retouch this, jackasses

I was in Stockbridge last week and, desperate for something to read, I picked up a copy of Harper's Bazaar, which I would normally avoid like the plague. The woman on the cover was beautiful, of course, but completely unrecognizable as actress Kate Winslet.

A little conversation and a little internet research later, it became clear that there has been a spate of Kate Winslet Photoshopping going on. Apparenly, the lovely Miss Kate has been doing a lot of interviewing and posing, promoting her new film The Life of David Gale.

Here is a picture of the actress at the 2002 Oscars. Note the lovely curves.

On the other hand, here is a picture from the January issue of the British edition of GQ.

Want to know what Kate Winslet herself has to say about this?

"The re-touching is excessive. I do not look like that and, more importantly, I don't desire to look like that. It's a little distressing this is magazine policy -- all magazines. It's very important to me that the majority of the readers who buy these magazines are between the ages of 16 and 35 and a lot are at the younger end of the spectrum at a time when a woman is very physically aware of herself.

I'm very aware, because I did it myself, that young women look at publications like that and see a woman looking beautiful, looking sexy and in their mind looking perfect. Therefore these women strive to look like this idea of perfection.

But it isn't real. People's legs are simply not that smooth. Everyone has a lump somewhere or they have knobbly knees.

I can tell you that they've reduced the size of my legs by about a third. For my money it looked pretty good the way it was taken. I felt quite proud of the fact that I stood in a pair of tights.

It's not that I'm upset or crying into my milkshake -- but it's just a little alarming that sometimes they choose to retouch photographs to an extent that I personally don't agree with.

I want to be clear that I haven't suddenly lost 13kg. I'm exactly the same weight, size and everything as when I went to the Academy Awards last March.

What is sexy? All I know from the men I've ever spoken to is that they like girls to have an arse on them, so why is it that women think in order to be adored they have to be thin? I just don't understand that way of thinking.

I'm certainly not a sex symbol who doesn't eat."

Good for you, Kate.

Posted by volfie at February 25, 2003 12:29 PM