What People Really Think of Retouching
Glamour readers weigh in on airbrushing
Years ago, I was at lunch with a group of magazine editors-in-chief when the subject came up of French legislation proposing limits on retouching pictures in popular publications. “Well,” said one of my colleagues, laughing, “there goes my editor’s note photo.”
It was a joke, of course, but her point was this: Retouching does happen at magazines—and, in this era of digital photography, almost everywhere else in our world, from movie posters and CD covers to Facebook images and Match.com profiles. It’s nothing new (even Abraham Lincoln was once essentially photoshopped!), but with 70 iPhone apps out now allowing women to do it themselves, it’s newly ubiquitous—and controversial. So does retouching inspire unrealistic expectations? Or is it no big deal, like the digital version of a good concealer? In our March 2012 issue, we asked the experts. And by experts, I mean 1,000 women just like you.
You can read the complete results of the survey here—and they are fascinating. Bottom line: You’re OK with a little retouching. But not a lot. Sixty percent of you say it’s OK for a woman to retouch her own personal photos (now very common on dating sites and Facebook). But you’re skeptical when the media does it, unless it’s for minor stuff like getting rid of a pimple or “steaming” a wrinkled skirt. Three-quarters of women are fine with those kinds of changes (“you have to want to look like the people on the pages,” notes Jessie Wohlgemuth, 27, of Belmont, Massachusetts), but only one in four approve of altering what Mother Nature gave you: curves, birthmarks and other distinguishing characteristics. “I want to look like me on my best day,” said one typical respondent, “not change my body.”Real-life couple Nicholas and Elizabeth, pictured here in Miami, in an unretouched (and cute!) vacation shot.
In common retouching procedures, one expert says, “women move toward Barbie, and guys toward G.I. Joe.” Elizabeth’s not into it: “I look scary here!” She’s right—this is taking it way too far.
What you do with your own personal Facebook and Match.com pictures is up to you, of course. But how should a magazine like Glamour handle retouching? In the March issue, we published the pledge below. And we plan on sticking to it:
Yes, we DO do it—and so do most fashion publications in the age of digital photography, since retouching includes everything from darkening a sky so a headline reads better to keeping models’ nipples from showing through a shirt (done in our March issue—twice!). But as your responses make clear, retouching has its limits—or should—and Glamour plans to take a stronger role in setting ours. You told us you don’t want little things like freckles and scars removed, and we agree; those are the kinds of details that make each woman on the planet unique and beautiful. And while our policy has always been not to alter a woman’s body shape, we’ll also be asking photographers we hire not to manipulate body size in the photos we commission, even if a celebrity or model requests a digital diet (alas, it happens). “I believe Glamour should take an active role in encouraging unretouched photos,” says Jessica Gordon, 29, of Los Angeles. “It has to start somewhere.”
What do you think of photo retouching? Has it gone too far, or is it to be expected? Tell us on Facebook.
More from Glamour:
14 Sexy Going Out Dresses You Can Wear When It's Cold Out
Cute Haircut Ideas for Midlength Hair
50 Things Men Are Afraid to Ask For But Want Super-Duper Badly
I honestly don't understand why companies pay millionsof dollars for models? Get some bum off the street for pennies and Photo Shop them instead.
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