Screenshot of Julia Bluhm's petition on the Change.org website (© change.org, http://aka.ms/change)

Girl petitions teen mag to stop printing 'fake' photos only

5/1/2012

She's still years from legal voting age, but 14-year-old Julia Bluhm is already trying to make her voice count. The Maine teen has launched a petition asking Seventeen Magazine to print one unaltered, un-Photoshopped, unairbrushed photo spread in every issue. "To girls today, the word 'pretty' means skinny and blemish-free," she writes, noting that impossible media-set standards of beauty may prompt girls to "try to 'fix' themselves," leading to "eating disorders, dieting, depression and low self esteem." Many girls don't realize the images they see are "fake," she says. Bluhm is asking the magazine to offer a helpful dose of reality -- blemishes, back fat and all. So far Bluhm has collected more than 14,000 signatures.

 

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Do you think seeing unaltered photos of models will boost girls' self-esteem?