“Reduce hips,” “Remove spots,” “Fill in hair here.” I was a 21-year-old intern at a glossy magazine when I saw an A3 print of supermodel Helena Christensen with these instructions scattered around her image. Arrows helpfully linked them to her “flaws “.
It made no sense and made no sense at all. It makes no sense that here was one of the most beautiful women in the world and yet even she wasn’t considered perfect enough for public consumption. And total sense in that I had mentally struggled after buying my first magazine with how these models could be literally flawless.
It was the mid-90s and my first experience with retouching. Back then it was done by hand and only available to the 0.001% of the genetically privileged to make them look even more so.
Now we can all enhance our God-given looks so easily, be it with Instagram filters, Photoshop work on our computers and even Facetuning for the really advanced. Plus, thanks to the evolution of digital imaging, we also have the advantage of being able to take millions of pictures of ourselves from different angles in different lights until we look our absolute best. Back when it cost you £15 to get your photos developed at Boots, this wasn’t an option.
Research shows that constant exposure to idealized beauty images damages self-esteem. We (rightly) think a lot about how this affects teenagers. They think their faces are missing when they are presented all the time with beautiful people on their phones. Beautiful people who have been digitally manipulated to be more.
But it’s hard for everyone to grow old, too.
There are a bunch of celebrities who seem to be preserved in a pour. JLo, Salma Hayek, Demi Moore, Jennifer Connelly, Sandra Bullock to name a few. But how does that make us adults feel?
To quote a David Guetta song: “It’s complicated, it always is.”
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There’s a positive to seeing older women smashing it on the red carpet looking sexy and stylish. It makes us feel that once you’re 40 and over, you’re not doomed to a life of invisibility, sensible hairstyles and elastic belts.
But there’s also the frustration of not having their tight waist, wrinkle-free skin, or jutting jawline. Add in the fact that celebrities often adjust their image on social media to look even younger, and the disparity between them and us becomes even greater. Plus, they know all the tricks of posing, their best angles, and when they know they’re likely to be photographed, they often make sure they have someone on hand with a great flattering light.
This means that sometimes there’s such a difference between a celebrity photo that’s undressed and one that’s posed that the reality can make you gasp.
There’s a paparazzi photo of SJP making the rounds where she looks, well, her age. You feel sick to look, but when you do, there’s a sense of relief that A-listers aren’t immune to the ravages of time.
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Also, it’s nice to see women who look their age and are both inspiring and content.
I think of Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, Christy Turlington and Andie McDowell, the latter resplendent with gray hair.
It stands to reason that seeing realistic images of older women will boost our self-esteem. We need to be aware of which images we consume and ditch any toxic Instagram accounts.
I say let’s get real people. We’ll be happier for it.
