Dodai at Jezebel recently posted an Elle cover from May 1986. Like her, I was struck by how un-retouched the photo appeared to be. Dodai says that you can see freckles and moles on her face.
Dodai also argues that the fashion spreads in the 1986 issue look like they are happy and having fun and she compares them to the spreads in the May 2010 issue in which, she says, the models appear somber. See for yourself.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 12
Mikuto — May 16, 2010
Freckles, moles, the creases on her hands, the fact that her teeth aren't 100% perfect and the fact that her hair sort of looks likes mine makes me weep for what we've lost due to retouching and photoshop.
If I'd seen magazines like this as a teen (I was born in '84) I would have been a LOT less freaked out about how "imperfect" my own body is.
swirlygrrl — May 16, 2010
Well, if you'd seen magazines as a teen (which I was then), you would have already been exposed as a kid to the whole "thin thin thin thin thin with big boobs" models during the late 70s. This was also a time when "natural" tans were big and people got as tan as they could - before the high prevalence of smoking and tanning added up to much skin cancer and wrinkles.
Holly — May 16, 2010
her eyes are such a normal size!
Cristiana — August 6, 2010
Can you guys get the Naomi Campbell April 1986 Elle Cover?
smith78412 — April 1, 2013
Looks like Sophie Marceau.
Sfineville — May 10, 2013
That's Bridget Fonda y'all.
kiki — January 7, 2014
The model is Bonnie Berman.