To the retailers, advertisers, influencers, gamechangers, bloggers and anyone who is on social media, we ask you to “be the change”. You are in the position to positively impact so many women and to set the standard for other forms of media to use more transparency in their production as well. You lead, inspire and influence millions of people around the world and we need your help to create a positive change. Please share your stance on the amount of photo retouching used in your pages and join us in starting a conversation about the use of Photoshop in media. We love Seventeen magazines, ‘Body Peace Treaty’ for example. With media more accessible than ever and reaching the next generation younger and younger, the time is now. To the women and men who are the driving force behind these magazines, let’s join together to make a change that will positively impact our daughters, friends, sisters and the young women and girls in our communities. 'From 2006 to 2013, the rate of females admitted to hospital in Canada for an eating disorder was stable, with one striking exception: among 10- to 19-year-olds, the rate increased by 42 per cent over the last two years.' (Canadian Health Institute).'47% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures.' (Prevention of Eating Problems with Elementary Children).(USA Today, The Renfrew Center Foundation for Eating Disorders) 69% of girls reported that magazine models influence their idea of the perfect body shape, yet the body type portrayed in advertising as the ideal is possessed naturally by only 5% of American females.When you add photo retouching to already heavily produced images it elevates the problem even further. It perpetuates low self- confidence, depression, anxiety, over-spending and eating disorders. Research shows that the beauty ideal represented in the images in your magazines is detrimental to our health. Remove a pimple or that crazy stray hair if you must, but other than that let their natural beauty shine!

We want to see cover girls and editorial in your magazines that don’t alter the already perfect bodies of the women you feature and don’t erase their fine lines or the unique attributes that make them truly beautiful.

The extreme post-production editing used on the models in your photos just don’t represent real women, and we feel it’s time to change that. Elle, Glamour, Women’s Health, Self, O Magazine, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Vanity Fair - we love you, but we’d love you even more if we saw a change on your covers and in your editorial this year.

Photo glamour naturel elle magasine