Love Your Body Cuz It Helps You TCB, Yo

I feel the need to begin with the disclaimer that I have never been a fan of Britney Spears’ horrible pop tripe that some people have the nerve to call music. That being said, I think the fact that she insisted her un-retouched photos from a recent Candies ad be released is admirable.

Most everyone knows that ads and pictures in magazines are Photoshopped, but I think when you get to actually see it, it leaves a stronger impression on you. A lot of Britney’s fan base might have grown up with her, but she probably has some younger fans out there that will benefit from seeing these pictures (especially if they are in a particularly vulnerable developmental period in regards to their body image).

I understand that the fashion and advertising industries aim to create images to convey a sort of fantastical world where anything is possible (see: pretty much any Vogue spread styled by Grace Coddington). And part of that world involves creating this perception of perfection. But the fact remains that these images are harmful to women. So even if this is not a new phenomenon, it is still a little shocking to see the differences between re-touched and normal pictures. It is almost like saying certain very natural and very common aspects of the female body are no good, undesirable, and all evidence of them must be erased. This is sad- we need to love our bodies, they work hard for us every day so we can TCB. I sound like a cheeseball hippie for saying so, but it took me a long time (too long) to feel this way myself. I wasted WAY too much time entrenched in negative feelings about my body.

I know these points I am trying to get across aren’t new. But I still think they are valuable, and relevant, and maybe a little overkill will help them sink into the collective unconscious.