Society's craze with thinness has found a new target: our babies. It is no longer just women and teens who have to be thin to be considered attractive; our babies must as well.
According to a new BBC documentary, My Supermodel Baby, many magazines airbrush their baby models to "put them across in the best light". The airbrushing ranges from removing spittle to erasing creases of fat. Erasing fat creases from babies? Isn't that what makes them adorable? Isn't that how babies are supposed to look? Is nothing sacred anymore?
Daniella Delaney, the editor of the magazine Practical Parenting and Pregnancy said, "Babies are not like adults. You can't stop them from dribbling, so you might remove that bit of dribble from the chin. Or if the baby has just been crying, and their eyes are red, we might lighten the eyes. Or if they have just woken up because they have had a nap on the way in and we photograph them, we might remove a little bit of sleep." She said she was not aware of a policy regarding erasing fat creases but the casting director for her magazine's photo shoot, which was covered in the BBC documentary, admitted that many changes were made to the baby model. "We lightened his eyes and his general skin tone, smoothed out any blotches and the creases on his arms," he said. "But we want it to look natural."
Yes, a naturally perfect-looking baby. I don't think so!
Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat MP for East Dunbartonshire, who has campaigned against the use of airbrushing in magazines, said: "People will be appalled that a magazine would not think images of beautiful healthy babies are alright as they are and instead have to conform to some standard. The idea that babies must look more perfect - that they can't have creases in their skin - shows the obsession with a particular ideal. Where does this end?"
I couldn't agree more! What kind of message are we sending to our children? We are telling them that anything less than "perfection" is not okay. I am not worried that the baby models are lying in their cribs worrying that they didn't look good enough in the photo shoot. But what will this baby's parents say to her when she grows up and looks back on those pictures. "Look at this picture of you. Isn't it adorable? Of course, you didn't really look like that back then. We had to airbrush your thighs because they were just huge!"
And even if the conversation doesn't actually go like that, this baby model will grow up to wonder why her other baby pictures look different from the ones that everybody fawns over. Eventually, she will realize that even as a baby, she wasn't good enough as she was.
When I received my four year-old daughter's school picture last year, I must admit that I was slightly disappointed that she was making a goofy face. She was looking at the camera but her eyes were kind of droopy. But not for a moment did I consider airbrushing her "imperfection" away. I want to look at pictures of my daughter, not some idealized version. And truthfully, I find her ideal regardless of how she looks.
In the fourth grade, I had a huge space between my front teeth and braces. I was pretty awkward looking- and I knew it. I can't imagine how wounded I would have felt if my parents had airbrushed that space, or even my braces. Now, I laugh when I look at that picture. And I am glad to have it to show my daughter that everybody goes through awkward phases- and that is okay! Plus, that picture got a pretty big laugh when it flashed across the screen at my wedding rehearsal dinner.
Airbrushing our children's imperfections sends the message that our kids are not good enough as they are. We are demonstrating that there is an ideal way to look and that we should all strive to look that way. And who wants to teach that to their children? I, for sure, do not. I will take my daughter's goofy-faced picture and hang it on my wall with pride. Nothing could make her any more perfect in my eyes.