Feminist, Fat, and Fabulous Blog: No Airbrushing The Issues

I was really trying to avoid saying anything about this as a great deal has been said already and the body image debate exhausts me at the best of times. But I’m going to say something anyway.

Jennifer Hawkins is on this month’s Marie Claire. Supposedly completely unairbrushed. And naked.

This is to raise awareness of body image issues and is in support of the Butterfly Foundation, a self-esteem and image foundation, aimed especially at young girls, to prevent eating disorders.

The debate raging is the fact that Hawkins, a former Miss Universe, might not be the best person to be representing the foundation, seeing as she is a model, it is her job to be tall, have a fit body, great skin and, oh yeah, look good naked. Or nearly naked.

The debate is also raging that she isn’t representative of ‘real women’.

I hate that term so much. Let’s get that out of the way right now. It’s insulting. What is a real woman anyway? Fat, skinny, in-between, vaginas, no vaginas, breasts, no breasts, woman indentified, transwomen, asexual women—these are all women. The only non-real women are those that are men and male identified and, err, imaginary people.

Hawkins is a woman and a real woman. I’ve got absolutely no problem with her posing on the front of a magazine. Anything that raises awareness of a cause is good in my book. Just because she is a model doesn’t mean she doesn’t have problems with her body.

Here’s what I have a problem with:

–       Fake tan. Lots of fake tan.

–       Very flattering lighting.

–       Someone who knows how to work a camera.

–       Lots of makeup.

–       Possible Photoshop?

–       Brave?

Don’t advertise that it’s a completely untouched picture, flaws and all. It’s not. There is still a bucket load of makeup, she’s still a model who knows how to work a camera angle, there’s still the lighting, and there’s still all that fake tan. I honestly don’t know a great deal about Photoshop, and there might not be any at all. But if all that’s just makeup, then I want to know what concealer she’s using. And brave? Brave to be a model, posing naked on a magazine cover? Really?

And when it all comes down to it, it’s still ultimately a marketing ploy. It gets people talking (even before the issue hit the stands!), it gets the magazines sold, and it gets awareness raised about the Butterfly Foundation. Which I think pretty much is the ultimate goal, yeah?

Cynical? Me?

Nah.