Real or Retouched? Distorted Perceptions of Beauty

I’ve written before about the impact of digital retouching on our perceptions of what is real and what is beautiful.  Fortunately, youth are becoming savvier about how fake some of the images are in the media they consume. Yet I think we all underestimate the degree of re-touching and how much of it actually goes unnoticed. 

When I talk to teen girls about this,  they are aware that Photoshop can be used to change eye colour, darken or lighten skin tones, and hide blemishes.  However, this doesn’t stop them from comparing themselves to models in magazines, feeling inferior, and saving up for their own hair extensions, spray tans and make up that holds the promise of a flawless complexion.  Girls don't always see that in addition to the faux tan there is an altered bone structure, impossible thinness or a compilation of features from more than one model. 

When the illusion is not recognized, these images simply seem aspirational … they prompt girls and women to work a little harder to achieve a new standard of beauty. A standard where the bar rises more and more out of reach each year. 

When the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty first launched the Evolution video that I wrote about here,  it sparked a global conversation (and several million youtube hits) that still continues today.  Six years later, I am using this resource with a new generation of young girls to help them understand the resources and artifice that go into creating this illusion of beauty.  

But, despite increased attention being paid to the use of retouching in marketing photos, the effects are still being felt. The Real Truth About Beauty Research conducted by Dove found that only 9% of Canadian girls and 3% of women are comfortable calling themselves beautiful.

According to Sharon MacLeod, V.P. of Marketing, Dove has made a commitment not to distort any of their images to create an unrealistic or unattainable view of beauty.  They make a genuine attempt to demonstrate that beauty comes in many shapes, sizes, colours and ages.

I don’t expect companies to stop wanting to sell their products so I have always appreciated Dove’s approach.  They don’t seek to convince women or girls to feel badly about themselves in order to be motivated to buy their products. I've been sent examples of other companies that have taken the lead from Dove and have made similar marketing changes – I think this is fabulous and shows the power of consumer advocacy. 

Today Dove launched a new creative campaign that demonstrates how extreme retouching can go virtually unnoticed… even by those of us who are shrewdly aware of it’s widespread use.

The photo at the top of this page shows an upside-down image of a normal looking woman. It is accompanied by upside down text to entice readers to turn the photo around. This works better in print, so I will save you the trouble of tilting your laptop or standing on your heard... you can see the flipped picture to the right.  When the photo is flipped, we can see that the woman's appearance is actually extremely distorted, with both her lips and eyes upside down. The accompanying text reads "Does retouching distort your perception of reality?"

When I first looked at the original photo, I really did not know that it was retouched; but after viewing it upside down… I wonder how I could not have seen that.  This makes it very apparent how impressionable girls and young women may not be aware of the majority of photo retouching that they view.

The new ad campaign launched in this morning’s edition of Toronto’s Metro and is available through an interactive and shareable application at www.facebook.com/dove  Visit to see more examples of extreme photo re-touching and tell Dove what you think and then continue the conversation at home.

Talk to your children about how photo re-touching distorts their perception of reality and how comparing themselves to something that isn’t real will always leave them feeling they are not good enough. Here are some tips to keep the conversation going:

• Get outside to a local music festival or sports event and do some people watching together.  Take in the very real and very diverse beauty that surrounds us every day and notice how different this is to what girls are being told is beautiful. Challenge these notions.
• During your daily life, make a point of admiring people of a wide range of physical appearances – admire them for their natural beauty and admire them for their efforts, talents and personality traits. 
• Look at old family photo albums together and appreciate the beauty of past generations. Talk about how ideas of attractiveness change over time. Notice how inherited genetic traits get passed down from our ancestors and express gratitude that we can't Photoshop away this special gift of memory and history.

Media Literacy at Home

Media is everywhere... it is almost the air our children breathe.  Most parents assume their kids know more about media then they do. The term 'media literacy' refers to the full range of knowledge and skills children need in order to access, analyze, communicate and create within the media milieu that makes up a significant portion of their world. If our children could only read but they couldn't write or they could not understand what they read or how a story was constructed - we would not consider them literate.   

Media literacy includes skills in using media, understanding how images and stories are constructed and a critical understanding of how media is controlled and which stories are told.  There are plenty of good websites with a comprehensive overview of how to help our kids build these skills.  I'm just going to talk about a few simple ways that parents can bring media literacy into every day conversations.

Talking with children about what they are viewing and commenting on story lines, stereotypical images and harmful messages has shown to be an effective way that parents can engage in media literacy.  Even the American Psychological Association recommends that parents and other family members "help girls interpret sexualizing cultural messages in ways that mitigate or prevent harm."  Your older teen might not appreciate your comment on every negative or unhealthy message in her favorite show but she might be willing to discuss the overall theme in a story line and how it makes her feel.  

With younger kids, make a game out of being advertising investigators:

• Count how many ads you see in an hour of television viewing with your family, including product placements in the show itself.  Discuss together how product placement and commercials might actually affect which story lines are being told.
• Notice which ads are directed at boys and which ones are directed at girls. Ask your kids how they know. What are the cues? Ask them what would happend if they were interested in the toy being advertised to the "other" gender.
• Ask your kids if the boys and girls in commercials, movies or TV shows dress and act like real kids they know.  

You and your teen may want to comb through a fashion magazine and count the ads. How many pages of ads are there versus actual articles or fashion spreads?  Explain that the real profit to the magazine company doesn't come from sales of magazines but of sales for advertising space.  Teach her to notice how the articles often reflect the items being advertised.  Play investigator again and challenge her to find the ad that "goes with" the article.   Is there a diet ad that follows the article on swimsuits?  What about the ad for a headache medication right after the article on managing migraines?   Wonder aloud if magazines intend to make women and girls feel unattractive or not good enough the way they are.  Discuss with your daughter who actually profits from girls feeling badly about themselves and always feeling driven to pursue the latest diet or beauty product.

To begin talking with girls about the unrealistic images in advertising... the Evolution video is a great place to start.  Since it was first launched by the Dove Self-Esteem Fund over five years ago,  most adults have seen this but we have a whole new generation of young girls who can benefit.  My own daughter references this video when she wants to make a point about how fake advertising can be.

A creative guy named Jesse Rosten went viral a couple of weeks ago with his humorous look at how photo shopping is the new beauty regimen.  This one is appropirate for sharing with older teens and a great jumping off point for a conversation about unrealistic beauty expectations and how advertising distorts our perceptions. Check it out here:  Fotoshop by Adobe