Stand-Up

Day 315 (51) – Photoshopping

I get no credit.  I’m forever pigeonholed as being a skinny computer science geek.  Despite all the time I spend working out, I can’t change people’s perception of me.  I took a picture where I was showing my “massive” “guns” and showed it to a friend.  She was surprised.

“Wow, it actually looks like you have muscle on your arms… Did you photoshop them to make them look bigger?”

[BLANK STARE]  I’m not sure which is worse, the fact that she couldn’t believe that I had any hint of muscle, or that she actually thought that I would PHOTOSHOP my own arms.  I mean granted, I could probably take a normal picture of myself, add muscle and a tan, and pretend like I really look like that, but I’ve never actually done it (I swear…).

This reminds me of the “Dove Real Beauty” viral video that came out about a year ago.  It’s amazing that we even find “normal” people attractive anymore, I mean I’ve noticed I’ve become increasingly more attracted to womannequins… (and yes I refuse to claim attraction to a mannequin).

I give Unilever (maker of Dove) some credit for such a compelling marketing idea (helping to boost self-esteem resultant from unrealistic expectations of women’s beauty), except they seem to only be doing it because it’s effective marketing (case in point, their Axe commercials).  I guess their motivation shouldn’t really detract too much from what they’re doing, otherwise most people would never get credit for volunteering.