Photoshop Beauty

October 19, 2011 by MJ Sunderland
Published in Women

In 1972, the Marxist art critic John Berger produced a TV series and book entitled Ways of Seeing. Among many important themes, these examined the portrayal of women in Western culture. Berger argued that women are continually depicted as being ‘aware of being seen by a male spectator’. In these representations, as Berger memorably put it, ‘Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at’. Applying Berger’s thesis to the advertising industry, it could be argued that when women look at adverts for fashion and beauty products, they are encouraged to see themselves as men see them. These adverts seem to imply a male point of view, even when the intended viewer is a woman.

The cosmetics industry uses these modes of representation to pressure women into deriving their self-worth from becoming objects of desire. This has intensified in the digital era. It is now possible to airbrush photographs to create an image of physical perfection that is not possible in reality. In the example below every blemish has been erased – moles, freckles, the shine on the model’s forehead.

The UK cosmetics company Rimmel recently launched a campaign featuring the actress Zooey Deschanel. This has attracted controversy because Deschanel’s image has been digitally altered:

 Her iris and pupil have been enlarged.

 Her nose has been re-shaped.

 Her lips have been made fuller.

 Her cupids bow has been widened.

 Her eyebrows have been re-shaped.

 All pores/wrinkles have been removed.

Now, I would have said that if anyone is beautiful enough not to need airbrushing, it’s Zooey Deschanel!

The image below is part of a Playboy centrefold, in which the editors have written criticisms on the image. Such photos are then airbrushed. Again, this creates unrealistic expectations; it establishes a standard of beauty that cannot be achieved in reality. Returning to Berger’s assertation that ‘Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at,’ this is a chilling demonstration of how men often see women.

The obverse side of this is gossip magazines that seek out photos of celebrities and expose their ‘faults’. These imperfections are then attacked in the manner of a witch-hunt. Overall, this creates a culture in which skin-deep beauty is prized and natural imperfections are excoriated. This generates feelings of inadequacy that encourage women to buy cosmetic products in order to feel better about themselves.

There is a Maybelline advert in which a whispered voice-over states that their product makes a woman’s face look ‘like it’s been airbrushed.’ I think this is very telling: it used to be that women aspired to look like supermodels; now they aspire to look like supermodels whose images have been airbrushed. By using a whispered voice-over, the ad suggests that other women may be gossiping about you, thereby encouraging the viewer to consume cosmetic products in order to boost their self-esteem. The danger is that we are creating a standard of beauty that no one can really aspire to without taking drastic measures like cosmetic surgery. Indeed, it is now possible to alter one’s appearance through cosmetic surgery. This is a controversial issue, since people are changing their bodies and faces in order to conform to an ideal established by the media.

Fortunately, this approach has been criticised in some circles. In response, Dove launched a campaign called Real Beauty. It featured real women as the models and displayed all the supposed imperfections of their bodies: tattoos, cellulite, flab etc. This can be seen as a much more responsible campaign because it acknowledges that no one is perfect, rather than trying to generate feelings of inadequacy to make people consume products.