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No More Airbrushing, Seventeen Vows

Teen mag vows not to change model shapes, feature diversity

By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 5, 2012 12:48 AM CDT

(Newser) – In the great fashion wars, Seventeen magazine is declaring peace: a "body peace treaty," that is. The venerable teen magazine has long had a policy against changing models' faces and body shapes. But now, thanks to greater awareness of body image problems and an 85,000-strong online petition started by a 14-year-old reader, Seventeen is making its entire staff sign a pledge to not alter images and to feature a diversity of body types, reports the Globe and Mail.

While Seventeen says it makes minor alternations—for wrinkled fabric, bra straps, and the occasional zit—the editors made the pledge to publicly show their concern about young women's self-image. "We want every girl to stop obsessing about what their body looks like and start appreciating it for what it can do," wrote editor-in-chief Ann Shocket. So far, the vow has gotten plenty of good feedback, including from Katie Couric, who tweeted that she was "happy to see Seventeen mag is going anti-airbrush, hope more continue to follow."

Beyonce poses next to her cover of Seventeen Magazine.
Beyonce poses next to her cover of Seventeen Magazine.   (AP Photo/Marion Curtis, Starpix)
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COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 2 comments
chillette
Jul 5, 2012 10:09 AM CDT
What? You mean Beyonce won't be snow white anymore?  Models will no longer have 6 inch waists and missing legs?
Jojo
Jul 5, 2012 3:37 AM CDT
It's about time. Now the rest need to follow. Although they may have a loophole. I'm sure they're not going to dictate advertising follows suit, and that can be worse than any story in the magazine itself. I'm looking at you Ralph Lauren. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/celebritynews/8797148/Airbrushed-images-of-celebrities.html?image=2
 

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