What’s the definition of “real?” It’s incredibly relative and yet there’s a strong desire in society to distinguish between “real” and “fake.” A “real” major that will lead to a “real” job and make you “real” money so you can buy a “real” car. One very trendy distinction, however, is the popular use of the term “real woman.” A “real” woman according to media is voluptuous, has stretch marks, cellulite, the list goes on. She is less airbrushed than her celebrity counterpart, which therefore makes her “real.” Does this rather discriminating distinction need to be made? Why are some women “real” and others “fake?” It’s also a term used to comfort those who don’t feel confident in their own skin. By asserting that they are more “real” than the women they see on TV isn’t entirely false, but it hurts womankind by clarifying the difference. There has to be more accurate categories than “real” and “fake” or no categories at all. Shouldn’t we all be women? If someone is curvy, let them describe themselves how they desire. The media shouldn’t be making these distinctions in order to push products. If a woman has a beating heart and has the ability to think for herself, isn’t that all that matters? Her body does not make her real or fake. No amount of plastic surgery should ever quantify a woman as anything but “real.”
The feminist website Jezebel recently paid $10,000 to obtain the original images from Lena Dunham’s “Vogue” photo shoot. When compared with the photoshopped images, the original ones did not look much different. Jezebel tried to uncover some devious plot devised by the “Vogue” editing team to transform a “real” woman into a “fake” one. What they found didn’t match their theory. Dunham looked great as a woman, and it didn’t matter whether she had been airbrushed or not. Jezebel tried to argue, however, that while Dunham was not airbrushed or photoshopped, she could have been changed more drastically. This sort of investigative ploy may seem good natured in its desired revelations, but in reality it’s furthering the categorizing between “real” and “fake.” Jezebel tried to prove that the “real” Dunham was inaccurately portrayed as “fake.” Why is it so important for us to reveal the “real?” No woman is more of a woman than the other.
