Julia Bluhm, 14, Leads Successful Petition For Seventeen Magazine To Portray Girls Truthfully

Thanks to 14-year-old, Julia Bluhm! Seventeen will also feature models of different sizes, ethnic background, and hair textures.

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Facing pressure from teen girls demanding truthful images of young women, Seventeen magazine has vowed to "celebrate every kind of beauty" and feature only photographs of real girls and models who are healthy.

Editor-in-chief Ann Shoket made the announcement in her editor's letter in the August issue, and her note marks a major triumph for the thousands of teen girls who took part in a petition for the magazine to show images of real girls. Fourteen-year-old Julia Bluhm from Maine started the protest on Change.org with the petition, "Seventeen Magazine: Give Girls Images Of Real Girls!", which requested that the publication print one unaltered photo spread per month. In May, Bluhm and a group of other teen girls delivered the petition and its 84,000 signatures to the Seventeen Magazine headquarters in New York City. The girls protested outside the offices with signs with slogans such as "teen girls against Photoshop."

“I hoped that Seventeen would do this, but I guess I didn’t think it would actually happen,” Bluhm told ABC News. “It’s been really exciting for me.”

The magazine's announcement promised to “never change girls’ body or face shapes” when retouching images. For Bluhm, the measure represents an important step towards more positive media role models and healthier body image for teen girls.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/05/julia-bluhm-seventeen-mag_n_1650938.html?utm_hp_ref=teen