I keep harping on my kids to stop baking themselves in the sun for a tan. But you know how teenagers think they are immortal. I will show them the Crawford photo-- yikes.
I didn’t read it as sun damage; I read it more as stretch marks from having children. I agree sun damage is very aging to skin in general and I’m pretty good about wearing sunscreen on my face everyday during the summer even if I’m not actively going to be in the sun.
And I guess now we know why they never go un-retouched. You can’t win it appears.
It wasn’t her belly I was looking at; it was her upper chest and thighs. Those areas don’t get stretched by childbirth.
They do if you gain any weight while pg.
Most women gain weight all over, not just from the baby.
My breasts were enormous while I was pregnant and for quite a while afterwards. I dare say just one of them weighed more than D!
I wasn’t looking at “those”. I was transfixed by region above, i.e. the scorched-looking expanse around her collar bones. That part of the body doesn’t expand during childbirth.
I think the horrible lighting had a lot to do with the blotchy skin. Her stomach does look like it has a bit of cellulite, but that is probably enhanced too. As far as I’m concerned, this is an enhanced photo, no different than photoshop…just the other way. Her husband took a pic oh her on Valentine’s day, I think in response to this photo. That is what she looks like. However, most of us look better flat on our backs…tummy goes flat and smooth. But you can see her skin looks fine, not blotch and her tummy still looks great.
Is it terrible to think “wow, maybe I look better than I thought for my age”? I think this might be another instance where an extra #20 looks healthier in your 50s. Of course, that same extra weight wasn’t as glamorous when I was 25 lol.
She looks like she was photographed in a department-store dressing room. And we all know how depressing those can be, with all that harsh lighting.
I agree with NEPatsGirl that having a a little extra weight can help when we get older. As our skin loses elasticity it gets thinner and “falls off the bone,” as I like to describe it. I struggle constantly with the question of whether I would rather look better from the neck up (with a few extra pounds) or the shoulders down (at my former “ideal” weight). Right now “neck up” is winning.
I think that over-analyzing a woman’s unflattering photo, (released without her permission, btw), doesn’t do a thing to make me any younger, prettier, or smarter. Beauty is not a zero-sum game, but American women support countless industries that continue to insist we have an attitude of tearing each other down, over-analyzing our self as measured by arbitrary standards, and generally feeling crappy about superficial looks when men have no such buy-in. Men buy magazines about things that they are interested in doing or having. Women buy magazines (and products) that tell them they are fat, they are boring, they are Not Trying and they will end up alone, boring, useless unless they do better. So I don’t much care what Cindy Crawford looks like, period, but I find the conversations about this photo (and the Sports Illustrated cover) really interesting!
I don’t know any woman over the age 50 that buys magazines that feature beauty tips or focuses at all on the body. At our local library the most circulated magazines are consistently cooking ones. When I think of my close friends, it’s their kindness and sense of humor that I think of, not their shape or looks.
The only reason we’re picking this picture apart is because it was posted here. I doubt anyone actually cares about Cindy Crawford or thinks about this after we flip to the next post.
PS - nice avatar greenbutton!
“Women buy magazines (and products) that tell them they are fat, they are boring, they are Not Trying and they will end up alone, boring, useless unless they do better”
If we are going to generalize, I would say that it is MEN who buy magazines that tell them that they (men) are deficient in some way unless they buy that car, fishing gear, a bottle of hair growth gel, some blue pills, etc. or dump their whife who looks like a real Cindy Crawford for a woman who looks like photoshopped one.
^^ But how many women of any age do you know that don’t wear makeup? Are for the most part happy with their body and it’s particular shape, size, and disposition? Don’t stand in the mirror and pull up their face just to see what it looks like without gravity-challenge? (guilty!) Seriously, I just find the contrast between women’s attitudes and men’s attitudes, and social expectations of appearance really interesting.
I do not wear makeup. 
“I don’t know any woman over the age 50 that buys magazines that feature beauty tips or focuses
at all on the body.”
Really? While I don’t necessarily want to know how to apply makeup I am interested in hair, clothing, exercise, fitness, healthy habits, etc.
Maybe I sound crass (and I am no perfect Polly) but I DO judge a bit on shapes or looks. Of course kindness and humor might trump physical appearance but I feel sad when I see other woman who don’t feel worthy or motivated to look and feel good.
I guess I just don’t get why people are critiquing her. She has a pretty normal body. Good for her.
Well, I’m 51 and I do buy fashion magazines from time to time - Harper’s Bazaar and Marie Claire. I like Bazaar because they have features that center around beauty at any age - I read Marie Claire to stay a little more current with my daughter’s world. What do I subscribe to? Runner’s World. I do think about how women are presented in the media and most of the time I’m not happy about it.
I freely admit to vanity. I dye my hair, but I don’t wear makeup; my vanity is loaded with skin care products that my husband would swear cost more than our grocery bill for the month. I’m happy with myself now. I feel better at 51 than I did at 31.
" I struggle constantly with the question of whether I would rather look better from the neck up (with a few extra pounds) or the shoulders down (at my former “ideal” weight). Right now “neck up” is winning."
I had a good chuckle over that sentence. My ‘neck up’ always wins during the winter. In the spring/summer, my body looks better, but I think the loss of pounds makes me look older in the face. It is either round face or round belly.
I also don’t wear make up. Really, never have. Aveeno on my face in the morning, pinch my cheeks for color and put some Burt’s Bees on my lips. That is my daily routine! There are times I think, “you really should know how to apply makeup.” It’s just never been part of who I am.
Most of us don’t have thousands of air-brushed, perfect photos of our 24 year old bodies to measure our present selves against.