女孩爱美丽

Real Girls are Beautiful

女孩爱美丽

 

Ever since the magazine, Seventeen, debuted¹ in September of 1944, teenaged girls -- both in the United States and around the world -- have been turning to the glossy² pages of the publishing industry for advice on beauty, fashion, and romance.

 

Traditionally, the images found in these magazines have been of perfection: perfect skin, perfect hair, perfect bodies, perfect clothing. But more and more teen magazines have begun to embrace the flaws that editors know all of their readers have -- and sales are going up because of it.

 

Fourteen-year-old Bryan Barks sits in her bedroom with her best friend, Rachel Amster. Flipping⁴ through a copy of CosmoGirl!, a teen magazine that was launched in 1999.

 

Bryan Barks: (points to a photograph): I will actually like this one, the girl, and she has kind of short, choppy hair. She's wearing motorcycle boots. I actually liked that she's pale. As a pale person myself, I appreciate that, 'cause, you know, not all beauty is tan! (She laughs).

 

Bryan Barks is looking at is of what people in the industry refer to as a "real girl." That is to say, the pale young lady with the thin, choppy hair is not a professional model. She is an average teenager -- someone who would not necessarily stand out in a crowd, because there is nothing about her that is perfect. Turn her over to a professional photographer, make-up artist, and stylist, though, and this average girl becomes an inspiration for thousands.

 

Atoosa Rubenstein helped found CosmoGirl six years ago, and she now serves as editor-in-chief of Seventeen. She says magazines like hers have begun to highlight a different kind of beauty ideal, one that can be achieved by everyone, not just tall, thin girls with clear complexions⁶ and naturally thick hair.

 

Atoosa Rubenstein: When we do a swimsuit feature, for example, we'll have a size 22 girl. When was the last time you saw a size 22 girl in the magazine that was not specifically for plus-size? You don't [see those larger girls]. You know, a lot of times, magazines will say 'plus size', and they're talking about a size 8. Now a size 8 in my book is skinny.

 

Increasingly, magazines like Seventeen and CosmoGirl! have been featuring young ladies who are overweight, or short, or have big noses or small eyes. The message is that girls like this are beautiful, too -- and teenagers seem to be listening. In the last two years, Seventeen magazine has increased its newsstand sales by seventeen percent.

 

But it isn’t just common human flaws that editors are including on their pages. Atoosa Rubenstein, who was born in Iran, says she has also made a concerted effort to get more black, Asian, and Middle-Eastern girls onto Seventeen's pages.

 

Atoosa Rubenstein: All-American' looks very different today than it did twenty years ago, and I felt that that wasn't being reflected. For better or for worse, young girls get their idea of what is beautiful from the pages of magazines. And so when an Indian girl looks in Seventeen and sees a girl from her background smiling back at her, that sends her a message that she is beautiful.

 

The changes have been praised by educators and psychologists -- although the praise has been given cautiously. Jean Kilbourne is a documentary film-maker whose series, Killing⁷ Us Softly, is a critique of the images of women in western advertising⁸. Ms. Kilbourne says the "real girls" that can now be found in teen magazines are a step in the right direction, but she is still highly critical of the industry's practice of retouching photographs, whether those pictures are of "real girls" or professional models.

 

Jean Kilbourne: It's possible now to alter images and make them absolutely perfect. So a computer can not only remove any signs of wrinkles or pores or anything like that from a woman's face, but can also whittle⁹ inches off her waist or her thighs¹¹.

 

Editors acknowledge that re-touching is common in their industry. In fact, CosmoGirl!'s October issue will feature a multi-page "before" and "after" expose on the practice. Industry leaders say they cannot stop re-touching photographs, because if they do, people will stop buying their magazines. They say consumers simply are not interested in seeing every flaw that a person being photographed has. Fourteen-year Rachel Amster says editors are probably right about that, but she is looking forward to next month's feature in CosmoGirl!, because she says it will help her keep things in perspective.

 

Rachel Amster: I think it'll be good to see, to be able to balance out the realistic with the not-so-realistic. But at the same time, I can understand it not being as interesting if the people weren't necessarily perfectly¹² flawless and if magazines all of a sudden decided¹³ we're not going to airbrush anymore, we're going to put them out there the way we find them. 'Cause people wouldn't read it.

 

Teen magazine editors are not the only people in the industry embracing the "real" concept. Advertisers, too, are catching¹⁴ on. Dove, Nike, and Wal-Mart have all started using women who are not professional models in their ads. The layouts have definitely captured the public's attention and generated conversation. Whether they will also generate sales, though, remains¹⁵ to be seen.

 

I’m Maura Farrelly.

 

注释：

glossy [5^lRsi] adj. 光滑的，有光泽的

perfection [pE5fekFEn] n. 尽善尽美，完美

flaw [flC:] n. 瑕疵，缺陷

flip³ [flip] vi. 翻动书页（或纸张）

tan [tAn] n. 日晒后的肤色，棕褐色

inspiration [7inspE5reiFEn] n. 灵感

editor-in-chief 总编辑

complexion⁵ [kEm5plekFEn] n. 面色，肤色

swimsuit [5swimsu:t] n. （女）游泳衣

newsstand [5nju:zstAnd] n. 报摊，杂志摊

critique [kri5ti:k] n. 批评，评论

retouch [ri:5tQtF] vt. 修描（照片）

wrinkle [5riNkl] n. 皱纹

pore [pCE] n. 毛孔

whittle [5(h)witl] v. 切，削

waist [weist] n. 腰部，腰

thigh¹⁰ [Wai] n. 大腿

1 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。

2 glossy   

adj.平滑的；有光泽的

参考例句：

• I like these glossy spots.我喜欢这些闪闪发光的花点。
• She had glossy black hair.她长着乌黑发亮的头发。

3 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

4 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

5 complexion   

n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格

参考例句：

• Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。
• Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。

6 complexions   

肤色( complexion的名词复数 )； 面色； 局面； 性质

参考例句：

• Dry complexions are replenished, feel soft, firm and smooth to the touch. 缓解肌肤的干燥状况，同时带来柔嫩、紧致和光滑的出众效果。
• Western people usually have fairer complexions than Eastern people. 由于人种不同，西方人的肤色比东方人要白很多。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

9 whittle   

v.削（木头），削减；n.屠刀

参考例句：

• They are trying to whittle down our salaries.他们正着手削减我们的薪水。
• He began to whittle away all powers of the government that he did not control.他开始削弱他所未能控制的一切政府权力。

10 thigh   

n.大腿；股骨

参考例句：

• He is suffering from a strained thigh muscle.他的大腿肌肉拉伤了，疼得很。
• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。

11 thighs   

n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿

参考例句：

• He's gone to London for skin grafts on his thighs. 他去伦敦做大腿植皮手术了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The water came up to the fisherman's thighs. 水没到了渔夫的大腿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

14 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。