NOT THE NAKED TRUTH
When I saw a naked Deborah Hutton beaming out at me from the newsstands on the cover of The Australian Women’s Weekly, I gasped.
Is this where we’re up to?
Are slumping magazine sales now forcing our female editors to use naked 50-year-old women to get some attention? (Clarification: In this instance, a naked, retouched 50-year-old woman who is actually dressed in a robe from The Photoshop.)
Me?
I love Deb Hutton, always have. But I question her motivation for doing the “naked” cover.
Since the issue came out, both Deb and the magazine have been roundly criticised for the airbrushing of her image and she has come out and defended her position, both on the magazine’s website and in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph.
In the article that accompanies the nude photos she says: “I fear there is too much emphasis on how thin women ought to be and not enough on health and acceptance of who we are, with all our imperfections. So I sit here baring it all for public comment.”
So here’s my comment.
The problem is that all of Deborah’s imperfections have been removed from every shot – sun spot by sun spot. I challenge any living human, man or woman, to point out one. And what troubles me is that the whole story is about how Deb is finally happy with her body at 50, however clearly she, the photographer and editor were not actually happy.
Has everyone already forgotten the L’Oreal ads of Christy Turlington and Julia Roberts that were withdrawn by the British Advertising Standards Authority which sent a powerful message to advertisers?
(In June last year, the BASA banned two ads for being misleading by using excessive airbrushing.)
Women who read magazines are requesting some transparency. If a shot is retouched, they want to know. Even better, put the non-retouched one on the website. That shot could contain credits for the make-up artist; hairdresser AND the photo-shop artist.
I make these observations as a professional in the arena of women’s marketing.
I have worked closely with magazine editors for many years and as the former Marketing Manager of The Australian Women’s Weekly (when the circulation was nearly double what it is today), I appreciate more than most how hard it is for editors to crack that magical cover that draws you in.
Most buyers allocate about 2.2 seconds to make that decision between putting the magazine into the palm of their hand and then releasing it for scanning before popping it into the bag or basket.
It’s a very difficult job. Those that seem to be consistently good at it – the greatest I’ve seen – have one thing in common: they live and breathe the same air as their audience.
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60 Responses to this article
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Kev January 4, 2012
Could you imagine ACMA banning an airbrushed ad as misleading? I can’t.
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Jo Johnstone January 4, 2012
But who does buy these magazines???
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Siggy January 4, 2012
I’m a former magazine lover who has migrated to blogs. What I like about blogs is the diversity – diversity of voice but also of looks. I especially love fashion blogs with real women styling clothes in individual ways, for example frocksandfroufrou.com.
I don’t mind a real body article for example this one -http://www.danimezza.com/2011/09/danimezza-naked-in-cosmopolitan-health/ . Magazines need to wise up a little. If they are going to survive in these competitive times they need a little honesty and to respect their readers’ intelligence.
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Danimezza January 14, 2012
Aww thank you Siggy x
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Doug Ingram January 4, 2012
Jane, thanks for this article. I’m a late-40s aged man who lives in bewilderment at seeing famous/prominent women trying to look younger all the time. I actually like lots of helpings of reality in my life.
There’s been an ad on TV for a few months featuring Jane Fonda pushing something or other. It gives me a laugh because I know how old Jane is and there’s no way her skin is that smooth, soft-looking and supple. I figure that I’m not the only person in the world who has an idea of how old the lady is, so why does she even pretend to be so young?
Ladies, it’s OK to be in your own skin and be who you are. There are real men out there who accept people for who they are.
One thing in your post that made me laugh was your comment that “The last time I sat in research groups…Neither did we speak of the envy of other women’s bodies.” YEAH, RIGHT! None of you said it out loud but seriously, I find it hard to believe that nobody in that room didn’t envy something about the body of one of the other women in the room. Maybe I need to get out more but I have NEVER met a woman who hasn’t wanted to look like another woman in some way, thinking that they have something that she doesn’t.
For sure, there are plenty of misogynist, women-objectifying bastards out there in the world of men who belittle women and judge them for their looks. For those of us who don’t, though, it’s damn frustrating to compliment your wife, or daughters, or female friends/relatives just to hear them say “yeah but I’ve put on weight”, or “yeah but I wish that my (insert body part here) was different”. I won’t give up trying to bless these women in my life but sometimes you wonder what the point is when your compliments are constantly deflected by comparisons to other women.
Please keep posting commentary like your article. It needs to be said, read and taken to heart.
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Serena January 4, 2012
I am one of those regular readers of the Women’s Weekly – my mum buys me a gift subscription each year. Sometime last year I seem to recall ‘the Weekly’ made a big show of putting an unairbrushed photo of Sarah Murdoch on the cover of the magazine, commenting on how important it is for us all to be natural and real in our own skin.
It’s all about what sells in the end I guess! -
Carolyn January 4, 2012
I’m 48. I would never buy this magazine. I don’t know any of my contemporaries who would buy The Weekly.
My mum used to but now in her 70′d she buys the English Women’s Weekly.
The DH cover is ridiculous. I would be very interested to find out whether or not it does increase sales.
I am more inclined to think that it has created a lot of media coverage causing people like me to pick it up at the grocery store, look at the photos and put it down again. -
Mary January 4, 2012
I’ve always thought Deborah Hutton was lovely. She’s always been fresh and classy. I met her once about 8 years ago and she’s beautiful and warm. It’s a bit sad when 50 year old women feel the need to get their gear off in public though. It doesn’t offend me but why do it? I hope we are about a bit more by then. I wouldn’t buy the mag anyway. I find the Weekly boring at the best of times and I’m 44. On the other hand she obviously works hard to look good and has always been consistent in looking healthy. Promoting good health as she has always done is important too but there must be better ways to do it. If she’s brushed….and unless the years are unusually harsh on me…she must be…I don’t know whose decision that was…if she wanted it brushed then it contradicts what she is supposed to be promoting. Good health is about doing your best to keep yourself feeling fit and well, not relying on a computer to present a fictitious and largely unattainable image. One last thing….she hasn’t had any babies and maybe you do look like this if the little tikes haven’t ravaged your figure haha.
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NNareen Young January 4, 2012
Good call Jane. Wasn’t the point supposed to be that DH is happy to be on a cover nude as a 50 year old woman? So why is she airbrushed to not be a 50 year old woman? I like the job Helen McCabe’s been doing at the Weekly but I’m sick, sick, sick of the fashion/beauty/advertising industries (and much more sick of the celebrity industry. which is just weird) Any non-Anglo person is still written up as an ‘exotoc’ oddity and there seems to be very little understanding in Australia as to the actual market. Nicole Kidman is still held up for her ‘Aussie’ beauty (the look of the small but vocal North Shore girl minority). Whoever makes the decisions sure doesn’t walk in the same Australia I, and most readers, do. Like others, I’ve turned to the blogs. I get asked to comment/write all the time for things and I’ve chosen The Hoopla because to me, Wendy has always represented the’ norma’l Aussie chick – loud, arsey, opinionated, open to and supportive of difference (she can’t help it if she supports Manly). Jane’s comments, and the subsequent ones from punters, reinforce my gut feeling that the viewsrepresented on this website are what’s normal, not an airbrushed ex-model (gorgeous as she undoubtedly is, in a 1970s, contrived ‘Aussie’ kinda way).
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Mary January 4, 2012
PS Loved Doug’s post
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Jodes January 4, 2012
42 year old here, and I used to buy nearly every magazine I could get a hold of. One thing that I liked about AWW was it was one of the few mags with regular advertising from plus size fashion stores – every other fashion magazine liked to completely ignore the market and still does. But AWW’s conservative stance and spruiker of Ch9 shows puts me off.
I didn’t buy the Deb Hutton issue, because I think its setting unrealistic body/ageing expectations for other women in my age group and upwards. Like another respondent said, I like blogs for the diversity (and honesty) of opinion. Blogs will also discuss and celebrate plus size fashion, not ignore it.
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Helen January 4, 2012
Couldn’t agree with you more – authenticity is what makes me want to buy a magazine, read a tweet etc. Let’s see the real photo vs the doctored one.
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Kylie January 4, 2012
Funny – I saw it and went doesn’t she look fantastic and how brave for doing it and feeling like crap because 10 years her junior I look like her mother – knowing obviously that airbrushing was involved ..
My husbands comment ? ” it’s amazing what thousands of dollars of cosmetic work and digital photography can do – she wishes she looks like that ”
We just don’t get it do we ???? -
jay sanders January 4, 2012
I’m 52 and pretty happy with my body due to the same care Deborah talks about. But hey! My skin is no way as smooth and silky as Deborah’s! At 50, it just isn’t! I think the air brush may have gone all over – thighs included.
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MrsP2011 January 4, 2012
Jay, I have a friend who is about your age, she is Australian of Russian parentage and she has the most beautiful skin, just like Deb’s photo. Beautiful skin all over does exist on women over 50.
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MrsP2011 January 4, 2012
Oh please! Couldn’t you leave this one alone? Your opposition has already done it to death to the tune of nearly 500 responses, mostly negative and, quite frankly, bitchy. But given the demographic that it appears to attract, that is not surprising. Sunrise got in on the act also this morning. Must be a slow news week. Dear Hoopla, try and do it first please, before the opposition – or else don’t go there. You are usually on the ball, what happened this time? For those who have “contemporaries” who wouldn’t buy the magazine, here’s a bit of information for you to ponder. Who reads this magazine? – “The Australian Women’s Weekly is the country’s premier magazine with the highest circulation and readership of any title. It sells nearly half a million copies and reaches 2,177,000 people every month.” Well, who reads it is people like me and no, I’m not a half-witted, unintelligent person, not by a long shot. Who cares if Deb Hutton is front and centre in the nuddy – tastefully, I might add, and SHOCK! HORROR! she’s also been air brushed! Actually, the correct term is “photo manipulation”. Here is a further piece of information from Wikipedia: “Before computers, photo manipulation was achieved by retouching with ink, paint, double-exposure, piecing photos or negatives together in the darkroom, or scratching Polaroids. Airbrushes were also used, whence the term “airbrushing” for manipulation. The first recorded case of photo manipulation was in the early 1860s, when a photo of Abraham Lincoln was altered using the body from a portrait of John C. Calhoun and the head of Lincoln from a famous seated portrait by Mathew Brady – the same portrait which was the basis for the original Lincoln Five-dollar bill.” So, tell me, what’s the issue 150 years later? Oh! I see. Abe Lincoln wasn’t nude. And Carolyn, by the way, aren’t you aware that it is rude to pick up a magazine in a shop, flick through it and then put it back down? It is rude and some newsagents will not hesitate to tell you so. And this, My Dear Tent Dwellers – “I have to wonder, are magazines whirling us into a world where only the wealthy will be “perfect” and “beautiful”? Pardon me, but that’s a crock of shit and you know it. I am 65, my body has succumbed but I am still beautiful – inside and out and definitely not wealthy. Deborah Hutton chose to do this photo shoot, naked and touched up (forgive the pun). That was her choice, I applaud her for it. It’s a beautiful photo of an equally beautiful woman. I looked at the photo and thought, Wow! That’s beautiful, maybe I can try a bit harder myself, beautiful as I am, always room for improvement. Surely that’s a good thing. And aren’t we lucky to live in a country where we, as women with freedom, we can make those choices. Personally, I would feel uncomfortable doing a nude photo shoot but that’s just me. But do a photo shoot and get rid of my double chin? I’m there. And for someone who has such an impressive CV, yes Jane, you are a little out of step here.
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Paula January 4, 2012
Hi MrsP2011,
If you mean by ‘opposition’ the Mamamia site, I was thrilled to see this post today as it said everything I had expected Mia Freedman to say in her post and yet she gushed with praise for it, despite her former role on body image.
I don’t see these two sites as opposition at all, they are quite different in their approach and, I suspect, reader demographics.Well said today, Jane. I nodded my head all the way through it.
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PaulineB January 4, 2012
What opposition??? And I don’t watch sunrise for heavens sake (or the other one, or Tracey’s dodgy builder show…)
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JanieJones January 4, 2012
I’ve been watching this play out in the media for a couple of days and all that keeps running through my head is ‘how does this promote positive body image?’ which is exactly how it’s being touted.
NEWSFLASH: The genetically blessed Deborah Hutton was ‘crippled with insecurities’ during her highly successful international modelling career. Those completely irrational insecurities continued throughout her TV career, now at age 50 she’s come to terms with her ‘flaws’ and here she is posing kind of nude – how brave of her, hear her roar.
How completely out of touch with reality can someone be? Because she then goes on to say “There are parts of my body I don’t like. There are bulges, and cellulite (thankfully I was sitting on that) but I didn’t want retouching to minimise any wrinkles, or lumps, or make my shape any different. I just felt that some of the sunspots, from years of sun damage, were unsightly”
LIAR: the body in that photo is completely free of wrinkles, lumps, bulges and cellulite – that is clearly NOT the body of a 50 year old woman.
Deborah doesn’t care about positive body image and neither does the Australian Women’s Weekly. If they did, they would be honest about the photoshopping, according to her statement above all the photoshopper did was remove some sun spots – apart from the sun spots and the cellulite she is apparently sitting on Deborah is absolutely flawless – BUT ‘there are parts of her body she doesn’t like’
IT JUST DOESN’T MAKE SENSE. -
Julie Gale - Director Kids Free 2B Kids January 4, 2012
Thanks for this article. The title should have read ‘Fabulously Photoshopped at 50!’
Body image is the number one concern of teen girls and eating disorders, body dissatisfaction anxiety & depression are at unprecedented levels.
DH ‘s airbrushed pore free skin makes her look smoother and more taut than a teenager.
Professor Marika Tiggeman from Flinders University specialises in the role of media on body image. Her studies show that – girls who had greater exposure to women’s magazines, perhaps belonging to their mothers or sisters, were found to be less satisfied with their appearance.
I hope more women switch to online forums so that these images are not laying round the house impacting on the self esteem of all who see them.
Media literacy might help but it’s not a panacea..industry must be held accountable. -
Jackwafabwa January 4, 2012
Oh please what is the big deal about a bit of disclosed airbrushing? She disclosed it, it’s not like we were misled. And it’s tasteful, not over the top, not a total misrepresentation. Can you imagine the awful stuff that would have been said by the online trolls if there was blemishes for all to see? And like DH says herself.. how is getting a spray tan, having her hair & makeup professionally done that different from a bit of digital improvement?
The reality is most wedding photography and portrait shoots benefit from a little bit of airbrushing these days. Heck, I’ve been known to use a bit of photoshop on my own personal photos before posting them to Facebook. So why the double standards when it comes to celebrities??
I agree that too much airbrushing is bad for body image. I agree that beauty ads and the like can be a total misrepresentation but where do we draw the line? Who wouldn’t want to look their best butt naked or otherwise on a magazine cover? Let’s come back to reality ladies.
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MrsP2011 January 4, 2012
Touche`. Give this person a beer.
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JanieJones January 4, 2012
Fair points but clearly she didn’t disclose all of it, in reality her neck is quite lined – no big deal but be honest – the AWW cover is heavily photoshopped.
Deborah said : “The lines and wrinkles I have earned over the years remain as they are” – not true.
This is what her neck actually looks like http://www.smh.com.au/national/hutton-gives-west-the-hump-20110409-1d8nf.html
And Deborah has had quite a public battle with skin cancer, she could have used this as an opportunity to show Australian women how their bodies will look after too much sun rather than photoshopping it all out, perhaps?
http://womansday.ninemsn.com.au/celebrityheadlines/8267472/deborah-hutton-my-cancer-battle
For me the biggest issue is that they have framed it as a positive body image story and it’s just not – it’s a vanity exercise.
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Jane Caro January 4, 2012
Great article, Jane, and I agree with every word except the phrase “women are their own worst enemies”. We’re not, you know, we simply absorb sexism and misogyny into the marrow of our bones and then use it against ourselves. That’s how prejudice works. It isn’t just something men do to women, or whites do to blacks, or straights to gays. The reason discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation or religion is so powerful is because it is also absorbed by those in the ‘out’ group. I’ve heard it called the ‘asbestos’ effect – sexism is in the very walls of our society and all of us breath it in. But if you want to know who your worst enemy is – my advice is follow the benefit. As long as smart, effective women divert far too much of their precious energy into worrying about our shape, size and features, we are less of a threat.
Women have absorbed misogynistic and sexist messages – some of us with our mother’s milk – and most of us are doing the best with them that we can.
I have never heard a man say ‘men are their own worst enemies’. It even seems weird to write it. I think that’s because we accept men as human in all their individual variety but women (even to ourselves) remain first and foremost women. That’s sexist, to me. -
Jane Caro January 4, 2012
Never ignore sexism, Wendy, always arc up – as you and I both do – but resist the desire to blame women as if they are some kind of homogenous group.
No doubt you are correct that I should have started my post where I finished it, but it just unfolded as I wrote it. A writer in need of a good editor like you.
And a very happy new year to you too, btw and all at Hoopla. Special love to Jane -
PaulineB January 4, 2012
When I saw this AWW cover, I once again paid homage to the miracle work of Photoshop and my husband spent a while working out just how old Deborah is (no way would we buy the mag to find out!). I don’t think they realise what a disservice they do to themselves with these images constantly gracing the front cover. And I feel sorry for the celebs when they look in the mirror and see….. reality? I very rarely buy magazines these days – why would you when sites like this provide such quality content.
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Top Bird @ Wee Birdy January 4, 2012
Apart from everything else that Jane has said, I would have loved the un-retouched photo on the cover – sunspots and all – if only to demonstrate exactly what happens after 30 years of sunbaking. Australian mags have glorified tanned skin for years, yet we never see the consequences of sun damage (ie. wrinkles, pigmentation, sun spots and cancer).
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Emma January 4, 2012
Interestingly Masterchef winner Julie Goodwin is on a cover in New Idea this week in a swim suit, and quite frankly I find that much more gutsy and inspiring. Also it probably had more impact on me in sending out the message of being comfortable in your own skin then the Deborah Hutton former model and hot tottie cover.
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Kazarh January 4, 2012
seen the interveiw on T.V and Deb looked great ,but much older than in shoot, may have hair brushed her face, I think her face was used on a younger body! that body looks too perfect…
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Mary January 4, 2012
The photo does look a bit strange…almost out of proportion. Giving poor Deborah a break for a while….there is something really odd about the actual photo…despite the airbrushing
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Siggy January 5, 2012
I agree! After this discussion I had another peek when I was at the supermarket and the proportions are very strange. She looks a little like Golem from Lord of the Rings shot through a golden filter.
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eilish January 5, 2012
Out of proportion? They have photoshopped most of her body out of the image! Look at it! She has arms and lower legs, and at least one breast is suggested, but the photo seems to suggest her right thigh is her body!
My eyes hurt, now.
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Nareen Young January 5, 2012
This just gets better. Today’s remarks – setting up false competition between this and another site is complete bollocks. There’s room for plenty of views and plenty of sites. Secondly, completely agree with Jane C re the worst enemies bit. I hear it often, and from women. Enemies in what, exactly? The constant battle not to be exactly like men? It’s so often said when we disagree with each other, or behave in that most undesirable way, with emotion. And it’s always said to belittle, and it’s very often said of feminists. Now my own rant. Deborah Hutton, I was reserving judgement on you until today when I read that you’re upset. WHAT DID YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN when you agreed to pose nude for the cover of aNational magazine, regardless of your age? That everyone would just walk past the newsagents? People are entitled to, and will, discuss it, and as I’ve been saying the past few days, I’ll bet my last dollar that half of the straight men and half of the Lesbians ( of a certain age demographic, in both cases!) in my suburb alone are running to the 711 now
to make sure they get a copy. That’s what happens when you do a nuddy shot. Dur. -
Sally January 6, 2012
Don’t look to god to help us – she’s still exhausted from creating Anna Funder.
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Helen January 8, 2012
I didn’t have a problem with the Photoshopping of the cover. But I also think Hutton was naive to think it was going to generate criticism.
And it seemed a bit disingenuous to go for an impromptu swim the day after the controversy broke and then try to manipulate the supposedly candid shots: http://acurrentofair.blogspot.com/
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Biggerthanaverage January 8, 2012
“They say real girls ain’t never perfect, and perfect girls ain’t ever real”… Drake.
How do women who transform their bodies by surgery and other ‘magical’ techniques digest the created illusion? Do they consider themselves real or do they know it’s a visual trick and they are a false self?
Doesn’t AWW want me to feel like crap when I instinctively compare my 50 year old body with DH? -
Bridget January 9, 2012
My fifteen year old daughter celebrates all things fake; fake nails, fake hair, fake tan, fake lashes, fake laugh and fake face- who knows what her inner world is saying.Perhaps it’s a protective coat from defined realities or an elongated dress up phase? Whatever, I am fighting a loosing battle suggesting she nuture and celebrate who she is without the cladding, when she bares witness to older and wiser women going the bogus route.
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Annoyed January 9, 2012
What is with all the moaning!? You complain when mags put a 20-year-old stick thin model on the cover and then slag them off for putting a healthy 50-year-old real woman on there! I’m glad Deb’s on the cover – she looks great and I hope to look that fab at a half century. As for a little air-brushing, every cover has it, and yes all readers are clued-on to that. Big deal. Clearly it’s not been over-used here. For once, can Aussie women get behind Aussie women?! I don’t want to see another Angelina Jolie cover over and over do you?!
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Jo Johnstone January 9, 2012
enough already!!
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Biggerthanaverage January 10, 2012
Why?
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Jo Johnstone January 11, 2012
inner beauty is what interests me
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Seana Smith January 10, 2012
I subscribe o AWW on my iPad…. if I didn’t I wouldn’t have bought this issue in protest.
If 50 year old women really look like that, I cannot wait for the next two years to pass!!
But seriously, DH is a role model… she would be better off staying real and not airbrushing away the years. She’s earned her wrinkles, sunspots etc etc… we all need to be proud of our ageing, sea I.
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SandsofTime January 10, 2012
Women beware women indeed. Jane makes the point that Photoshopped images shoudl be identified – in fact they are, in microspcopic print running along the inner spine alongside the photo. I assume, perhaps unfairly, that this eases the AWW concsience just a little. However there’s a difference between photoshopping out a stray shadow in the background and taking ten years off the subject. AWW how about a little more openness about what has been Photoshopped?
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Biggerthanaverage January 10, 2012
Jane’s highlighted comments about the whirling world of the “wealthy” and their capacity to buy and create perfection and beauty, is nothing new….the rich and powerful reconstruct many things, and those with less do the best they can. And mostly it’s more real and gorgeous.
