Don’t Photoshop Me!

I recently saw an article online detailing how actress Shailene Woodley told the media she doesn’t want to be photoshopped. She explained that she had seen a photo of herself in a magazine and thought, “That’s bullshit, that’s not what I really look like.” Hence, she says for the future- “I try to make a conscious effort to properly represent myself.”

Let’s face it, we live in a very superficial world. Perfection is sought after, but who really is perfect? No one is perfect. We all have little “imperfections” that make us who we are. You take away those “imperfections” with tools such as Photoshop, and we become totally different people.

Another celebrity who was recently changed drastically using Photoshop is Melissa McCarthy. The designers who created the poster for her most recent movie, “The Heat” attempted to “slim” the actress by photoshopping her until she was almost unrecognizable. I think Melissa McCarthy is beautiful just as she is, and her work as a comedic actress is phenomenal! It’s a shame that the designers felt the need to change her appearance for the poster.

After seeing all the media on the subject of photoshopping, I began to think about my own feelings towards the subject. Once, when having new headshots retouched, I asked the photographer to “fix” a tooth that was in the process of straightening out at the time. Friends of mine advised me not to, since it was one of the features that made me who I was. However, due to my own insecurities- I thought it was for the best. To this day, I don’t know if the headshots affected my career in any way. Now that I am older, I probably wouldn’t have changed my tooth if I could go back in time and redo the headshots.

If I were in a project that involved media coverage, I’m not sure how I would handle it. Being human, I can’t help but wonder if I would simply allow photographers to photoshop me. I’m sure every woman would agree that they would like to be a little slimmer, more toned, have shinier hair, have smoother skin, etc. I would like to think that I would want to (as Shailene Woodley said) “make a conscious effort to properly represent myself”.

So my question for you is- how do you handle the subject of being photoshopped. Do you agree or disagree with the act? Have you ever been faced with the dilemma of having to choose between being photoshopped or not? If so, what did you choose?