This is not my usual type of article for GeekyKOOL.com. We usually stick to geeky entertainment articles, trailers, and reviews. When I read a few articles about this subject, I decided to make an exception. Exceptions will be rarity on GeekyKOOL. We at GeekyKOOL are committed to avoid political discussions on our site.
Julia Bluhm is a 14 year old girl who is trying to make a difference. She has asked Seventeen Magazine to print at least one unaltered photo spread per month. This would demonstrate to young ladies how real women look without being photo-shopped. With all the photos being edited to remove any flaws, blemishes, and extra pounds, the photos in these magazines become impossible to live up to. Bluhm hopes Seventeen and other magazines will take notice and give girls some real expectations.
Julia Bluhm’s petition on Change.org now has over 44,000 signatures. This message appears to be resonating with teens and adults alike. Many of us have seen the affects on girls. As a father of a pre-teen girl, I was quick to sign my name.
I would like to thank the Mary Sue and the Jane Dough for their articles on Julia Bluhm. This lead me to check out this story further. They both have articles about Bluhm’s “Photo Shoot” to promote the petition and her story.
Below is the information on Julia Bluhm’s petition @ Change.org.
Girls want to be accepted, appreciated, and liked. And when they don’t fit the criteria, some girls try to “fix” themselves. This can lead to eating disorders, dieting, depression, and low self esteem.
I’m in a ballet class with a bunch of high-school girls. On a daily basis I hear comments like: “It’s a fat day,” and “I ate well today, but I still feel fat.” Ballet dancers do get a lot of flack about their bodies, but it’s not just ballet dancers who feel the pressure to be “pretty”. It’s everyone. To girls today, the word “pretty” means skinny and blemish-free. Why is that, when so few girls actually fit into such a narrow category? It’s because the media tells us that “pretty” girls are impossibly thin with perfect skin.
Here’s what lots of girls don’t know. Those “pretty women” that we see in magazines are fake.They’re often photoshopped, air-brushed, edited to look thinner, and to appear like they have perfect skin. A girl you see in a magazine probably looks a lot different in real life. As part of SPARK Movement, a girl-fueled, national activist movement, I’ve been fighting to stop magazines, toy companies, and other big businesses from creating products, photo spreads and ads that hurt girls’ and break our self-esteem. With SPARK, I’ve learned that we have the power to fight back.
That’s why I’m asking Seventeen Magazine to commit to printing one unaltered — real — photo spread per month. I want to see regular girls that look like me in a magazine that’s supposed to be for me.
For the sake of all the struggling girls all over America, who read Seventeen and think these fake images are what they should be, I’m stepping up. I know how hurtful these photoshopped images can be. I’m a teenage girl, and I don’t like what I see. None of us do. Will you join us by signing this petition and asking Seventeen to take a stand as well and commit to one unaltered photo spread a month? (Change.org)
