Fabricating Beauty--It's More Than Just Retouching

I attended a Dove self-esteem workshop for teens last night featuring the amazing Jess Weiner and Courtney Martin. They showed this video, which was developed by the UK eating disorders organization, beat. What I love about it (besides the cute British boy who gets a goth makeover) is that it addresses the many different ways fashion and beauty images are manipulated. Of course retouching is in the mix, but they also break down other tricks of the trade. Watch for a model's clothes being pinned and lighting changes that produce entirely different effects.

Retoucher Pascal Dangin Clarifies His Relationship With Dove

Yesterday Claire wrote about the New Yorker profile of Pascal Dangin, in which he is quoted as saying he worked on the Dove ads that feature women in their underwear. In fact, Dangin was not hired by Dove, but by Annie Leibovitz--the photographer who shot the photos of women in the Dove ProAge campaign.

"The 'real women' ad referenced in recent media coverage was created and produced entirely by Ogilvy, the Dove brand’s advertising agency, from start to finish and the women’s bodies were not digitally altered," according to a statement released by Dove today.

"Let's be perfectly clear - Pascal does all kinds of work - but he is primarily a printer - and only does retouching when asked to. The idea for Dove was very clear at the beginning. There was to be NO retouching and there was not," Leibovitz said in the statement.

Mr. Dangin responded, “The recent article published by The New Yorker incorrectly implies that I retouched the images in connection with the Dove 'real women' ad. I only worked on the Dove ProAge campaign taken by Annie Leibovitz and was directed only to remove dust and do color correction – both the integrity of the photographs and the women’s natural beauty were maintained.”

Submit Your Questions for Jess Weiner, "The Queen of Self-Esteem"

We are thrilled to be interviewing body image expert Jess Weiner for a special podcast to celebrate BlogHer's new Letter to My Body Campaign.

Jess is the bestselling author of A Very Hungry Girl and Life Doesn't Begin 5 Pounds from Now. She is also the Global Ambassador for the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. Do you have a question for Jess? Post it here by Thursday 5 p.m. ET and we'll do our best to include it in our interview!

Aisha Tyler Gets Real About Retouching, Body Insecurities, and Feeling "Giant"

Aisha Tyler already has major cred for her turn as the host of Talk Soup (paving the way for the comic genius of Joel McHale). She earned even more cool points last week when she showed up at the The Young Women's Leadership School to take part in a workshop sponsored by the Dove Self-Esteem Fund and Step Up Women's Network.

Aisha started off by telling the group of seventh grade girls that she has her own share of insecurities, especially when it comes to her height. "Sometimes I feel like a giant next to my friends," she said. She also passed around some of her photos (including the before/after pics that appeared in her "I Don't Want to Be Perfect" Glamour article) and talked about how unsettling it is when she sees herself retouched to a point where sometimes she barely recognizes herself. Then she left the room armed with a tub of Handi Wipes and returned sans makeup.

The workshop aimed to give girls a reality check on the Hollywood illusion treatment. By the end of the two-hour discussion, that goal seemed to have been well accomplished. One girl spoke up to say that her favorite episode of Friends was when Aisha's character went on a tropical vacation with Joey. "That was filmed on a set, you know. We weren't at the beach," Aisha replied. "Really? You weren't on vacation?" A few girls seemed genuinely surprised. Her final answer summed it all up quite nicely: "No, that wasn't real."

Dove Reality Diaries Live Chat: Tonight at 8:00 ET

Sydney, Chelsea, Jordyn, and Irene are real girls with real issues. It's not easy to open up while the world is watching, and that's why these four teens have completely won me over with their willingness to talk candidly about everything from body image struggles and racial stereotypes to family drama and boy trouble. Over the last six weeks, they have been recording video diaries, keeping blogs, and participating in self-esteem boosting activities with the help of our friend Jess Weiner. Tonight Jess and the girls will be hosting a live chat at 8 p.m. ET. Know a teen girl who needs some inspiration and encouragement? This would be a good place to send her.

New Brain Research on Anorexia Lets Models Off the Hook. Um, Not So Fast

Walter Kaye has conducted some very interesting research, which reveals that the brain patterns of anorexics are different than those of healthy women. “This means they react and think in different ways to the ordinary person and that they are more likely to go on to develop anorexia regardless of whether they have been exposed to images of super-thin models,” Dr. Kaye said. Wow, is the British press having a field day with that statement:

"Anorexia 'cannot be picked up by looking at photographs of super-thin models'" [Times]

"Stick-thin models such as Kate Moss do not encourage young women to become anorexic, say scientists." [Daily Mail]

"Anorexia not models' fault" [The Sun]

Okay, villagers. Put down your torches. The models are innocent! The gist here is that people don't look at pictures of models and immediately spiral into severe eating disorders. Did anyone really believe it was that simple anyway? But let's not excuse the media and the fashion industry from the table so quickly. Even if they're not solely responsible for girls and women developing full-blown anorexia, they certainly play a role in the even bigger epidemics of disordered eating, drastic dieting, and poor body image.

I recently met four intelligent, articulate high school students who are participating in the Dove Reality Diaries. With zero hesitation, all four of them said they would sign up for plastic surgery (from liposuction to nose jobs) in a heartbeat if given the opportunity. Now try and convince me that all those media images of thinness and perfection don't have a dangerous impact.

Do You Think I'm Fat?

This PSA was produced by the National Eating Disorders Association:



There are some striking similarities between this spot and the much-discussed Dove "Onslaught" campaign. For the record, we love both. But given the recent criticism of Dove (thanks to Kelly at Strollerderby for the link), we do think it's important to make the distinction between advertising and a public service announcement. So let's be clear. The message above has absolutely no affiliation with any global corporation responsible for online games like "Is Your Shower Hottie Ready?"

Dove Launches "Reality Diaries" Series

As part of its Self-Esteem Fund, Dove has just released Reality Diaries, a six-week web series following four teen girls:

Sydney has a mom whose idea of bonding is a trip to the plastic surgeon's office for a mother/daughter neck lift and nose job.

Chelsea is a pageant girl who doesn't know much about herself except that she never feels pretty enough or thin enough.

Jordyn dates players, including one guy who told her he only likes girls with dark hair. So she dyed hers. She says she's always wearing a mask when she interacts with other people.

Irene is the only Asian girl in her school and she's starting to wake up to the fact that the "cute" names her classmates call her ("China," "Spicy Asian Won Ton") are actually pretty racist.

Reality television has long been built on the issues of young women with low self-esteem. From The Bachelor and The Real World to Rock of Love and The Hills, Americans are used to seeing weepy girls self-destruct and make terrible choices in front of the camera. The difference here is that the goal of Reality Diaries is to stop the girls from self-destructing and to give viewers (who will sadly but surely relate to these girls) the tools to get their self-esteem in check, too. Watch it and tell us what you think.

Related: Dove "Onslaught" Campaign

Dove "Onslaught" Campaign

Half of girls in grades 3-5 worry about their appearance. Here are several hundred reasons why: