If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Western standards of beauty are not universal standards of beauty. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder, and each one of us has a different standard of what is beautiful.
Things just seem lighter, and happier. Like everyone rolled out of bed with a little extra oomph this morning. It's the women. The ones behind the counter, the ones waiting for their lattes, they're smiling, laughing, filling the room with a tangible positive aura that infects everyone.
We can't pick up a magazine, watch television or see a movie without being bombarded with messages at every turn urging us to join the war against aging, no matter what age you are!
It's never been harder, or easier, for a developer of software applications to make an honest living. And it's never been more confusing, or simpler, for consumers to figure out how to get access to cool new tools and critical old ones for their computers, phones, and pads.
It's refreshing to see some things that are so important that we all agree on them: loving our bodies, minds, and selves, and encouraging our sisters and daughters and cousins to love themselves.
Though technology still has a lot of catching up to do if it's going to balance out against titans like Photoshop, the emergence of forensic-like applications serve as comforting reminders that technology does improve both ways.
Because we can all be so negative about ourselves and because we're often our own worst enemy, I think that we need to start accepting and loving our bodies, no matter what their shape.
"I have a problem with the cover. She looks so young! It's like we're showing favoritism." It was at this point, dear reader, that the whistle was deployed.
My senior picture looks like me, not like a digital reconstruction of me. The sole purpose of photos is for documentation, and when looking back, I want to be able to remember how I looked at the time -- not how the computer thought I should look.
Beauty is only skin deep. This time-honored idiom -- and title of a former hit song by The Temptations -- recognizes an inexorable truth of human aging. Now this expression has found more contemporary implications in an era of digital photo editing.
Whether through a gallery or a solo show, selling is very much our wish. We are happy to be admired, but selling is another level of satisfaction. It's the Little Red Dot we're after.
What? You didn't get the memo? Ladies, you are supposed to be unnaturally thin -- but with full Cs, a tight butt, and all-over muscle tone. Oh, and guess what? If you somehow manage this Herculean feat, you will still require copious amounts of airbrushing. Reverse airbrushing, that is.
Talk to them -- yes, both girls and boys -- about the enhanced images and videos that they will be exposed to. Tell them that pornography is like false advertising, the goal being to sell and market products, not necessarily to convey truth and honesty.
"Telling my daughter that weight doesn't matter while she sees me berating myself as I step on the scale every morning probably isn't good parenting, right?" Bingo.
Body and face shapes are easy for any magazine to control: simply hire the shapes that you want. The question is, are other Photoshop fabrications still fair game?
There is a difference between showing concern and making someone feel uncomfortable with their own body.
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