Digging Deeper Into Zendaya's Call Out of Modeliste Magazine for Retouching Photos

11BlessedNatural: Digging Deeper Into Zendaya's Call Out of Modeliste Magzaine for Retouching Photos (photo cred: Facebook)

Tuesday, actress Zendaya called out Modeliste Magazine for retouching one of her photos for their November 2015 issue. The actress's thighs and torso were airbrushed to look smaller. The K.C. Undercover star took to social media to voice her concerns. In response to the retouched photo, she said, "These are the things that make women self conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have." The young actress continued by saying, "...I took it upon myself to release the real pic (right side) and I love it..." She then thanked the magazine for pulling the issue with the retouched photos.

In response to Zendaya's words, the editor of Modeliste Magazine, Amy McCabe wrote a letter (which was published on the magazine's website) explaining that after reviewing the retouched photos, she made the decision to pull the issue and replace the retouched photos with the originals. McCabe continued by pointing out the fact that that there is a problem with our standards of beauty and "body shamming" in the media are causing a false sense of  beauty that many people try to achieve. McCabe went on to praise Zendaya's call out stating that she created "a very necessary honest and open dialogue."

Back in February: Zendaya with her faux locs, which were criticized.

Both Zendaya and McCabe's words couldn't have been any more right about the situation. In the last few years, the terms "fat shaming" has been used to indicate when someone is being belittled because of their size. We see commercials, memes, and other forms of media across the internet that send the message that women should embrace their curves and love themselves. At the same time, there are still magazines (like the one above) and other forms of media that push the image that skinny is better. You have women of all ages flipping through them with their minds eating up a false idea of beauty like breakfast. 


I am proud of Zendaya for speaking out  because she chose to use her voice and popularity to promote the love of one's self. One of the best parts about her as a spokesperson is that she is young. I think teens and young adults need to hear that message the most, because they might get it better if it is coming from a celebrity close to their age. I remember being a teen and looking in magazines seeing photos of "perfect" people. I found out later that those photos were not real. The people who were being photographed didn't even looked like the finished photos. Tada! Who was I really aspiring to be like and why? I think that any standards of beauty can be sure to leave someone feeling inadequate, especially American standards. We must embrace self-love.

It is interesting to me when I see the reactions to entertainment news stories where celebrities have gone without makeup. Many of the responses I've seen include some readers calling the person "basic" to indicate they look just like a normal person. This reveals that these photos we see in a lot of media do not reflect realness. Zendaya's call out makes the statement loud and clear: Stop aspiring to be like those "perfect" photos and images you see in magazines and other places! Again, those people don't even look like the photos presented. I like Zendaya's untouched photo better, and I love what it represents! She rocks!

What do you think about Zendaya's call out of the magazine for her retouched photos?


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