It’s a weird, wacky world when women’s bodies are being Photoshopped so they appear to have two forearms in place of a pair of thighs.
Take this new picture from Victoria’s Secret. It sure doesn’t resemble the thighs of any woman we know. Wait! Barbie! Barbie has thighs like that!
Is that who we’re aspiring to be now? Barbie?
The Victoria’s Secret art department have had a big bowl of Photoshop crack and they’ve completely carved out the inner section of this model’s legs – so that it looks like something from the pages of a Mattel catalogue.
Memo to fashion people: it’s now been established officially that women are more likely to buy clothes when they appear on real bodies (you can read all about that here). Well, duh.
Kardashian Kollection. Hmmm...
Do you find this image attractive? Would it make you want to buy underwear? Do you think we’ll ever see the fashion industry change its standards of what is considered ‘beautiful?
Comments
116 Comments so far
The image was likely shopped because the girls legs wern’t showing in the first place… Not because they wern’t smoking hot.
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Had a good time chuckling at the photos. Even untrained eyes can see the difference between what’s photoshop or not in these photos. I chuckled at all the extra limbs and armpits lol.
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jessica alba still looks beautiful without photoshop. geez magazine editors.
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Hello Pat,See what blurry vision does for you? I am so sorry for misken your guest blogger for you!Hope you are felling better! blue
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Photo shopped, not photo shopped, skinny, average or over weight…I don’t care! Its up to me to have a healthy and realistic relationship with myself about my body.
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I have a gap between my legs and there is nothing wrong with my hips other than that they are wide and womanly! When you bend slightly forward and stick your bum out like this model is doing, the space between the legs gets even bigger. If you train squats, lunges and lower your body fat, plus have the right bone structure in this area, a gap like this is possible AND normal. I know. I have it. This is completely normal! So much ignorance. Please don’t make women who work out, have lower body fat but have wide hips feel like they are not ‘normal’!
http://thefitandhappylife.blogspot.com.au/
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And my body is real! And i work hard for it! In fact I am going to go work out now before I eat some of the super healthy food I just cooked from scratch from fresh produce! Tim Tams? i may have one or two on Saturday! Haters gonna hate. This is true!!!
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Why do pictures like this start the Fat vs Skinny wars? The point here is that her legs were photoshopped to have a gap between her thighs that was not there. Judging by the rest of her, she looks like she would have a killer pair of pins ANYWAY so it begs the question why VS would feel the need to make the gap? My aunt has always had a gap between her legs, sometimes so big you could roll a barrel between her legs.
I on the other hand have never ever had a gap between my thighs as my hips are narrow and my legs are close together. I have really lovely legs (not bragging, just saying) and no matter how big I have gotten, they have always been lean and toned and nice. That is just me and that is luck, or not luck depending on your opinion.
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It’s one thing for WOMEN to be (understandably) annoyed at unrealistic portrayal but I see a lot of GIRLS who are yet to understand the ‘powers’ of Photoshop etc and are on diets or shopping for push-up bras in primary school.
We can’t just blame the media for this mess as we take a magazine to the checkout or download the irresponsible ad/clip/article.
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For all those women who find it hard to believe that there are models out there with bodies like this ^^^ grab a glass of wine and watch a Victoria’s Secret catwalk fashion parade.
They are lingerie models for a reason…..they are every man’s fantasy and every average looking woman’s worst nightmare.
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Not my husband’s fantasy. He just complains about how thin and gross they all are.
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Well that’s great, whatever happened to everyone being beautiful in their own skin? I’m not as toned or tall as the VS models but I do have the same body shape. Your husband thinking they’re thin and gross is the very problem with body image in society today. If a guy (or girl) was to look at a plus size model and say they’re fat and gross, there would be a massive uproar.
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The point is they are not every mans fantasy. Quite the opposite. Research has shown most men find the waif model look very unappealing. You don’t see the waif in a men’s magazine, only in Women’s magazines.
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I beg to differ that they are every mans fantasy! Not all men like starved looking stick insects with no feminine shape. I will never get why they use shapeless bodies in modeling. It not only looks unrealistic to most of us, they look like overgrown boys with too much makeup and hairspray!
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You skinny girls are so uptight! Relax and have a tim tam
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I could argue the same in reverse – relax and have a lettuce leaf
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I can’t tell what has been fixed in the LV photo…been staring at it for a while but still can’t work it out!
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Haters gonna hate.
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That is very unattractive.
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They’re called supermodels for a reason.
Bitches be jealous.
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At the lower end of your legs this is called “bow leg”. Not a beauty asset!!
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Isnt this like being “bow leg”. It was an abnormality right?
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Struggled with an eating disorder for years, I can say that it was never pictures like this that caused it, it was something swirling inside of me that purging and vomiting seemed to ease. The fact I was a bag of bones was never because I wanted to look like this. Therefore, I don’t care for images like this in magazines.
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She looks great.
I’m tired of people trying to celebrate unhealthy fat women.
Yes, Alot of women look like that because they don’t eat healthily and exercise frequently.
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But she doesn’t actually look like this! That’s photoshop
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I have friends that look like that. She’s not a freak.
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No one says she’s a freak! But she is clearly photo shopped. I don’t believe you have friends that look exactly like that. Being thin is great! The issue is presenting the image like its real when actually it is photoshopped.
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You can believe what you want, obviously you haven’t been to Bondi or Surfer’s Paradise in summer and seen some girls in bikini’s.
There are supermodels who have had babies and still have awesome bodies.
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Mia, I agree that these photos are a very poor representation of what people actually look like, and an even poorer job on the part of the photoshop operator,
I however struggle with this site when you post these articles but are ok with photos of your beauty editor appearing with a heavily photoshopped image accompanying her posts.
I think that when you have someone talking about amazing beauty products it is even more important for the person write the post to be ‘real”.
I am confused about how one type of photoshopping is bad, but another is ok.
Now I understand that there are different levels of photoshopping and you say you don’t have control over what photos are submitted but as it is your site I would have thought you would be in the perfect position to be the change in the industry, someone has to get the ball rolling and lead the way.
Please note this is NOT snark, I am really interested in how you reconcile the two.
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I would love to look like that!!! I’m exercising like mad and have cut back on fatty foods. I think they look amazing!
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But Lisa the problem is, is that even they don’t look like that. You will never look like that. not because you won’t try hard enough, it is because there is no photoshop for real life.
Be the best you can with the body you have. As long as you are healthy you are already perfect.
Don’t go down that path, there will never be “good enough” if you do.
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Some girls do though! Like the women who commented below and a number of my girlfriends, some women are thin and healthy
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I’m sorry, but have yo uheard of Miranda Kerr?? Poster child for health.
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Good choice of words, prinny; Miranda Kerr is the ‘poster child’ for health. Miranda Kerr’s body is closer to that of a child (minus the boobs) than that of the average woman.
Yes of course their are women out there that are naturally this thin but they don’t represent the majority and photoshopping models to look like Barbie dolls just proves that the obsession with an un-natural and un-achievable weight and beauty target has gone too far.
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Yes,personally i find those legs and that bum very attractive. Granted,the big picture looks a little odd,but i think it’s just because the model is leaning forwards a bit.
I don’t know why i still regularly get slightly annoyed at articles like this one,but they do get me worked up.
Yes,Photoshop is bad and ridiculous and all that…but why is it that no one should find skinny people attractive?
I’m thin,always have been,always will be.That’s how i like myself,that’s how i am comfortable.Even if TV and magazines would be filled with fat people,things wouldn’t change for me.
Why are fat people allowed to bang on about how great they feel in their own skin and how happy they are,but if a skinny person does the same thing,clearly it’s just because we have a distorted body image brought on by the evil
media,and surely an eating disorder on top of that.
To be honest,i can’t imagine how an overweight person can truly be comfortable and content,but if they really do,i am happy for them!Isn’t that what’s important?
I just don’t see how grown women can be so affected by the pictures they see in magazines…sure,i agree it can have an affect on a teenager,but later,when you’re an adult,it just shouldn’t be such a all consuming issue.
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Totally agree Anouk. I’m sick of defending myself as a naturally thin person aargh! Have had to do it ever since I hit high school.
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Couldn’t agree more. I was about to post a similar thing, then read your comment. Well said.
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I agree totally. Only today I was finding it very difficult to get a pair of ski pants that were small enough to fit, and the assistant said “you’re so skinny”, which shat me off. I am not skinny, I am a size 8 and tall, 176cm, I have 3 kids and I am healthy. I bet if my problem had been the other way around she wouldn’t have had the guts to say “you’re so fat”. No, of course she wouldn’t have, so comments like that are offensive for thin people too. For the record, the model’s thighs do look a bit shopped, but she sure as shit would have already had a gap there anyway, especially doing that pose.
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RE the H&M model with the hat on.. I’m more concerned her face an neck is missing in the second image lol
I believe the featured image is of Candice Swanepeol who is a thin lady, here is an image of her at her thinnest and she’d probably have a gap like that if she pulled the same pose
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Oh she looks reallllly bad! That looks very unhealthy and not a model body – this is not what most women aspire to look like. She really shouldn’t be allowed to model being so thin, just wrong.
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I was just going to point out that I think the model featured is Candice Swanepeol, too, but you beat me to it, Carisma!
This seems to be a common occurrence in Candice’s photoshoots and campaigns. There’s no denying she’s been photoshopped to the shithouse, but maybe this is also just how her body looks? The question is, though, as Sara R notes, is it responsible to show a model whose body is so far away from the norm that she begins to resemble a Barbie?
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She’s thin, but not ridiculously so (that’s just a really bad angle. I’m a size 12 with particularly chubby thighs, but if I stand that way I have a great big gap between them too). I see hundreds of young women who are her size each week, so whilst she might have better proportions, there are pleny of ‘normal’ women who are as thin as her.
She looks healthy to me. If you look at candid beach pics of her, she has some decent muscle tone on her (for an average person, obviously she’s no athlete). That’s the first thing to go if you are malnourished, so she’s not starving herself.
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Way to thin. She looks like she’s going to snap…watch out for any breeze, she’ll fall over. This is not attractive. Why is this allowed? Just the same as if they used someone overweight and unsightly in a bikini!
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Those photos took the model has deformed legs!!
It’s a sad society we live in when the shops consider size 14-16 to be plus sized when that’s the average size of women in this country.
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I agree the photo looks weird, but even if 14-16 is the average size of Australian women, it doesnt make it any less plus sized. Personally I think they should just stop using the term “plus size”
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Why is 14-16 plus size? The term plus size was originally termed as being over the average weight. Given that 14-16 is no longer over the average weight, then it shouldn’t be deemed plus size.
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A lot of Aussie women are size 14-16 which is overweight.
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Let’s think about this from the other angle for a moment – I am 50kg and 5’3 – not underweight by any stretch but unfortunately I am reduced to trying on clothes in the children’s department as they no longer manufacture clothes in small enough sizes for me in ladies sizes! 2 years ago I was a size 8 – and despite the fact that I have actually gained a couple of kilos now even some size 6 clothes are too big! This is a ridiculous ploy on behalf of retailers to make ‘plus-size’ women feel like they are not in fact ‘plus-sized’, the sizes keep getting bigger and those of us that are just naturally petite can’t buy anything that fits. This is how the USA has ended up with stupid sizes like ’0′ and we are going exactly the same way.
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I call bullsh#t on your claim that sizes are getting bigger…if anything I think they are just generally inconsistent from store to store. I have been the same weight for my adult life and in the last 2 years have found that stores where I used to be a size 12 I am now a 14.
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I agree! Clothes have certainly grown in Australia! Yes, there are some general inconsistencies with sizes between stores, but in general they seem to just keep getting bigger!
My friend and I had some of her mother’s clothes from the 70′s/80′s and the “10″ sizes were more like 8′s or 6′s of today.
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Yes! I have been a size 12-14 for the last 10 years – thing is, i am now 20 kg heavier than I was 10 years ago! And the clothes I wore then certainly don’t fit me now – not even close! Sizes are definitely getting bigger.
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Prinny, dress sizes are not a measure of body weight. Someone can be a size 14-16 and not be overweight (I.e be within their healthy weight range for their height) and similarly someone can be a size 12 and be overweight depending on their body composition and height. Clothes sizes are not considered scientifically to be any type of measurement of health.
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I’m generally a size 14. I’am not over or under weight, I’am within my appropriate weight range for my height. I don’t appreciate being told that I’m overweight when I’m not. Size 14 is not overweight and is NOT plus sized.
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Sorry, but unless you are 6ft tall size 14-16 is overweight.
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Prinny there’s a thing called a body mass index or BMI. You can be well within the healthy weight range as a size 14 and probably a 16 at much less than 6ft
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Dear Prinny,
I’m sure you’re very lovely looking and thin but I just wanted to point out to you a thing called body mass index or BMI. You can definitely be a size 14 and probably even a 16 and have a healthy BMI without being 6ft tall.
There are lots of shapes & sizes and a lot of them are healthy women. Please don’t be so rude.
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BMI has actually now been widely disregarded as an accurate measure of health with regards to weight by many professionals including some doctors.
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I was just at the shops and in front of me was a women wearing tights with legs exactly like that, so they do exist. I, personally, am the proud owner of a pair of chicken drumsticks.
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I always wonder who fashion designers consult when they trot out what they believe to be ideal women…I think I speak for many when I say we blokes like curves…thin is disgusting and sends the wrong signal to young girls…get fit not thin…or look like a young boy…not good…curves girls thats the secret
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Thin is not disgusting. Attitudes like yours are disgusting.
A naturally thin girl can no more magic up some curves than a larger girl can transform herself into Miranda Kerr, so calling someone’s body shape disgusting advising them to gain weight is just idiotic. Besides, weight gain doesn’t always mean curves. On me it just means a nice big gut.
None of the women in at gallery look like any young boys I’ve ever seen.
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There is a BIG difference between naturally thin and underweight. A good rule of thumb – if you can see bones outlines through the skin, you’re no longer naturally thin, you’re underweight.
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Until my late 20s you could see my ribs and probably other bones. Some naturally thin people are actually Underweight through no fault of their own and don’t appreciate being told over and over that men like curves, or being asked if you have an eating disorder.
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I would never ask if someone has an eating disorder. In regard to men liking curves, it’s a sad fact that they do. This is simply because in history, women who were heavier with wider hips were considered ideal mates as they were more likely to be able to deliver healthy children. This obviously isn’t the case today.
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How bad is it that they had to smooth over Nikki Websters bony frame? This is why my husband thinks women look better with a bit of meat on their bones. With the airbrushing girls are probably thinking, oh she looks great I’d love to be that skinny. When I see the untouched photo I think I’d rather have a few extra kg!!
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Why do these magazines even go to the trouble of photographing real life women if they are going to altet nature so much?? Why don’t they just use cartoon drawings of Jessica Rabbit and be done with it!!
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But, the real question is … can i buy thighs like that?
If they’re not for sale, isn’t that false advertising?
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“When this ad for Dolce & Gabana first come out, people questioned whether it was physically possible for the female model to sit in that position.”
Just gave it a go, and it’s totally doable. If I can do it anyone can, I’m totally inflexible.
And Hilary Rhodas is completely recognizable. Yes she’s been photo-shopped, but only to even skin-tone, make make-up look better etc. Her bone structure hasn’t been changed.
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I looked at that pic from the D&G campaign for a while before i realised what was going on – her inner-thigh is err… deformed. It’s not that she’s sitting astride but that the left side (as we look at it) seems that it’s been stretched, and the right side shrunk a bit. Put it this way, if that were me you wouldn’t be liking at leg so much as umm… mini me…
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RE the dolce and gabbana light blue ad, if she’s got her middle splits down then that positions totally possible
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However I do recall Mia lauding a heavily photoshopped image of Debra Hutton as “cover of the year”…..
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Hey Mandy – wasn’t heavily photoshopped actually.
Minimally. No photoshop is even better.
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If that’s minimal then so are many of the images in the galleries you use.
Minimal to me mean’s getting rid of a few pimples, a scar or dark circles, or editing out a little frizzy hair or leg or underarm stubble. The kind of stuff that could be taken care of by make-up. The WW image’s were heavily airbrushed. Jus because it was done well, and there were no “where did her left arm go” fuck-ups doesn’t make it minimal.
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It’s the new sideshow circus of the freaks!
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I remember seeing that cover of SHOP with leighton meester just after Mia wrote her article about photoshop stretching. As soon as I saw the cover it was really obvious and just looked plain ridiculous, but I doubt I would have realised if it hadn’t been pointed out to me.
Case in point: I showed it to my boyfriend and said “do you think this cover is completely ridiculous?” – he shrugged. Then I pointed out the proportions and he found it just as trippy as I did. Moral of the story, education is key. PLEASE never shut up about this issue.
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Thanks May….
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I definitely knew there was something there was weird about it, but couldn’t work it out. I knew her legs looked ridiculous, but couldn’t work out why. Then I read Mia’s article about photoshopping and it made sense! Her proportions are completely out of whack!
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Three cheers for all the women (me included) whose thighs naturally touch at the top!
Hip hip . . .
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HOORAY!!
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Oh oh, I want to be one of the ‘hooray-ers’. HOORAY!
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I didn’t cheer but my thighs gave a loud clap as I sat down to read this so that’s kind of the same thing right?
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Hilarious!
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Hooray for you!
But my thighs naturally DON’T touch at the top.
(Key word there is naturally)
Can I get three cheers too? We should cheer everyone who feels happy and comfortable with their own bodies. TBH my body shape is quite similar to the Vic Secret one at the top.
People should aspire to be as healthy as they can be. Fat does not equal unhealthy. Neither does skinny.
I know that’s not really what this is about, and we should definitely keep complaining about unrealistic photoshop and keep crying out for diversity in magazines and models.
But we should stop cheering people who have certain body features. Whether that’s because their thighs touch, whether they don’t, whether they’re curvy or straight up and down. Everybody is different. Every woman is a “real” woman. Let’s celebrate diversity, yeah?
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Hi Michaela, I think you read a little bit too far into my comment. I was simply highlighting that many women do not have what’s in the photoshopped picture and that is also beautiful. The female form is great in it’s many shapes. If we want to celebrate diversity, how about a few more swimwear photos in magazines showing us women where our legs do touch at the top?
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Oh I completely agree with you in that regard. But we can’t fall into the trap by celebrating only particular body features.or.types when.trying to make that point. I’m positive you meant nothing by it, but its only.by bringing attention to it that alienation of each others body types will stop. Not that you specifically said it, but it also goes.backto tthe.cry of “celebrating real women”.
We.should keep crying for diversity and for.ridiculophoto shopping to end
Sorry .
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Omg sorry, that was me. Trying to type this.on my phone and.it hates me.!
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What does naturally mean???
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When you stand in a natural position and not putting your leg off to the side Angelina Jolie style.
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Oh dear. I can imagine the interview with the model too “I eat what I like, I love cheeseburgers and I dont exercise. I just drink lots of water and use sunscreen”
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Forget about the missing thighs, I’m wondering about the missing buttock creases! Looks weird and bendy and plastic.
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HAHA photoshop gone wrong
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My girlfriend and I nickname this phenomenon ‘digi-legs’ (digitally enhanced) and pacted to tweet any mag that grossly over-photoshopped covers to complain with the hash tag #digilegs. Small step, but got rage against this practice in whatever way you can!
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uuugh sometimes I catch myself thinking that I’d quite like a thigh gap. Gah.
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Photoshop fails are creepy but are you guys sensationalising or is someone else out there doing it for you? I thought 31 was creepy too but didn’t think it could be right so just went onto the website and downloaded the actual image. Either they’ve fixed it or someone has done something to make us think otherwise. The actual image looks fairly normal to me…
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The thighs actually look bad. I mean, I know they’ve photoshopped them to look very, very unnaturally thin, but I’d find it more appealing if they did a 180 and gave her lovely juicy thighs. To me, that would sell bikini bottoms.
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I’m either really bad at this photoshop fail game or marketing just doesn’t affect me. I’m hoping its the second one!
Most of those images I’d seen before but had people point out the mistakes because I just don’t notice.
Although pic 31 is just super creepy!!
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I think the problem is when we don’t see it – that’s when it’s normalised, and that’s when the “this is normal, everyone looks like this” message is well and truly received.
The fact that people don’t notice is the very problem with photoshopping.
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Oh my! I have followed the whole photoshop thing for a while now and totally disagreed with it (that is that mags do it) but still looked at photos, saw the smooth skin on legs, neck, butts etc and thought arrr if only, nice fake tan, wow blemish free skin etc etc.
Seeing all these photos REALLY points out the extent of photoshop. With 2 young girls and 1 who is now old enough and taking notice, we need more ‘before’ and ‘after’ or ‘real’ and ‘fake’ shots to be published to show ‘the truth is really out there!’
Certainly going to tag this page for future reference.
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And you wonder why girls are obsessed with the ‘thigh gap’….
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So call me barbie, that’s what I look like if I stand like that.. I have a space between my inner thighs and I know plenty of other people that do. And yes I’m healthy.
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I don’t think it’s impossible to have a gap between your thighs, but when you look at that photo it is quite obviously a gap that has been artificially carved out by photoshop. Her legs look bizarre because their shape has been changed so much. Your thighs may not touch but I’m willing to be they look perfectly natural and normal, not weird like that photo.
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The photo has definitely been photoshopped I can see that. But if I stand in the same stance she is leaning forward with my bum poking out (yes I’m a dork and tried it) my thighs do look like that. Not as smooth and my bum definitely has bumps and creases, and you can actually see the back of my knees unlike this model who appears to not have any. I’m not condoning photoshop and there are definitely some shockers in there, but my thighs look like this that’s all.
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I don’t think anyone is disputing that thighs can have a gap in them. It’s more that no human being has those weird inhuman angles and knee-less legs.
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Another generous eater and healthy girl here who has a space between her thighs. Especially if i was told to lean forward and stick my butt out like this girl has been. Her space is bigger than mine though, which makes sense since she’d use a gym much more than me – she’s paid to work out so they look like that.
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No. 31 made me yelp!
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Where is her VULVA?!
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Maybe it’s just me but hasn’t the fact that she’s leaning forward been the main thing that’s distorted how it looks? I’m sure the pic also been touched up but I’m standing in my kitchen doing that lean forward pose and let me tell you, it’s an instant bum lift
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Can you post some pics?
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I was given a copy of that Shop To You Drop magazine with Leighton Meester on the cover. I stared at it for ages thinking something was wrong. It was after a few minutes that I realised SHE HAS NO KNEE CAPS!! awkward…
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I’m so sick of Victoria’s bloody Secret. Miranda Kerr, arguably one of their best known models, is forever promoting a healthy lifestyle and self-love. This concept of ‘self love’ is rather contradictory to the measures this company will go to to morph and twist concepts of beauty. I’m so sick of it, it’s so overrated.
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I think a lot of companies either don’t realise or don’t care that some women (particularly vulnerable teenagers) look at these images and think thighs that size are normal. I remember flicking through magazines wondering why ‘everyone’ had slender thighs except me (maybe a little dramatic but that is how I felt at the time). In a world where every poster has an incredibly thin woman in it, it is so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you should look like that too. For that reason I fully support proposals that any photo-shopped or digitally-adjusted image should be labelled as such. People deserve to know when they are looking at something that is not real.
I would be more willing to buy clothing from a company that doesn’t photo shop its models, not because the ads make me feel better about myself, but because I support businesses who are trying to move away from this obsession with unrealistic thinness. A company that uses more average-sized women in their ads communicates to me that they care about the body image and mental health of broader society. Wouldn’t it be great if we could flick through magazines and see women who look like us? I would love to read magazines and be able to see models who have legs like me, or blemishes on their face, because in real life they have them too. Ideally models would look the same if you saw them walking down the street as when you see them in magazines. When images in magazines and billboards portray unnatural standards of beauty, everyone normal feels inadequate and unattractive.
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