Here’s something completely absurd: apparently, a Utah high school has taken it upon itself to Photoshop its students yearbook photos to look, uh, more modest….
Let that sink in a little.
Yup, while the rest of the world has been using Photoshop as their go-to tool for creating sexier, more attractive versions of their subjects, the school administrators at Wasatch High School in Wasatch County, UT thought it a brilliant idea to use the tool to manipulate its FEMALE students photos to look more appropriate and befitting their conservative values and practices. While we’re definitely not surprised that this kind of thing is can happen in Utah, this school’s action only makes sense to uber conservatives (you know the type).
The yearbook manipulations include altering a student’s hair to look sleeker and straighter (cos apparently, waves and curls makes girls look slutty now), and adding extra pieces of clothing like sleeves and higher necklines, making its students more like Puritans than modern teenage girls. Adding insult to injury, the edits were not even consistent as it seems that they’ve only picked a handful of photos to edit while leaving others alone, even though the subjects’ levels of exposure were pretty much the same. Even worst, the Photoshop work on those photos are probably some of the poorest you’ll ever see, as if they were done by a complete novice (or a 3-year-old).
The students subject to these manipulations are, as expected, angered and humiliated; and many are taking their side. The Executive Director at the Rape Recovery Center has already accused this school’s administrators of “modesty shaming.” By doing the complete opposite of what most people are doing, they’ve actually managed to achieve the same outcome of objectifying the female gender.
The school, however, is standing by its decision and action, saying that they have made it known to their students beforehand this might happen and that “we only apologize in the sense that we want to be more consistent.”
We believe lawsuits and a demand to take those manipulated photos off the year book are in order. What do you think?
