A photo of Cindy Crawford seemingly “unretouched” went viral several months back. The supermodel kept mum about that picture, but recently opened up to Elle Canada and while addressing that hurtful pic she shared 12 lessons she’s learned along her journey of life. We’re highlighting lessons 10-12.
Photo Credit: Elle Canada/Facebook
Lesson N˚10: When life blindsides you, say nothing (at least at first).
Last February, a news anchor for the U.K.’s ITV News posted what she suggested was an unretouched image of Crawford taken from an old shoot with Marie Claire. It became a viral sensation. “I felt that [the journalist] was inauthentic because she acted like this was great but she didn’t check if I wanted this out or if it was a real picture. Why would seeing a bad picture of me make other people feel good? I felt blindsided. I was very conflicted, to be honest. The story had run a year and a half before, and the picture of me in that outfit was from the bust up. I know my body, and I know it’s not perfect, but maybe I have a false body image; maybe I think I look better than I do. I think that most women are hard on themselves. We think we look worse than we do. So I assumed I fell into that category, even though that picture didn’t reflect what I saw when I looked in the mirror—even in the worst dressing-room lighting. We spoke to the photographer, and he was very upset because he didn’t put it out there. He said: ‘Cindy, I’m going to send you the real one and it’s nothing like that. It’s clear that someone manipulated that image to make whatever was there worse.’ It was stolen and it was malicious, but there was so much positive reaction [to the image]. Sometimes, the images that women see in magazines make them feel inferior—even though the intention is never to make anyone feel less. So somehow seeing a picture of me was like seeing a chink in the armour. Whether it was real or not isn’t relevant, although it’s relevant to me. I don’t try to present myself as perfect. It put me in a tough spot: I couldn’t come out against it because I’m rejecting all these people who felt good about it, but I also didn’t embrace it because it wasn’t real—and even if it were real, I wouldn’t have wanted it out there. I felt really manipulated and conflicted, so I kept my mouth shut.”
Lesson N˚11: When life blindsides you, find a teachable moment.
“This is exactly the type of thing that I wouldn’t want my daughter to do to another girl online. It’s social bullying. I’m a big girl and I can handle it, but I used it as a teaching lesson for my own daughter because my kids were like ‘Mom, you don’t look like that!’ They wanted me to go down to the beach in a swimsuit so the paparazzi would take a photo of me, but that would be playing into it. How do I rise above the situation? What do I do? Go on Good Morning America and pull up my shirt and say ‘I don’t look like that’? That didn’t seem like the right response.”
Lesson N˚12: Have no regrets.
“Even the times I failed were the best lessons.”
To read the interview in its entirety visit ElleCanada.com
I really like her “say nothing…at least at first” advice. I think keeping quiet initially really helps you not say off-the-cuff hurtful things in return, and you turn out to be the better man. Or woman, in this case.
I think this is a great post, but it always surprises me how cruel people on the internet can be cool about other’s appearance etc.
I agree with Allie. It’s sometimes very, very hard to sit quietly about something but it’s worth it. While I’m cooling down I get a little satisfaction knowing they’re out there waiting for the explosion that isn’t coming. We talk a lot about “kids these days” and the growing problem in bullying. Kids have had a lot of lessons in bullying via adults.
I’m sure it took a lot of courage to stay silent on the topic and I can see why she was so conflicted. Social bullying is out of control. And, what can you do? The best thing to do is to ignore it and not give it any breath or light. If you try to change the perpetrators, then it seems like shaming and I think we’ve had enough public shaming. thanks
I thought she still looked better than most in those retouched photos! I don’t see what the big deal was about… we all know that models get retouches. She is a beautiful women and bravo to her for how she handled it.
Great article, it is sad the bullying that goes on online, but kudos to her for being strong and rising above it.
Valerie