While Photoshop is a useful tool, when it comes to Hollywood and the media, it can also prove to be a harmful weapon. First of all, it creates unrealistic beauty standards, which can lead people to experience body image issues. Also, it creates the idea that people don’t have one single imperfection when, in reality, this is false. This is why it’s so important that famous people speak out against the use of extreme Photoshop.
Back in 2013, the megastar talked publicly against her magazine cover, which had been severely Photoshopped. “I felt my skin looked too perfect. I felt my hair looked too soft. I do not look like this when I wake up in the morning. I don’t even look like this.”
She also added that the younger generation needs to fight against those who make us feel like we’re not beautiful. Even Karl Lagerfeld agreed with Gaga, saying, “We are easily in a period of over-retouching. Some models end up looking as if they are coming out of a funeral parlor, all life taken out of the face, I hate that.”
In 2015, the singer talked to Vanity Fair about her body issues and how she managed to love every inch of her body. “A lot of times I get frustrated because people will, without my consent, Photoshop my body, and it doesn’t look like my own body [anymore.] Like, no, no, no, my thighs are bigger than that, can you put them back to the way they were?”
She also shared, “I learned after working very hard on my spirituality and my soul and my body, I learned that you can get to a place where you can love the skin you’re in, and I’m excited to share that with the world.”
The young actress isn’t afraid to speak her mind and call people out when she feels that she needs to. Back in 2015, she noticed that her photos from a magazine shoot had been manipulated.
“Had a new shoot come out today and was shocked when I found my 19-year-old hips and torso quite manipulated. These are the things that make women self-conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have. Anyone who knows who I am knows I stand for honest and pure self-love.”
The famous model and actress was displeased when a magazine Photoshopped parts of her body. She decided to speak publicly about it and make sure the world knew that this wasn’t her real body.
“Everyone is uniquely beautiful in their own ways. We all have insecurities about the things that make us different from a typical ideal of beauty. I, like so many of us, try every day to work past those insecurities. I was extremely disappointed to see my lips and breasts altered in Photoshop on this cover.”
While shooting her successful show, Mare of Easttown, the actress asked that no filters or digital manipulation be added to her character’s body. “I guess that’s why people have connected with this character in the way that they have done because there are clearly no filters. She’s a fully functioning, flawed woman with a body and a face that moves in a way that is synonymous with her age and her life, and where she comes from.”
Both stars from Pretty Little Liars were disappointed when a new poster for their show was released. Benson said, “Saw this floating around. I hope it’s not the poster. Our faces in this were from 4 years ago, and we all look ridiculous. Way too much Photoshop. We all have flaws. No one looks like this. It’s not attractive.”
Her co-star, Troian Bellisario, backed her up by saying, “Wow, I couldn’t agree more. Very cool concept as always. But aren’t we attractive enough women as we are? Why can’t we just look like us?”
The actress is known as one of the most outspoken people in Hollywood when it comes to unhealthy beauty standards. Apart from the fact that many magazines have often made her look thinner, they have also made her look more Caucasian. “People have made me look white in so many of the magazines and campaigns I’ve shot for. That hurts me. That hurts me from a cultural point of view.”
“People change my nose to make it look like a little Caucasian nose, and they’ve changed the color of my skin to make it lighter, to make me look more acceptable perhaps to a Caucasian audience.”
Both actresses were featured in the Filipino Cosmopolitan and noticed that their waists were much thinner than in reality. That’s why Reinhart decided to share both their real and Photoshopped pictures.
“Camila and I have worked incredibly hard to feel confident and comfortable in the bodies that we have. So we cannot stop fighting. Our battle has only just begun. We are powerful, beautiful, and strong. We aren’t going to hide behind Photoshop to conform to beauty standards.”
When the singer’s music video for the song “Me Too” was released, she noticed that her body had been slimmed down a lot. That’s when she decided to take it down and ask the editors to use her real body.
“Take this video down. I don’t care what it takes. Take it down. I was skinnier than those dancers, who are also very skinny, so when you do that, everyone knows that ain’t real.”
When the actress saw her cover on Grazia UK, she was disappointed at how much her hair had been removed and smoothed out. Basically, the back portion of her hair was completely removed, and the top was severely smoothed out. “There is still a very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black women’s complexion, hairstyle, and texture.”
While the actress is okay with the concept of adding filters to her pictures, she didn’t feel good when a magazine airbrushed her face way too much. “It felt strange to look at a picture of myself that is so different from what I look like when I look in the mirror. It’s an unfortunate feeling.”
An Instagram user agreed with her and said, “Well I thought it was Kerry Washington, but it was Photoshopped so bad that I don’t know who that woman on the cover actually is.”
In the case of the famous tennis player, he didn’t have his waist made thinner, but he did have his arm muscles enlarged. On the cover of Men’s Fitness, the athlete looked a lot different than what he looks like on the court.
“Little did I know I have 22-inch guns and a disappearing birthmark on my right arm. I saw the cover for the first time when I landed in Rome. It was pretty funny. Maybe Rafael Nadal wants his arms back!”
It's truly awesome that these people took a stand against this behavior, drew attention to it, and made them change it to their original forms. I admire their strength and courage to make this effort and wish them continued success in all of the things that they choose to do.
