There are people out there creating this whole industry that teaches little girls A) their looks are paramount and B) their natural beauty isn’t enough… it’s got to be “enhanced” to the point of absurdity wherein the child more closely resembles a soul-less doll than a joy-abounding little kinder.
Does someone have a tongue scraper? I need to clean the awful taste out of my mouth after seeing this site.
This actually turned my stomach.
http://www.naturalbeautiescontest.homestead.com/retouch.html
I love the description on this one… “tears removed”:
http://www.naturalbeautiescontest.homestead.com/retouch4a.html
Scary:
http://www.naturalbeautiescontest.homestead.com/retoucha.html
This is the person’s photography website. Note that most of the photos relate to “Hawaiian Tropic” pageants. I will never buy a product of theirs:
There isn’t a single retouched photo in the bunch that improved the way those kids looked. Quite the opposite, really. I have to wonder if anyone who sees those retouched photos thinks they’re attractive and is motivated to buy whatever product is being pitched.
As the mom of a four year-old girl, I’m trying to help her understand that real beauty comes from inside (not easy, when every prince in a fairy tale falls in love with the princess because she’s so pretty). The good news is that there’s lot of conversation happening around this whole topic. I’m also the moderator on a new site http://www.webelieveingirls.com that’s a place for concerned adults to talk about body image and other issues that face young girls, like media impact, clothing and make-up, values, etc. It’s sponsored by Mattel under the Barbie brand (yes, that Barbie), and they’re truly interested in hearing all the different points of view. I hope you’ll come check it out and tell them what you think.