Airbrushing and How Celebrities Reacted. Laura

Home , Jade Thirlwall, Jesy Nelson, Perrie Edwards

Altered Consciousness/ Awareness Case Study: Airbrushing and how Celebrities reacted.

Laura Madigan 14149567

Introduction: This essay will focus on how airbrushing is a controversial subject, it is causing a lot of body issues for celebrities while it also creates body issues for the public especially teenage girls, as they are, exposed to ‘altered’ images daily by magazines and social media. It became known to me how much an issue airbrushing was when I listened to Jameela Jamil’s podcast with, Krishnan Guru Murthy, focusing on ‘banning airbrushing, the Kardashians and her traumatic teens’. After, listening to the podcast I decided to explore this controversial subject in this essay, I found huge amounts of videos, articles, campaigns that were fighting against airbrushing. This is a clear example of how technological determinism and social constructivism can cause negative affects when information is altered and false while it is being spread. Jameela Jamil, highlighted many controversial issues about airbrushing during her podcast, how it can add pressure to the young generation to look a certain way. She discusses how everyone now has access to airbrushing because of the developments of technology, “Everyone’s got access to airbrushing. Airbrushing- which I think is one of the foulest things to have happened to women in the last couple of decades” (Jamil, Podcast). Since listening to the podcast I have come across many other female’s in the public eye expressing their own hatred on airbrushing, it is a common phenomenon, for celebs to speak and call out media organisations for alternating their photographs today. Many female celebrities have called out magazines for airbrushing this year alone, such as, Lili Reinhart, Camilla Mendes, Zendaya, Lady Gaga, Jade Thirlwall Emily Ratajkowski. All celebrities I have mentioned are held up in the public eye as being woman that are portrayed as perfect. Airbrushing has become an enemy of celebrities and many of the public, it is used to portray what media thinks is the perfect woman, “Spotless skin, toned bodies, silky hair, and not a wrinkle in sight” (Saint, Clair, 1). Airbrushing has been around for decades, it arises as an issue in the media industry every few months as another public figure, calls out a magazine for photoshopping their pictures. For this essay I want to explore the cases of celebrities who have affected by airbrushing, also how it affects society and what magazines and newspapers are responsible for airbrushing and why does it happen.

. Video of Jameela Jamil

Fig 1. Mind Map

Actor Network Theory(ANT) ANT is a social theory where the social and natural worlds exists in a network of relationships. It argues that all factors in a social situation are involved, and no other factors affect how the relationship works. ANT objects the notion of technological determinism and model of diffusion Vs Social constructionism and reductionism. The theory was founded by Michel Callon, Bruno Latour and John Law. ANT combines two words, actor and theory, these words are usually considered opposite to each other. ANT is an attempt to give analytical tools for explaining the very process by which society is constantly reconfigured. What distinguishes it from other constructivist approaches is its explanation of society in the making, in which science and technology play a key part. (Callon,1). ANT joins the factors of non-human and human factors into consideration. It does not celebrate the idea that there is a difference in kind between people on the one hand, objects on the other. It denies that people are necessarily special. (Law, 4). Actor Network Theory does not typically try to explain why a network exists, it is more interested in the infrastructure of actor networks, how they are formed, how they can fall apart. Both non- human and human are equal In this sections I will be discussing the human and non-human factors in this controversy.

Non-Human (Common to most cases) Magazine’s Magazines are a publication, which is printed and can also be found online, they are published in a regular schedule and have a variety of content. Numerous magazines have been called out by many celebrities in the past decade and more, because of their use of airbrushing and photoshopping without the celebrities’ permission. This has caused a lot of controversy in the media world as it gives added pressure for people to look and act a certain way. These magazines are giving altered images of celebs, without consequences. Popular pop culture magazines such as GQ, Cosmopolitan, are all involved in this controversy as they have been accused of altering images.

Podcast A podcast is an episodic series of digital audio or video file which a user can listen online or download. They can be available for subscription or direct availability, they are found on computers, mobile phones and portable media players, the files are audio formatted. They can be found on many websites/apps such as Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. Jameela Jamil’s podcast she did with Krishnan Guru Murthy discussing, banning airbrushing, the Kardashians and her traumatic teens’, recently sparked the debate about airbrushing and how it is affecting society. During the podcast Jameela was very honest with her views on airbrushing and expressed the damaging affects it can have on people.

Social Media Social Media are interactive computer-mediated technologies that ease the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks. Social media is available everywhere in the world making it a vital part of communication. Celebrities have used social media to call out magazines and newspapers for using airbrushing and photoshopping on their photos without getting permission to do so. Magazines and newspapers also use social media to promote their images and stories, this then causes more images to spread, with leads to more controversy. Social media was used to spread awareness about campaigns against airbrushing.

Newspapers A newspaper is a periodical publication holding written information about current events. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports and the arts. Newspapers were also brought up during the controversy for airbrushing as they had been altering photos. This has caused a lot of controversy in the media world as it gives added pressure for people to look and act a certain way. These newspapers are giving altered images of celebs, without consequences. The main newspapers that have been airbrushing are the Daily Mail, The Sun, Star and many more tabloid newspapers.

Human

Jameela Jamil Is a 32-year-old actress and presenter from London. She started her career out as a presenter on T4, on channel 4. She is now an actress in the USA, in the sitcom “The Good Place”

Lili Reinhart & Camilla Mendes Lili Reinhart and Camilla Mendes are both young TV actresses on the American TV show ‘Riverdale’ They both do multiple promo work for the television show together

Zendaya Zendaya is a 22-year-old American actress, singer, model and back up dancer. She has over 53 million followers on Instagram. She is looked up to from millions of young teenagers.

Lady Gaga Lady Gaga is a 32-year-old is an American actress and singer. She has had huge success in the music industry she has sold 27 million albums and 156 singles. She also as the lead female in ‘A Star is Born’.

Jade Thirlwall Jade is a 25-year-old singer from England, she is part of the four-piece girls group, ‘Little Mix’, along with Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson and Leigh-Anne Pinnock. They won the X- Factor in 2011 and since then they have been very successful in the music industry. Jade also interest in supporting the LGBTQ community and regularly campaigns for them.

Emily Ratajkowski Is a 27-year-old American actress and model, she first rose to fame when she stared in Robin Thicke’s music video for ‘Blurred Lines’. Since then she has become an extremely successful model, she works with brands such as Versace and has also starred in many film and TV shows.

Each Case: I will be exploring each case, separately in relation the human and non-human factors that were involved with each celebrities’ case. This will help to see what each case has in common and whether it has relation to why airbrushing is used, it will also highlight whether all factors are needed to influence the public. I will discuss each case and their human and non-factors Jameela Jamil She is the vocal point to this essay as, without her podcast she recently did, the issue of airbrushing would not have been brought up during this time-period. Non-Human Podcast: Jameela used the Podcast series ‘Ways to Change the World” by Krishnan Guru Murthy as her platform to speak about the issues she had with airbrushing. She believes that airbrushing is completely wrong and needed to be spoken about. She believes it is completely wrong to show a false perception to the world. Jamil says during the podcast, “Put airbrushing in the bin” because it is “disgusting tool that has weaponised”. Airbrushing /Photo Editing: This is the software used to enhance, edit and airbrush photographs. Jameela believes this software should be illegal as it is the reason photos are able to be edited. She argues that is completely wrong to have access to free to use software everywhere. She believes it can have a negative on people’s body images. Magazines/Newspapers: Magazines and newspapers are the publishers of most of these airbrushed/edited photographs. In Jameel’s case she did not single out one newspaper or magazine, she spoke about her earlier experiences with photoshoots, and how she had often had her photos edited, where they would make her skin light and give her a slimmer figure. Social Media: Social Media can work in two different ways when it comes to airbrushing as Jameela explains in the podcast. She uses social media to help raise awareness about her campaign ‘I Weigh’, which is campaign set up to promote body positivity. However, social media can work in the opposite way also Jameela, discuss this, she says that social media can have huge negative effects on people’s body image and it is constantly full of altered, edited imagery. Human Jameela Jamil: Is the main human actor in this case as it is all her views that are being expressed during the podcast. She is the main indicator of discussing the issue and controversy’s surrounding airbrushing and the editing of photographs. She brings all the non- human factors such as social media, magazines/newspapers, airbrushing software and podcasts all into one, explaining how they can all play off each other, making it a bigger issue then it started out to be. The way images can spread so rapidly between all these factors, lets it become known to the public more widely, “Delete the apps and unfollow these who are complicit in this crime against gender”. Editor: Jameela points out how the editors of these magazines and newspapers should take responsibility for causing such high standers and also putting severe pressure on woman

6 today, “When photo editors try to lighten my skin and change my ethnicity its bad for the girls who are looking at the picture, But it is also bad for my mental health.

Krishnan Guru Murthy: The presenter of the Podcast series ‘Ways to Change the World” discussed the issues of airbrushing and social pressure with Jameela Jamil. He asked her to understand questions while also discussing his own views on airbrushing, relating back to how he sees how this false imagery affects his teenage daughters. Lili Reinhart & Camilla Mendes The next I will look at is the airbrushing and photoshopping case of the two Riverdale actresses Lili Reinhart and Camilla Mendes. Non-Human Cosmopolitan Philippines: The Philippine version of the Cosmopolitan magazine, posted images of actresses Lili Reinhart and Camila Mendes, where their waists were made smaller than the original photos that were published in other editions of the magazine. The Philippine, version had edited published as they had the idea that smaller waists are part of an ideal body. Airbrushing/Photo-editing Software: This software was used more in the Philippine edition of the magazine; this software was used on the original photos to make the actresses look more slimmer and give them an unrealistic body image. Social Media: Both actresses used social media to express their distaste for the airbrushed and edited photos of them. Lili Reinhart used the social media platform Instagram to call -out their unhappiness of how their bodies were changed without their permission.

Lili Reinhart’s altered Image, shows how her waist was taken in.

Camilla Mendes altered Image, her ribs were completely taken in. Human: Lili Reinhart: Is an actress on Riverdale, who’s image was photoshopped and airbrushed on the Philippine edition of the popular magazine Cosmopolitan. She expressed her distaste towards the images, she called out the inappropriateness of the editor’s decision, “To see our bodies become so distorted in an editing process is a perfect example of the obstacles we have yet to overcome”. Camilla Mendes: Is an actress on Riverdale, who’s image was also photoshopped and airbrushed by the Philippine edition of Cosmopolitan. She also expressed her hatred towards these images and explained how this can affect their body confidence. “Lili and I feel disrespected and disturbed by the sight of our photoshopped bodies, we want our readers to know these bodies are not ours”. Editor: The editor of the Philippine edition of Cosmopolitan made the decision to alter the bodies of both actresses. The editor made the decision to give both women a slimmer waistline, fuelling to the idea that women’s bodies should be flawless. Zendaya Next case I will discuss is the airbrushing that involved singer/actress Zendaya, that occurred with Modeliste Magazine. Non-Human Modeliste Magazine: This was the fashion magazine that posted an image of the actress Zendaya that was altered. The image gave Zendaya a slimmer waistline and legs, while also giving her slightly lighter skin. After the first call out, Modeliste magazine removed the touched-up images and released the original.

Airbrushing/Photo-editing Software: This software was used to give Zendaya a slimmer waist and legs while also giving her a lighter skin tone. Zendaya points out again how this software can be damaging to people’s mental health Social Media: Zendaya used the social media platform, Instagram to call out the magazine for publishing images that were altered without getting her permission first. After posting the images and expressing her anger towards them, the magazine published the original photos which showed how social media can work to solve issues.

Zendaya’s Instagram post of her calling out Modeliste Magazine, along with the original and retouched image.

Human Zendaya: Is the actress that was caught up in an airbrushing case with the magazine Modeliste. She expressed how editing images can affected her self-confidence, “These are the things that make women self-conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have”. Editor: The editor of Modeliste magazine made the original decision to alter Zendaya’s image, to fit into the universal beauty standards. After Zendaya’s call out of the magazine expressing her disappointment, the editor made the decision to take down the altered image and upload the untouched image.

Lady Gaga Next, I will discuss is the controversy that followed Lady Gaga, when she was airbrushed on the cover of Glamour magazine, she called out the magazine during the Woman of the Year awards. Non-Human Glamour: The popular fashion magazine Glamour had Lady Gaga, as their cover star in one of their editions. The images that were posted of Lady Gaga, were altered and airbrushed. Her skin was made to look flawless and her hair was altered to look softer and have a glow. Airbrushing/Photo-editing Software: Glamour used airbrushing and photo-editing software to make the images flawless. They gave Lady Gaga a perfect appearance, which is completely unrealistic for a person to have, flawless skin, flawless teeth, glowing hair.

Lady Gaga’s Glamour cover. Women of the Year awards: Lady Gaga used the women of the year awards, to express her disappointment of the images that Glamour edited of her. She expressed on stage at the awards how unrealistic the images were, creating a false hope surrounding her appearance. “Fight back against the forces that make them feel like they’re not beautiful” Human Lady Gaga: Is a singer and actress and singer who’s images were altered in a cover of Glamour’s magazine. She wasn’t pleased with how her photos were edited to make her seem flawless. She used the stage at the Woman of the Year awards, to express how the images of her were unrealistic and altered. This was a bold decision as she was receiving an award for

10 the very magazine she was calling out. Despite this she asked for change for magazines to stop using airbrushing and photo-editing software. “I want to see is the change on your covers, when the covers change, that’s when culture changes”. Editor: The editor of Glamour Magazine made the conscious decision to change Lady Gaga’s appearance in their magazine. Despite the controversy that surrounds airbrushing they still decided to post an image of Lady Gaga, that gave unrealistic body expectations, by posting flawless images of Lady Gaga.

Jade Thirlwall I will discuss the case of Little Mix Jade Thirlwall, how first when she experienced airbrushing, it really affected her body confidence. Non-Human Magazines: The magazines that Jade worked with in the start of her career tended to alter her image. Compared to the other band members in the group magazine covers, tended to lighten her skin, also making her nose a smaller shape. They made all girls look similar to each other with retouching their skin tones making them lighter. Airbrushing/Photo-editing Software: Magazine’s that Jade worked with in the early days of her career would constantly use airbrushing and photoshopping software too change and enhance the bodies of the girls. Here are early magazine covers, where airbrushing software was used. Images are from Bliss and Celebs magazines.

Both magazine show signs of airbrushing and photoshopping on the girl’s bodies, making them appear flawless and having lighter skin than usual. Social Media: Jade Thirlwall expressed her opinion on airbrushing following listening to Jameela Jamil’s podcast. She expressed how for years she had body confidence issues that stemmed from magazines using airbrushing on her appearance. She used Twitter as her way of expressing how she felt after listening to the podcast. She posted this image in Twitter revealing how airbrushing increased her insecurities massively.

Source: Little Mix Twitter account Podcast: After Jade listened to Jameela Jamil’s podcast with, Krishnan Guru Murthy, focusing on ‘banning airbrushing, the Kardashians and her traumatic teens’, it influenced her to express and tell of her experience and feelings towards magazines that use airbrushing and photo-editing techniques on people’s images. Human: Jade Thirlwall: The singer expressed how airbrushing deeply affected her confidence in her early days in the band. She expresses how she convinced herself she needed a nose job as it was a common trait for magazines to change her nose, “It gave me a complex and insecurity and for years I was determined to get a nose job. I was that ugly the magazine had to change my appearance, right? Wrong”. After listening to Jameela Jamil’s podcast she joined in with

12 the ‘I weigh’ campaign and expressed her insecurities and thoughts on airbrushing via the Little Mix twitter account. Jameela Jamil: Her podcast about her views on airbrushing and photoshopping images without asking for permission first. Influenced the singer Jade Thirlwall too express her own views on the same topic, while also giving insights into her own experience with airbrushing, she also spread awareness about Jameela’s campaign ‘I Weigh’. Emily Ratajkowski The last case I will look at involves model and actress, Emily Ratajkowski, she was airbrushed for a shoot for the French magazine, Madame Figaro. Non-Human Madame Figaro: Emily accused the French magazine Madame Figaro of altering her photographs, without her permission. She expressed her distaste for the edited images, as they had changed her lips and her breasts Airbrushing/Photo-editing Software: Madame Figaro used these software’s to change the appearance of Emily’s breasts and lips. Her lips appeared smaller, while her breasts were made to stand out more than in the original photo. Social Media: Emily expressed her disappointment towards the images on her Instagram followers, she uploaded a side to side image of the unedited and edited versions of the photos. She pointed out how her lips and breasts were altered in the edited in the new image.

Side to side images from the photoshoot, showing the differences of the images.

Emily’s post on her Instagram account. Human: Emily Ratajkowski: The model called out French fashion magazine, Madame Figaro on her Instagram for altering her image on her cover for the magazine. She expressed her disappointment towards the altering as it is another reason, why people have insecurities, because of the high standards in the media industry. “I was extremely disappointed to see my lips and breasts altered in the photoshop on this cover”. Editor: The editor of Madame Figaro decided to use airbrushing and photo-editing software to change Emily’s lips and breasts. The editor made the decision to fall in line with the common beauty expectations, that often come under fire for being unrealistic. Impact: After just exploring some cases that have expressed their concern about airbrushing it is hard to know whether it does have an impact, on reducing the frequent use of airbrushing done my magazines. From looking at the above cases and taking in Jameela Jamil’s podcast we can see that a lot of these cases have many common non-human and human factors involved. Tag Cloud, of common Factors.

Since Jameela Jamil’s podcast, there has been an increasing amount of talk about airbrushing, here are a few examples, however it is hard to predict whether this will have any effect on getting rid of airbrushing completely.

Tweet from use @TheoptimistV

Twitter user @CountingNeil, supporting Jameelas campaign.

Twitter user @rosendiaa, how airbrush I mainly used for woman.

Twitter user @AmandaNicoleNYC, expressing how she used to work with airbrushing.

Final tweet I will use is a tweet from Jameela herself, expressing her proudness of Little Mix after they shared an untouched photo of themselves, against airbrushing. These tweets show that the controversy of airbrushing is constantly being discussed, with the public and with celebrities. It doesn’t mean that it is having a direct effect on magazine and newspapers using airbrushing and photo editing software less. The controversy surrounding airbrushing also focus’s a lot on the fact that it is having a negative effect on people’s mental health as it is constantly being used by celebrities and the public on social media platforms, which is public to all of society.

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