TEEN WEEK guest post with Jessica Kinni: what's your body image?

Hello Gorgeous!
I'm so excited to introduce you to VH1 Reality tv star and on camera host Jessica Kinni. She has such a great word of encouragement and powerful lesson for you young ladies! Read up!

WHAT EVERY YOUNG WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT AIRBRUSHING

As a professional in the entertainment industry, “airbrushing” is something I see all of the time. In fact, it has been done to many (ok most) of my professional images.  It wasn’t until my little sister (who was 13 at the time) brought it to my attention, that I realized most young people had never heard of airbrushing.  My sister and I were shopping in a record store and she pulled out a cd of Demi Lovato and said, “I want to be like her, she’s perfect.”  

I looked at the album cover and Demi did indeed look “perfect” I replied with, “yes, because she has obviously been airbrushed.”  My sister responded with a look of confusion on her face, “what is airbrushed”? As I began to explain what it was, it dawned on me that me sister was probably in the same boat as many teens and tweens, having no idea about the process of airbrushing, and how virtually all of the stars that dawned the pages of their favorite magazines, blogs, and music albums were airbrushed.

Shortly after that conversation with my sister, Demi Lovato entered rehab for Bulimia and issues related to body image.  Which is not surprising when you think about all of the pressure she must have been under to be perfect, I mean,  even all of her images were airbrushed to perfection.  This really made me think about how important it is to raise awareness about Body Image and the huge role that “airbrushing” plays. 

 Photo courtesy of Height

So….what is it?  Airbrushing is the process by which an image is edited or “retouched” to reduce “imperfections.” 

Some common and basic examples are:

*Whitening Teeth

*Removing Wrinkles

*Evening Skin Tone

*Removing Blemishes

However, a skilled retoucher can do much more than that.

But the BEST way to explain airbrushing is to see it first hand, and this image from an article written about airbrushing in GLAMOUR Magazine is an excellent example.

LINK TO IMAGE :

http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/2012/02/retouching-how-much-is-too-much

 Wow! As, you can see, the couple above has literally been transformed! Even the background has been changed.  That is some serious airbrushing.  Now, why should you care? Because airbrushing is everywhere, and once you learn to recognize it and realize that you can’t try and compare yourself to something that has been edited and retouched, or as my sister said, looks “perfect,” you can take that energy and focus on being the best version of YOU! 

Jessica Kinni is an experienced public speaker who loves traveling to educational facilities and sharing her lecture “Media’s Influence on Self-Esteem and Body Image in America’s Youth.”  Do you have a question or a great example of airbrushing that you would like to share with Jessica?  You can keep up with her on Twitter and Instagram @JessicaKinni or visit her website at www.JessicaKinni.com  

 


Remember: you are beautiful! Thank you for visiting the blog and check back for promotions and beauty giveaways!