REVERSE PHOTOSHOPPING

A few months ago I had come across an article via Facebook that took me by complete shock. The term I learned in this article was called "Reverse PhotoShopping".  Essentially this phrase means that retouching photos is not used to make models look thinner, but is now being used to make models look fuller and healthier; no ribs or bones protruding from their skin.

This took a minute for me to process that it was actually a real thing that was happening. In our society, there is so much pressure for models to look extremely slim; collar bones showing, hip bones showing, and the infamous thigh gap. The models are trying to hard to fit this look that some are making themselves sick in order to achieve it.  Unfortunately, the editors are able to cover up the ill-side of models by now plumping the models back up to a healthier, yet still slim figure via Photoshop.

The former editors of Cosmo, Healthy Magazine, Vogue, and British Vogue have all admitted to having to photoshop models to make them look not so thin. These are fashion magazines that have a huge influence over the female population, specifically how we as women are supposed to replicate. As I have previously written about, media has a large impact on female's perceptions of their own body, and it can be correlated with a higher percentage of eating disorders. In a recent study I read:
"A meta-analysis of 25 studies involving female subjects, examined the effect of exposure to media images of the slender body ideal. Body image was significantly more negative after viewing thin media images than after viewing images of either average size models, plus size models or inanimate objects. "
-essentially this means that girls feel worse about their own bodies after seeing the bodies of the models in magazines. We are buying the magazines that are making us feel inadequate. I admit to buy Cosmo, Vogue, etc, unknowing that even if I am aware of how the media affects me, I am still buying into the falseness of the images.  It is hard to continuously remind yourself when you are looking at a beautiful editorial of Gisele in Vogue to remind yourself that, "yes she is gorgeous, but she is photoshopped to further enhance her 'beauty' (which can be defined as clear skin or a small wasit) and it is almost impossible to look like that without the help of photoshop". That is not an affirmation I want or will remember to tell myself each time i pick up one of these magazine. The intense use of photoshopping needs to be regulated and its heartbreaking that something this emotionally damaging has not yet been banned.
THANK GOODNESS SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT! I was so happy as I was researching articles for this blog that two congresswomen were in the midst of trying to regulate photoshopping. Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Democratic Rep. Lois Capps have co-sponsored a bill entitled H.R. 4341: Truth in Advertising Act of 2014, which calls for photoshop regulation in media and advertising. Essentially this bill will try and create guidelines for photoshopping, so as it does not continue to promote unrealistic body images. YAY! I will continue to follow this as I think its fantastic. (SIDE NOTE: this is the link that talks about the bill, you can actually voice your opinion to your local congress member about your support so hopefully it can get passed! https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr4341/text)
However, as I was writing this article is dawned on me, I dont have to wait for a bill to pass to regulate photoshop. As a model, I have signed numerous contracts allowing others to photoshop me for use in their editorials. What most independent models such as myself dont do, is create their own contracts. Usually they are used to protect their own rights of publication and such. What I have decided to do from today forward, is to have my own contract for those who i work with stating that they are unable to use photoshop to manipulate my size, shape, or proportions. If they are unwilling to sign it, I will be unwilling to work with them. I would love for this idea to catch on among other models in my community, and possibly further than that. I will be developing a contract within the next week or so, and if you want a copy to use for your own modeling PLEASE EMAIL ME! I think that waiting for major corporations such as Vogue and Cosmo to decide to start regulating photoshopping is going to be a LONG battle. I think starting with the models is a better way to fix the problem sooner. Just imagine is Gisele or Kate Upton prevented the use of photoshopping to manipulate their size, how much support they would get from others. This may be a pipe dream, but I like to dream big :)

here are some of the links to the articles I found my information on if you want to look further into this topic <3 you are all amazing and thanks again for reading

http://jezebel.com/congresswomen-introduce-bill-to-regulate-overzealous-ph-1564436575
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792687/
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr4341/text

Back on track!

I am back. Ive been wanting to be back for a long time now but school, work, internship, and my recent aspirations of modeling have taken up any and all time I have left. It has been over a year since I last wrote so I guess I should catch everyone up on my life. Last year I started my Master’s in Clinical Psychology with an Emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy. My road to being a therapist, working with the eating disorder population, has started! I have had an amazing time so far at Pepperdine University, and I am learning so much, that I am already starting to feel like a real person! I have also started an internship as a “practicing therapist” at a substance abuse center in Compton, CA. It has been a very interesting experience and it feels so amazing being able to practice what I have been learning in school to help better other people’s lives. Its amazing. The reason I did not choose to get an internship at an ED (eating disorders) unit was because I had previous experience at Princeton University Medical Hospital working in the eating disorders unit (which was the most amazing experience), so I wanted to broaden my scope a bit and learn about a different population. I also currently work at Jenny Craig. When I first started working there about a year ago, I didn’t realize how good of a fit it would be for me, but over time I realized that disordered eating has a huge range of how it can affect a person. Overeating and Undereating both are huge issues in today’s society. What they both have in common is that as a “therapist” or “weight loss consultant”, you are trying to help your client obtain a new relationship with food and their body. Both have a hard time with overcoming the control food has had in their lives, and at Jenny Craig I get to help people to establish a new lifestyle towards food and themselves.
 My newest life venture, which is also the primary topic of this post is my new interest in Modeling. I am well aware the stigma of the modeling world and how that effects the media, publications, fashion, etc; and how that has affected society as a whole, especially the female population. Fashion and modeling place a great deal of emphasis towards thin women, and since that is the preference, we see it everywhere. My journey with the modeling world started last year when I auditioned for America’s Next Top Model. This is also where my idea of what type of model I wanted to be had started. During auditions I had met an awesome beautiful girl, who was tall like me, but was not the “stereotypical model”. She was lean, toned, healthy looking, and had curves to her, which most models on the catwalk are missing. As I looked around the group of females I was with, everyone was different shapes and sizes, and it was great to see we had all been in the later rounds of the competition. The girl I had described ended up finishing in the TOP 2! of that season on America’s Next Top Model, and for me that’s when it really dawned on me that the modeling world is starting to change. She did not have to fit the “mold” of a 5’10, 100lbs model, but she still succeeded. A lot of pressure and years of casting those type of models have limited to the runways to size 0s. It seems that the break of 2-4-6-8s are now making their way.
 I have done a lot of thinking about my modeling and how it would affect my career as a therapist working with people with eating disorders, knowing that the industry I am involving myself in has been used as “thinspiration” for thousands of girls who find themselves bent over the toilet because they are trying to strive for thinness. I have thought a lot about it, and realized that the model I want to become is to become a model that should be a inspiration, not a thinspiration. I want to be the model that eats healthy, not depriving herself to fit into a sample size. There is such an obsession with thinness in model world, and I want to enjoy this experience, not suffer through it. I also want to use my modeling to advocate more for ED and positive body image. Basically I want to use this opportunity to be not just a model, but a ROLE model. I know in that, I will succeed. ☺ I will try to update this blog more often with information about ED or just cool articles I think pertain. If you come across any articles feel free to share so I can post it as well. I am so excited to get restarted on this journey! Glad you can join me!

Look Better Naked

This topic is something that really struck me earlier last week when I signed up for Women's Health Newsletters. I have read Men's Health more than a couple of times, and they seem to have really good tips for nutrition, food, etc. and i figured why not look up the women's version for a change. so i did. and here is what i found

On the opening page right next to the title was "Drop 15 pounds in 6 weeks". I found it unsettling that they would have that RIGHT NEXT TO the title of the page, where everyone who comes across the page is bound to look. So after trying to ignore the sign telling me to drop 15lbs, i kept browsing the page and I see a link called "Look Better Naked". It is a eating/workout plan that is sponsored by Women's Health. Described as a "6-week fat melting breakthrough". It promises to reshape and and lose weight 3xs faster so you can “look better naked”. All of this talk about physically appearing better naked, made me realize, you never see these type of diet plans talk about FEELING better naked.

In our society there are a ridiculous amount of diet plans that sucker us in by trying to convince us that we will have a firm, tightened and toned body in 5 weeks with their special fat busting, high calorie burning, cookie a day diet workout. I myself have been suckered into these fad diets as well. Who doesn't want Kim Kardashian's ass or Pussycat Doll abs? It is a tempting and successful way of making people buy into these diet plans. But, do I ever hear these diet programs promoting mental well being in their infommericials? no. You would never hear, “feel beautiful and more confident about your body in 5 weeks” unless it was followed by “after you drop 20 pounds”. It is always about how you will feel AFTER you lose the weight that you want.

45% of American women are on a diet on any given day (Smolak, 1996). and if diets are being promoted by basically advertising "Lose weight now, feel better about yourself later", how are we gunna feel about ourselves, not just going into starting a diet, but in general? Especially for the younger girls, how are they supposed to feel if what they see on tv are these same people telling them they can be happier if they just lost 5 more pounds? The necessity to promote a health body image in today's society is crucial for not just my generation, but for the ones before me and the ones up and coming. I want to make sure to point out that I am not saying Diets are bad, for some people they can help them to maintain a HEALTHY weight/lifestyle. But, I also feel that with all these major diets becoming apart of our society and way of life, they should be not only responsible for helping people to become more fit, but also try and coach their clients into feeling better about themselves throughout the entire process. No one should have to feel shitty about their own bodies to be forced into dieting. For me, it all comes down to, If you feel better about the body you have, you will take better care of it. If you dislike your body, you will only be satisfied with drastic changes or what shows up on the scale.

to the readers, i hope next time you start a diet plan or if u are on one now, to be conscious of what i just wrote about. Being healthy should not just be defined by your BMI or your heart rate after you run a mile, but its how you feel about yourself mentally. Your body is nothing without confidence. Learn to appreciate your body for what it is, no matter what. Loving your body still does include treating it right by eating right, but also not beating yourself up because you gave into the chocolate treat that was in theh staff lounge today. Do what you can to help nourish your body properly to keep it running smoothly. Hating your body won't make itlook any better, but learning to love your body will make all the difference.


p.s. i ordered the free trial of "look better naked". im going to attempt to see if they do infact try to promote a healthy body image anywhere in their program. im hoping for the best :)

p.s.s. I found out that Weight Watchers has support groups as part of their plan which helps support positive well being