A Rant About Airbrushing
I frequently get angry when I see advertisements. It’s not because they are there to get you to buy something, it’s the fact that the female models on them look absolutely perfect every time.
What bothers me more, though, are ads that include pregnant women. They’re never puffy from water retention. They look relaxed and beautiful, their nails are carefully manicured. And the worst part? It’s their “pregnant belly” that drives me crazy.
Their bellies look perfect. Round, creamy-skinned, beautiful. Where the hell are the stretch marks? The blue road-map veins? The weird bumps and lumps as a result of the baby’s foot poking out from under their left rib?
What, are stretch marks ugly? They have to be airbrushed out? The cellulite on your ass and thighs from the 47 pounds of weight gain isn’t a normal part of pregnancy? Why don’t you ever see these things on the models?
They airbrush ‘em out. Every blemish, every bump, every extra ounce of water retention. I’m sure that gives men and women an extremely realistic view of what pregnancy looks like. *snort*
So that’s why we all feel like a whale when we reach that eighth month. Why we think we look ugly and that the stretch marks on our asses are disgusting. It’s like the fact that a vaginal birth does quite the number on your va-jay-jay, BUT YOU NEVER HEAR ABOUT IT BEYOND THAT RAUNCHY BLOG CALLED “SURPRISINGLY SANE”.
It’s that unrealistic view of what pregnancy really is. Of what women really look like. It pisses me off royally, if you can’t tell.
No wonder we all have complexes about the way we look.
I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather see advertisements bearing real women. I’m sick of society trying to mold my kids into believing that people really look like the barbies on the billboards.
*Stepping off my soap box.*
Current Mood:
Angry
August 5th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Thank you! I totally agree! I was a lucky girl who didnt get stretch marks until the baby came OUT. Talk about disappointed!
You know what else gets me, those TV shows or pictures of women getting c-sections.. they are all smiling and “ooh look at my baby” woo I cant feel a thing and I feel great!”
and this is how it really felt to get a c/s.. “OMG Im going to be sick, just sew me up and get me back in bed. I can’t effing hold him right now my entire body is trembling!! Thats great I’m gonna puke.” Yeah thats how it really goes down.
August 5th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Right there with you on that. I am glad to see some of the commercials on tv using normal people.. although only those that are on the pretty side. I get so amazed when I go sit in a mall or other crowded area to people watch. It makes me feel so much better about my own body. .. well except when I see the little teenagers with their perfect beach bodies and tans. I guess I can’t avoid that living in Florida.
August 5th, 2009 at 11:17 am
it IS very aggravating. i never got any stretch marks, but i did have the lovely blue veins, and my linea nigra was crooked (and still is!!!) because the bulk of E’s body was on the left side so much, it actually stretched the skin out like a deformed balloon. they would definitely airbrush me straight outta the picture.
August 5th, 2009 at 11:38 am
I get frustrated with airbrushing done in not only advertisements, but just plain ol’ regular photography. I frequent a fair-share of photo blogs/sites, trying to get ideas for my own work, and I am SO sick of seeing people photoshop their work to death. And the people in their photos have un-natural looking skin because of said airbrushing. Ick. I hate it. I like skin with texture! There. I said it.
August 5th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Thank you! Also, the skin care commercials with the “anti aging” serum featuring a 31-year old model with make up on! UGH.
August 5th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Oh ladies, thanks so much. I am SO RELIEVED to know I’m not the only one that feels *this* irked about it.
It’s almost like false advertisement, especially those skin care commercials that Laura mentioned.
Emily- that bothers me, too. I believe that part of good photography is showcasing the *reality* of the moment, not the stuff that you can airbrush out!
August 5th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Are dissenting views allowed on Surprisingly Sane, or is the mistress of the blog the only one allowed to bitch?
While I hardly disagree with the sentiments expressed, the level of energy directed at this topic gives me pause. Seems a perfect example of what Pema Chodron calls “bourgeois suffering”. Of course I understand this blog features amplified histrionics for our entertainment, but if this is the kind of thing that truly knots one’s knickers, then after the rant I recommend a moment of silence to balance by reflecting on how truly blessed we are that this even registers on our scale of annoyances.
FYI, I have a somewhat similar distaste for adverts in yoga magazines. Waaay to much attention paid to material appearances for an audience putatively interested in penetrating beyond surfaces. It’s also amusing/irritating to see the ridiculous cliche meditation postures assumed by the non-practitioner models. In the end, I just smirk and shrug it off as all-too-predictable for this culture.
August 5th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
LOL, Greg, dissenting views are always more than welcome on here. Bitch away! Good point that I should be so blessed to be irritated by something so mundane.
However, I must say that I grew up in a house where the men in my family were constantly picking apart one’s appearances. They crossed the line when commenting on how “tubby” an Olympic volleyball player was and laughing about it… while I was sitting there on the couch in my last trimester weighing almost 50 pounds more than usual. As a result of this sort of upbringing, I was trained to constantly scrutinize my flaws. It’s so stupid, shallow, and narrow-minded, and I am finally to the point where I see that now. Thank goodness.
But I’m still overly-sensitive to this particular type of “perfection stereo-typing” found in ads, much like the Yoga magazines you mentioned.
I’m definitely far from perfect. Perhaps it’s time for me to find a little more Zen in my life?
August 5th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I got really pissed listening to teh radio the other day…this guy had the nerve to say that women SHOULDN’T have stretch marks…I was fucking irate
August 5th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I found a pregnancy picture today that you might appreciate. It doesn’t include stretchmarks, and it’s certainly an “art shot,” but I think you might like it anyway. I just don’t know how to send it to you, so here’s the link should you care to check it out. For all of those casual readers who are viewing from the office, it is NOT WORK SAFE.
http://xupacabras.weblog.com.pt/arquivo/ViktorIvanovski6.jpg
August 6th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
@Mia: “shouldn’t” as if we have a choice? I mean, oh yeah, I was SUPER excited to agree to my stretch mark si got from puberty at age 12. Seriously. What a dick.