So, while wasting time online (as I am wont to do) I came across this article: http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/were-the-quot-real-quot-women-dove-ads-airbrushed-the-air-brusher-says-yes-dove-says-no-168010;_ylt=AsNkyPCmPW4gyok5goCYUqNpbqU5
Basically, a little piece about how those lovely ladies in the Dove "Real Women" Ads--you know the one, the "Hey, it's ok you aren't super-thin or have perfect proportions or are in the magic 18-21 age range of media-epitomized female beauty! You're still hot!" were, in fact, retouched. Dove says they weren't. The cat who does all the retouching says they were.
I personally don't know just how to feel about this.
On the one hand, the ads meaning meant the same thing. Of course they were airbrushed, because EVERYBODY in magazines and (although perhaps to a lesser extent) telly are airbrushed. It'd look funny, if not disproportionately grotesque, next to all the perfect, retouched people. Yet, these women still looked realistic. Dove was telling us--and it's sad that we need telling--that if you're healthy and happy, you'll look good. Hell, there's always going to be SOMEONE out there who thinks you're drop-dead gorge, and someone who thinks you're a heinous abomination. And there's a load of other people who don't feel anything towards you, and would like you to leave them alone so they can go back to cooking eggs.
On the other hand--if it ISN'T a big deal, why was Dove so grouchily adamant that the Very Famous Retoucher was a Very Famous Fibber? Do they actually believe that by admitting that, say, they may have smoothed the cellulite from one chickie's hips, that they truly believe that women AREN'T good enough, just the way they are? Is this just another way that our culture likes to undermine women, because undermining people is by and large our national pastime?
I don't know. I don't think so. I am someone who has been blessed with very good skin, but I am also someone who has (among many, many other, non-physical flaws) cellulite on that part of me that turns from "leg" to "butt". I have a lot of moles. I have, because of my serious love affair with carbs and despite my continual efforts to battle it with exercise, back fat and a "beer baby". My arms and hands are much more tan than my face and neck, because I won't shell out the kind of money on body sunblock that I will on face sunblock. There are a lot of things about myself that I would retouch if I were clever enough (or not too cheap to buy a copy of Photoshop) to. But I haven't.
I don't think that any of the other bloggers I have followed in the past or follow now, the women I admire, the lovely, gutsy, fashionable chicks, are any less lovely, gutsy, and fashionable because they do or do not retouch the photos they choose to share with the world. I do not argue with their reasons for wanting to or not wanting to. They're still lovely. I'm sure they are in person even more lovely. Just as I'm sure all the women from the Dove ads and television stars and celebrities are still quite lovely in person*, they're just much more "real" looking.
I think that most women know--although it's incredibly hard to change that little bitchy voice in your head that tells you otherwise--that the women we see in magazines and on telly and in movies are fairytales. We know that there has been alterations to make them look so fab--whether or not it's Drag-grade cosmetics, digital retouching, incredibly flattering lighting done by someone who's only job is to create incredibly flattering lighting, or any of the other myriad tricks that people who work with film have been using since film has existed to make women (and men, I notice you gentlemen have some rather unrealistic images of you out there as well) look impossibly perfect.
That doesn't change the constant pressure all women (and men) feel at some point to fit into a mold of perfection. But I do think most people deserve a little more credit than they get from advertisers for noticing what is realistic and what isn't. And those Dove gals--they're realistic enough for me.
*I have met three famous people in person, although one wasn't exactly famous and one wasn't exactly a meeting. I shook hands with Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was governor of California. On that same school trip, Adam Sandler was in the capitol for the first day of Hanukkah (I don't know, I guess it's a Thing at the capitol building) and he waved at my tour group, who didn't think it was actually him until he waved, and Dexter from Criss Angel's Mindfreak (he was a FX guy who blew stuff up) and his wife used to come into the Quiznos that I used to work at from time to time. None of them look how they do on film. Mr. Schwarzenegger is shorter than I am...
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
J'ai voudrais...et mon chat
I am, as I'm sure many are, a bit of a shopaholic. Not to the degree where I am in debt and buying super expensive things, but I love little more than buying pretties.
However, I am in a position at the moment where I have things I *must* buy. I have a few bills--fortunately, as my mother is kind enough to let me live with her while I work my way through my BA degree--to pay, and about 10 MORE books to buy for school (I already have bought five, it's the pains of being an English Lit major. The books needed are modestly priced, but there's a million of them) as well as whatever I can for tuition (it's gone up AGAIN) and the little bits, like notebooks and parking passes.
Also-just this weekend, my cat got into ANOTHER fight, and developed an abscess on his jaw. He has been to the vet, who gave me instructions to keep draining it and feeding him some antibiotics. So...not as expensive as it could have been, but still not so cheap.
But I have been putting together a "lust list" of things I've been looking at online that I will, most likely, not buy for some time. Or even at all.
On my list are:
However, I am in a position at the moment where I have things I *must* buy. I have a few bills--fortunately, as my mother is kind enough to let me live with her while I work my way through my BA degree--to pay, and about 10 MORE books to buy for school (I already have bought five, it's the pains of being an English Lit major. The books needed are modestly priced, but there's a million of them) as well as whatever I can for tuition (it's gone up AGAIN) and the little bits, like notebooks and parking passes.
Also-just this weekend, my cat got into ANOTHER fight, and developed an abscess on his jaw. He has been to the vet, who gave me instructions to keep draining it and feeding him some antibiotics. So...not as expensive as it could have been, but still not so cheap.
But I have been putting together a "lust list" of things I've been looking at online that I will, most likely, not buy for some time. Or even at all.
On my list are:
- circle lenses, in green. I wear regular contacts anyway, almost daily. However, I like the idea of circle lenses. I have naturally green-blue eyes, and I thought these would be fun for going out.
- False eyelashes. I will actually buy more of these at some point. I like them for days when I want to look extra fancy, which for me can be any day I don't plan on hitting the gym :)
- Tights! Glorious, colorful tights! I have, through the blogs of other fashionable young things, developed a serious crush on We Love Colors tights. It won't be remotely cool enough for me to wear them for some time now (it'll be around Halloween when it cools down enough) but I want them--they even have my favorite color, lilac!
- A skully cameo. They have them all over the place, and I've found one that I quite like at Plasticland.com. They're sweet, without being too girly.
- On that same note, I'd like more summer-appropriate pink clothes. Somehow, the bulk of my summerwear is black and/or black prints...I'd like more color in my wardrobe. Or blue--blue clothes would be ok too. I just own *so* much black...
Thursday, July 14, 2011
L'ecole
I am having panic attacks about school.
Not because I can't do well.
Because I have become widely unliked by other undergraduates in my major. I have, because of my friendship with two other students last semester, gained a reputation ass being stuck-up and being a puke-y kiss up.
These things shouldn't matter to me, but they really do. Between that and the new higher cost of tuition--and with me being claimed as a dependent of my stepdad's, I am not eligible for financial aid until next year, never mind that he does not help me out with school at all--I am feeling sick over something I absolutely love. I know that's a character flaw on other students, not my own. And to be honest, I was a little uncomfortable being friends with said couple anyway. They are, to be totally honest, brutally stuck-up. Being someone with a perpetual feeling of inferiority, that's foreign to me, and frankly I felt kind of "safe" as their friend, simply because they couldn't talk shit on me when I was with them (and talk shit they certainly did, I'm sure of it.) I don't like this kind of shit, I thought the whole clique thing would be behind me--or at least just at work. It's silly to ever think that, but still.
That's all for this little red chickie today.
Cheers
Not because I can't do well.
Because I have become widely unliked by other undergraduates in my major. I have, because of my friendship with two other students last semester, gained a reputation ass being stuck-up and being a puke-y kiss up.
These things shouldn't matter to me, but they really do. Between that and the new higher cost of tuition--and with me being claimed as a dependent of my stepdad's, I am not eligible for financial aid until next year, never mind that he does not help me out with school at all--I am feeling sick over something I absolutely love. I know that's a character flaw on other students, not my own. And to be honest, I was a little uncomfortable being friends with said couple anyway. They are, to be totally honest, brutally stuck-up. Being someone with a perpetual feeling of inferiority, that's foreign to me, and frankly I felt kind of "safe" as their friend, simply because they couldn't talk shit on me when I was with them (and talk shit they certainly did, I'm sure of it.) I don't like this kind of shit, I thought the whole clique thing would be behind me--or at least just at work. It's silly to ever think that, but still.
That's all for this little red chickie today.
Cheers
Monday, July 11, 2011
Le Post Premiere
So, I figured (although I have no followers to speak of) it would probably be less creepy to those who I *am* following if I were to actually post something on here.
My name is Amelia. I sometimes go by Mia (and The MiaMonster to select friends) and spend far too much time on the internet. Aside from slaving away at my menial job at a mass discount retailer--that may or may have a bullseye for a logo and a bull terrier for a mascot-- I go to school full time. I'd like to get a gig editing textbooks, or any other such thing where I can be surrounded by text and be left more or less to myself. Working retail for five years, and fast food prior to that, really takes away one's desire to work directly with the public.
I live in California, but not the cool part you're thinking of. That said, in my region, I do live in the coolest city :).
As for why I have this blog--I created it with rather specific hopes of being one of the million fashion bloggers out there. I am, however, generally intimidated by the scope of fashion blogs already in existence and--perhaps more importantly--my place as a plus-sized individual in a skinny-girl world.
I am a dress size 12 in US sizing (5'6" tall and 155 lbs), which translates to "TOO DAMN FAT" in Japanese sizing. I do, however, love certain Japanese fashions (Lolita and, increasingly, Himegyaru, thanks to the adorable and talented Mana Starre http://starreprincess.blogspot.com/) and the retro-y goodness of vintage and rockabilly fashion. The latter I have been rocking on and off since high school, the former two I have very limited experience with.
I have a deep love for film, books, and music, although actually sitting down and posting all titles/genres that I like is a waste of time for me and for you :)
Cheers, lovelies <3
My name is Amelia. I sometimes go by Mia (and The MiaMonster to select friends) and spend far too much time on the internet. Aside from slaving away at my menial job at a mass discount retailer--that may or may have a bullseye for a logo and a bull terrier for a mascot-- I go to school full time. I'd like to get a gig editing textbooks, or any other such thing where I can be surrounded by text and be left more or less to myself. Working retail for five years, and fast food prior to that, really takes away one's desire to work directly with the public.
I live in California, but not the cool part you're thinking of. That said, in my region, I do live in the coolest city :).
As for why I have this blog--I created it with rather specific hopes of being one of the million fashion bloggers out there. I am, however, generally intimidated by the scope of fashion blogs already in existence and--perhaps more importantly--my place as a plus-sized individual in a skinny-girl world.
I am a dress size 12 in US sizing (5'6" tall and 155 lbs), which translates to "TOO DAMN FAT" in Japanese sizing. I do, however, love certain Japanese fashions (Lolita and, increasingly, Himegyaru, thanks to the adorable and talented Mana Starre http://starreprincess.blogspot.com/) and the retro-y goodness of vintage and rockabilly fashion. The latter I have been rocking on and off since high school, the former two I have very limited experience with.
I have a deep love for film, books, and music, although actually sitting down and posting all titles/genres that I like is a waste of time for me and for you :)
Cheers, lovelies <3
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