A high school in the US is copping some serious flack after it photoshopped the yearbook photos of some female students.
Wasatch High School in Utah decided that bare shoulders and/or decollage on a young woman are the first step on the road to complete sexual depravity (and probably some kind of Thunderdome-style societal decay involving burnt-out cars and cannibalism), so school officials took it upon themselves to photoshop sleeves and slightly higher necklines onto the photos of girls who were playing it a little too loose with their purity.
Check out the massive difference the editing job makes. It turns these girls from filthy exhibitionists bent on destroying society into virtuous young women who are ready to give birth to a pair of sensible, clean-cut twin boys:
When confronted by local news with questions about why the girls were edited (and the fact that it was only done to a select few, despite many girls wearing similar clothing on the day), the local school superintendant said that there were plenty of signs on the day indicating photos could be photoshopped if they looked inappropriate. He apologised to the affected girls but “only in the sense that we want to be more consistent with what we’re trying to do in that sense we can help kids better prepare for their future by knowing how to dress appropriately for things.”
Well, this experience has certainly prepared them for something in life, although I think that lesson has less to do with ‘dressing appropriately for things’ and more to do with ‘how people expect women to dress appropriately for things’.
The concept of a school having a dress-code is fair enough. I’m obviously not on board with photoshopping to get the desired effect, but I understand that schools have rules about what to wear. But it’s not like these girls were wearing nipple pasties and gold g-bangers. They bared their shoulders and wore slight v-neck t-shirts.
And if the rules dictate that shoulders can’t be seen or slight v-neck t-shirts can’t be worn? That’s not about ‘appropriate dressing’. That’s about teaching young women that their bodies are something to be ashamed of and hidden. That’s about teaching young women that their value is entrenched in their purity currency and that value is at serious risk if they wear the ‘wrong’ thing.
The photos of these girls did not need fixing. A system that is terrified of teenage girls bearing their shoulders is the thing that needs a bloody good edit.
And speaking of photoshop fail, check out our gallery of photoshop fails.
Top Comments
These modesty rules in the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ('Mormon') are not only for females, but males are expected to maintain the same standards. I know other educational institutions and some employers who also have a strict dress code, (nothing above the knee, no singlets, no inappropriate words or images on clothing, no tattoos showing etc.) and this is part of their vision as looking and behaving professionally and not distracting people from their purpose. It's not discriminatory against women, because it applies to men too.Each to their own, but if you agree to attend there, or work for someone with those rules, wouldn't you have to agree to follow them in the first place?
I think it's important to note that the school is in Utah, where most of the population is strictly Mormon and wear religious garments under their clothes that are t-shirt length, and quite high at the neck (as well as some short-like garments).
I'm NOT saying I agree with this - the girls look lovely in the original photos and if they're cool wearing them then nobody else should worry!
I'm just saying I think we should take note that there are cultural differences in places like Utah where the Mormon religion is saturated and they have pretty strict rules on retaining modesty, etc.
Except that if this is a public school, and they admit that it was due to religious reasons, they are in violation of the separation of church and state, and can be sued by the girls.