head's bigger than her pelvis." Ralph Lauren originally made a threat to sue BoingBoing for copyright infringement, however, they realized that they would not have a case, because what BoingBoing did was not illegal; their use of the advertisement falls under fair use, which includes "comments, criticism, and news reports." Ralph Lauren then retracted their threat, and released this statement:
"For over 42 years we have built a brand based on quality and integrity. After further investigation, we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman's body. We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the caliber of our artwork represents our brand appropriately."
Fillipa Hamilton as well as the National Organization for Women (NOW) have requested that Ralph Lauren apologize to American women; I believe, as well, that Ralph Lauren owes all women an apology. Images like that aren't real, and they aren't beautiful. As it is, women are under enough pressure to be thin and perfect... then to take it five steps further, and shrink a beautiful body down to a sickly and unrealistic size? Because think about it (and women will understand this much better)- thin women are envied. Women are always comparing themselves to other women- and even though they make fun of a women because she's super thin ("she looks like a walking skeleton!"), they do this because they are jealous on the inside. But why be jealous of someone who is thin to the point of being unhealthy? We don't know.
That's the thing, though. That is how bad body image and eating disorders begin; to cope with stress, to gain control, to deal with depression... but instead of actually facing these issues, the person channels all of their energy into how much weight they can lose. This numbs them to the pain of anything else in life; it simplifies life to the point where their worth as a person, their success and their failures, all depend on weight. And all too soon, it spirals out of control.
According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), an estimated 10 million females and 1 million males struggle with either anorexia or bulimia- and that's just in America! As many as 1 in 7 die as a result of their illness, whether it be due to medical complications or suicide. And there are millions and millions more who have bad body image.
Yet the media keeps throwing out these unrealistic images? As if we don't have our TVs and computers telling us constantly that we're fat as it is? (weight loss ads- EVERYWHERE).
Again, I feel bad about this, because I almost sound like I am complaining about Photoshop; I'm not. I think Photoshop is something that can be (and usually is) wonderful, but it's all about the intent. The image of Filippa Hamilton is stepping over the line; because I can guarantee that every single person who is struggling with an eating disorder that saw that picture felt like shit after looking at it, immediately thinking they have to starve and exercise to get their pelvises smaller than their heads. Even to the average woman, it sends a really crappy message- this woman is taller, prettier, and thinner than you; and you will never be this.
I really don't know what to make of this; I'm not one for limiting creativity, but I honestly do think that photos such as this are very dangerous in a world that is obsessed with being thin.
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