Ah, Photoshop retouching, how you pain us, how you confuse us all. Reading a very amazing (and very long) article in the New Yorker (May 12, 2008 issue) today, I learned about the techniques and life of master photo retoucher Pascal Dangin. I encourage About-Face visitors to take the time to read the entire article, either online or in the magazine itself.
[The Dove ads: Lots of retouching? Really? Did you have to break our hearts?]
My rose-colored glasses were cracked by this statement about his work on the Dove campaigns. From the article: (more…)
May 8th, 2008
Speaking of body image and stereotypes of women, it’s not all about thinness/fatness, is it? Take the Tyra Banks Show from today, April 24.
Black women of various skin shades were on the show talking about whether light-skinned black women have things easier, and the answer seemed to be “yes.” Adding her very sensationalistic viewpoint, one medium-skinned woman said, “I don’t want my son dating dark-skinned girls because I don’t want him bringing home any dark-skinned grandbabies.” Luckily, her 12-year-old son said he hates when she says that, because she comes off as “prejudiced.” And another darker-skinned woman finally told her lighter-skinned sister (and I mean sister, by blood) that she feels her lighter-skinned sister has had the advantage during her life. She asked “When is it my turn to be called pretty?”
These two women are sisters. That’s Tyra on the left.
You can see clips on Tyra’s web site.
And while you’re at it,
(more…)
April 24th, 2008
(Amelia playing guitar with her teeth, from
Girls Rock! The Movie, www.girlsrockmovie.com. Photo by Nicole Weingart)
Using your voice powerfully isn’t just about being a loud, outspoken bad-ass chick — something we grown women often want for girls. It’s also about finding your vulnerabilities, and turning them into strengths. This came to me, a grown woman, while watching 8- to 18-year-old girls learn how to play instruments and sing in a rock band.
Alyza (About-Face’s Director of Programs) and I saw Girls Rock! The Movie when it played in San Francisco recently. The filmmakers interviewed some of the campers at the Girls Rock Camp in Portland, Oregon, as well as their parents. What resulted was funny, fun, true, and transformational.
Watch the trailer for the movie: (more…)
April 23rd, 2008
Designer Marc Jacobs is really rubbing we About-Facers the wrong way lately. Following on the heels of his ad showing Dakota Fanning as a Hollywood tartlet and some other ads with dead-looking women and nubile girls laying in the grass, we’ve got the newest in the series: Victoria Beckham in a shopping bag.
In this ad, Victoria Beckham (aka Posh Spice) literally becomes a product to purchase. Never mind the disembodied legs and suggestion of violence. Has she been killed and then put in the bag? or is she about to be taken home and put in the closet?
Accprding to a recent New York Times article, (more…)
April 14th, 2008
The Devil Wears Prada meets a drill sergeant in this best-selling diet book, Skinny Bitch. Does that recipe sound unappealing to you, too?
Blech. It smacks of chick-lit friendly marketing with that totally hip touch of sass (read: swearing). So what is it really? A vegan diet book. Apparently it’s light on the recipes because it’s chock full of “tough-love for savvy girls”. Huh?
(more…)
March 25th, 2008
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