Photoshop horrors

A couple of weeks ago, this ad greeted me in the sidebar of my online email.

Notice anything wrong?

I'm pretty sure that woman would snap in half, if she were real, given that her neck is wider than her midsection.

I've blogged before about the shocking use (and abuse) of Photoshop in our culture to glorify unhealthy and un-human standards of beauty. I see these images all the time. Pictures, like the one above, form the basis of a lecture in the Sociology course I teach.

But every once in awhile, a photo(shop) still shocks me.

Sometimes the (ahem) adjustments are extreme, as in the case of a model that lost a hand in overzealous photoshopping by Vogue. Limbs go missing all the time. More than one model has lost a leg. A surfer's hand remains, but the arm... eaten by a Photoshop shark?

Sometimes the adjustments are more subtle, as in the example of before-and-after photos of Victoria's Secret model Candace Swanepoel. Basic body functions, like skin bending and folding as we move (because, um, that's what it's supposed to do) are removed from the finished photo, setting a standard for aesthetic appeal that even the world's most classically gorgeous women can't attain in real life.

And last, but certainly not least, thanks to demands for ever-thinner models, Photoshoppers have now resorted to retouching photos to cover unsexy things like protruding ribs.

Nice.
(sarcasm intended)

What's the worst Photoshop tragedy you've seen?

Postcards from Atlanta

Greetings from Atlanta... Home of CNN, Coca Cola, Habitat for Humanity.

Downtown Atlanta

Atlanta... City of contrasts, with gleaming glass towers visible over the rooftops of beautifully-preserved historic buildings and sprawling brick homes.

View from an intersection on Piedmont Ave

And where tourist-oriented remembrances of Gone With the Wind are tucked under giant parking garages...

Miss Pittypat's porch restaurant

Atlanta... Southern city, but with an urban edge that reminded me more of New York than the South.

Runners do not nod, wave, smile, or say "hi" to one another in this city. I have to be honest, it was a little disconcerting getting the cold shoulder from fellow runners. I expect that in the northeast. I was not prepared for it in Atlanta!

Speaking of running... While I was in Atlanta for a couple of days, I ran a 6.25 mile run from downtown to Piedmont Park (route map).

Southwest entrance of Piedmont Park

View of the city from Piedmont Park

Park Tavern, at the southeast corner of Piedmont Park

Community garden in the park

View of the Park Drive bridge from the community garden

While most runners did not pause to pass the time of day, I did make an instant friend on this run.

Just past the community garden there are a series of trails that lead off into a tiny pocket of urban wilderness known as the Six Springs. I wanted to run the trails, but as a stranger to this town, I had concerns about how safe it was to run off-road.

I paused to scope out the scene, then decided it was too risky to run alone. Just as I abandoned the trail, another female runner did a similar slow-roll by the trailhead. She also seemed to have second thoughts, and turned away. I caught up to her, introduced myself, asked if she wanted to run the trails together so we could run safely.

Together we enjoyed a nice little spin through the Six Springs!

Trails through the Six Springs area

We split up when we got back to paved roads. I headed through the botanical garden, and my momentary friend turned south.

Civil war history

I admit to being a little jealous of Piedmont Park's "Active Oval" - a gravel track with athletic fields in the middle, and exercise equipment around the edges. I'd do my speedwork at the track more often if I had one close by that was so pretty!

Active Oval in Piedmont Park

Pull-up, push-up, step-up, and sit-up equipment at the Active Oval

Lake Clara Meer as seen from an overlook near the Active Oval

Heading back out toward the southwest gate

Another thing I noticed about the city is a plethora of "no cruising" signs. You know you're on an urban run when...

No Cruising zone...

Another Atlanta discovery: public art!
Atlanta had more sculptures, block for block, than any city I've visited in recent memory. I was a dorky tourist and took photos of dozens of sculptures, but I'll spare you the eye strain and share just one.

Sculpture at Speakers Corner in Woodruff Park, downtown Atlanta

Playing life-sized chess in Woodruff Park, downtown Atlanta

... my only final thought on Atlanta is:
I can't wait to go back!

Reframing eating disorders as a personal choice?

On a recent essay assignment, one of my students clued me in to a new term: "pro-ana."

The term, shockingly, is short for pro-anorexia.

I am aware that eating disorders exist, and that mass media plays a none-too-subtle role in reinforcing body image issues. In fact, that was the topic of the essay assignment (and to be clear, my student was reporting on the phenomenon, not encouraging it). But as I stared at the page, I wondered how anyone could reframe an eating disorder as a good thing? *shudder*

Image source

Pro-ana? Not only is there a cute-sounding term to describe this disordered behavior, the topic has gained a cult following on the interwebs. The Huffington Post provides a detailed analysis in their recent article "The Hunger Blogs." I would highly recommend that you read the article in full, but if you are short on time, here are some of the most shocking quotes from pro-ana bloggers interviewed for the story (note: thinspo = "thinspiration"):

Sixteen-year-old Antonia (last name withheld) also runs a popular, photo-based thinspo blog out of her bedroom. "I like images that show skinny, happy girls," she writes in an email to the Huffington Post. "They look so confident and we can see their bones through their skin. It's the most beautiful thing ever. I also like tips about food or how to ignore hunger."

And this one...

It documents addictive and compulsive behavior, yet masks this behavior in the rhetoric of self-control and willpower ("Your stomach isn't grumbling, it's applauding").

Keep in mind that this next quote is from a girl who started modeling in ninth grade:

"[Modeling and fashion] was one of the original reasons I started looking at thinspo," she says. "I had an interview with a very, very tough agent in ninth grade and they told me that they would be happy to represent me because of my height and my facial structure. But they wanted me to lose 25 pounds. I wasn't overweight at the time -- I was probably average for my height. It was a big shock for me and that's what really pushed me in the direction [of pro-ana]."

And this is where my jaw dropped...

"They say, 'You know, this is my lifestyle -- I live an extremely low-calorie lifestyle and this is my choice,'" says Pascoe. "And what goes along with that is all sorts of personality traits that they're very proud of. They have an extreme amount of self-control, dedication and willpower. And when they talk about it, they seem like these extreme athletes who run a hundred miles in a shot or do these 24-hour races.”

To be clear, I am not a 24-hour runner, but I do work out nearly every day. On Tuesdays I will sometimes run twice a day 2-fer-Tuesday style... But I fuel appropriately. I take time off when my body needs a rest. Frankly, I am in shock that anyone with a serious eating disorder would compare my running with their illness, because:

Running. Won't. Kill. Me.

Ana Carolina Reston, fashion supermodel who died from her eating disorder, is just the most famous example of an extremely debilitating lifestyle. She was 5'8" and weighed 88 pounds when she died of multiple organ failure due to anorexia.

A modeling photo of the late Ms. Reston.
Image source

At the time, Ms. Reston was still modeling.

So. Eating disorders can kill.

But what about running? Isn't it possible to have a heart attack while running a marathon?
Sure (though the likelihood varies based on underlying conditions). Isn't it bad for your knees? No. But that's another post for another time...

Yes, runners can be slim and dedicated to the point of distraction. (And yes, there are people who have a disordered relationship with working out - similar to and often linked with an eating disorder.) But here's the difference: Not all runners will die from running.

In fact, most will live longer because of running.

(note: you see abs, not ribs, on Shalane)
Image source

On the other hand, eating disorders do - in no uncertain terms - cause serious physical harm and can lead to death.

Having the willpower to complete the last hill repeat in a series is not the same thing as starving yourself for a 50-day anorexic bootcamp, aka the "ABC diet," that limits caloric intake to 500 calories or less per day! (If you don't believe me, skip to page 3 of the Huff Post article).

Glamorizing starvation in terms that reframes it as willpower is just plain wrong.


What are your thoughts/comments on this issue?

Proper or prudish?

Black plastic wrappers around magazines like Playboy would seem extreme in Europe, but are common in the States. I suppose I understand the practice. I really don't need or want to see boobs when I'm buying a pack of bubble gum.

But my grocery store seems to have taken this practice to a whole new level.

Really, Publix? Really?

I lifted the modesty panels, just to see what could possibly be so shocking that it needed a cover. (Curiosity is either my strong point or my weakness. You decide.)

Here's what I found:

Apparently the September cover of Oxygen is inappropriate for the grocery store checkout line.

I'm so confused! Remember, this is the Florida panhandle. Standard summer attire for men is shorts. Only. From the backyard to the bayou and certainly out in public there are nearly-naked men everywhere here in the summer. Summer attire for women is a bit more modest. But while exercising outdoors the uniform for Florida ladies is shorts + sports bra. How else can a girl run in this heat?

So I can see my neighbors running around in various states of undress, but I can't see a photo of the same attire on the cover of a magazine?

And, more importantly, Florida's panhandle is in the nation's obesity alley. In nearby Alabama and Mississippi one third of adults are obese. Perhaps we should put modesty panels over the chocolate bars at the checkout line, not the fitness magazines.

Am I wrong to be shocked?

Is this proper? Or prudish?