Australian Teen Magazine Goes Retouch-Free For An Issue

On the heels of the French Elle's no-makeup or retouching issue, Australian teen magazine Dolly is publishing an issue highlighting more natural photographs, as well. Most of the June "airbrush-free" issue's photographs are un-retouched and are labeled on the page with a "Retouch Free Zone" stamp, while pictures that were provided to the magazine and maybe be doctored don't get this recognition (i.e., press photos that Dolly didn't produce).

Of course, we're all for more reality in magazines, especially those geared toward girls. When I was voraciously devouring teen and women's magazines back in the day, I had absolutely no idea that retouching even existed, and I thought I was the only person in the world who had visible pores on my face. But while it's great that this issue is happening (and will likely be repeated due to the response its getting, according to Dolly editor in chief Gemma Crisp), there might be some unfortunate effects.

If magazines know they won't be retouching any photographs for an issue, will they be start choosing celebrities and models who have perfect skin and nice bodies to begin with? As a hypothetical example, would a magazine exclude America Ferrera from its pages because they knew she has dark arm hair that would make a photograph less beautiful, and decide to include a more photo-ready star from the get-go? And then if no magazines would put certain stars on their covers because of apparent flaws, perhaps they wouldn't get cast in movies because directors would know that they would have trouble promoting the films without the support of magazines. This fallout would likely never happen, but it could. The problem with airbrushing isn't the airbrushing itself, but the enormous changes that are made, especially to people's figures.

While celebrating natural beauty is certainly commendable, avoiding the creation of unrealistic expectations should be the real goal. Magazines should strive to feature women who aren't "perfect" Stepford starlets to begin with, whether they've been airbrushed or not. Really, who wants to see only flawless women in pop culture? The quirkier ones are always our favorites. [Dolly, Today (Australia), Girl With A Satchel]

-- Posted by Catherine Strawn at The Frisky

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