Unleashing the Power of Real Girls

By Katrina vanden Heuvel 

Washington Post
July 17, 2012

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/katrina-vanden-heuvel-unleashing-the-power-of-real-girls/2012/07/17/gJQAl7fwqW_story.html


In a 1993 article published in the media watch group FAIR's
Extra! magazine, 17-year-old intern Kimberly Phillips
criticized Seventeen magazine's preoccupation with fashion and
beauty, and its failure to encourage young women to think
about important issues. Balking at the criticism, Seventeen's
managing editor responded with a defensive letter to the
editor, insisting that the magazine's focus on appearance was
consistent with the interests of its adolescent readers.

Nearly 20 years later, almost nothing had changed - until now.
Within the span of two months, a 14-year-old Maine girl named
Julia Bluhm mobilized more than 80,000 supporters to lobby
Seventeen to commit to a more modest goal: printing one photo
spread per issue without an unaltered image. Bluhm's efforts
are part of Sexualization Protest: Action, Resistance,
Knowledge or SPARK, a girl-fueled activist movement that is
demanding an end to the sexualization of women and girls in
media.

This time, the editors had a different response. In the
magazine's August issue, Seventeen editor Ann Shoket responded
to the campaign with a carefully worded statement that vowed
that the magazine will "never change girls' body or face
shapes" and will publish only images of "real girls and models
who are healthy."

While cynics may roll their eyes at the gaping loopholes
Shoket left open, this still represents a meaningful victory
for young women seeking reality-based images in a seemingly
unwinnable war against big publishing, big advertising and big
fashion. After all, just last month, Cosmopolitan's cover
photo of teen star Demi Lovato included obvious alterations to
her midline, and a created a stunning blind spot for irony
considering that the bulk of Lovato's interview was about her
struggle with eating disorders.

This, of course, is nothing new. Images of blemish-free cover
models displaying skeletal arms, enhanced chests and
disappearing waistlines are a time-honored magazine tradition.
Never mind that these women - mostly actresses, models and pop
singers - are already hand- picked for their beauty and,
unaltered, are intimidating enough to the average teenager.

Yet, the breakthrough success of Bluhm's campaign represents
more than a possible end to the era of digital nip/tuck. It
also represents the beginning of a new era of female
empowerment.

Bluhm started her movement on the online organizing site
Change.org, which allows users to share electronic petitions
with their social networks. When petitions like Bluhm's rally
significant support, the site offers the additional assistance
of its expert organizing staff and broad activist network. The
same model is used by SignOn.org, a similar service launched
by powerhouse MoveOn.org, which reported hosting 18,000
petitions on a range of issues in just the past year.

With the power of insta-organization at their fingertips and
their inherent social media savvy as digital mavens, young
women are discovering new ways to leverage their collective
influence and amplify their voices on issues that matter to
them. Now, with the momentum of a successful campaign, Bluhm
and her peers have turned their attention to transforming the
policies of other magazines, including Teen Vogue and Cosmo
Girl.

The crusade against Photoshop might sound like a relatively
trivial issue, but these magazines play an important role in
the lives of young women and in our culture. Teenagers draw
social cues from their pages even as they shun the guidance of
many other adult influences in their lives.

A widespread commitment by teen magazines to more accurately
reflect the reality their readers live could generate a ripple
effect, transforming the way women are portrayed in other
media as well. Indeed, the success of "Girls," the unabashedly
honest and unedited HBO series written and produced by 26-
year-old Lena Dunham, is another testament to the burgeoning
power of young women. With its frank humor and
unapologetically real- body imagery, the wildly popular show
offers real-life girls a healthy dose of self-awareness and
acceptance, while implicitly questioning outmoded beauty
paradigms.

It remains to be seen whether these developments do, in fact,
signal the brewing of a new kind of women's liberation
movement. But the signs are positive. Armed with an arsenal
that enables them to instantly mobilize thousands and wage
multi-front wars via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the
blogosphere, these activist young women are finding their
voices.

If they continue this trend - taking advantage of the new
platforms available to them - their opportunities to create
real change are limitless. It's easy to imagine the short leap
from campaigning against the air-brushing of women's bodies to
protesting against those who are legislating women's bodies. A
new generation that trades digital enhancement for digital
empowerment is well- equipped for the fight.

===

Katrina vanden Heuvel is editor of The Nation (thenation.com).

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