Rihanna Navy PRIDE

RiRi is one of the most talked about names in the world right now. She has had huge success especially with her last two albums, Loud and Unapologetic. She has also recently launched a clothing line and is about to start a world tour, (which I will be attending in MPLS March 25th!!). Ri is a fashion icon and is idolized by many. Despite what people think I have always been a huge supporter of Rihanna as a person and lets be real, she makes ridiculously catchy tunes. 

Its hard to miss the domestic case that surrounds Rihanna and Chris Brown. It's been talked about and talked about again. Everybody seems to have an opinion on their relationship and her actions. It's safe to say Rihanna hasn't always made the best choices and her instagram is pretty controversial. Being in the media your every move is watched, but Rihanna has embraced and perfected the "no fucks given" attitude. 

I've felt an overwhelming amount of compassion for her in the last couple years because she gets a lot of heat for her choices and the person she is. SO here are my personal points of view on the publics biggest issues with her. 

1. Rihanna is NOT afraid to be sexual or afraid of her sexuality. She is a 25 year old woman marketing herself as a product and making multi-millions. I would agree that it would probably be alarming to hear my 10 year old daughter singing "suck my cockiness, lick my persuasion." It doesn't take a parent to know she isn't the best example to the younger audience. HOWEVER, RiRi is portraying sex in a way that it isn't inherently bad! Rihanna self-objectifies herself at times, but overall I think her message is to talk about females' OWNING their sexuality. In other words she isn't afraid to say how she likes it and lets it be known that her pleasure is central, not his. 

2. Chris Brown is obviously back in her life. The two have been posted photographs, collaborated on her album and have been spotted at the Grammys getting cozy. After the assault Ri was forced into the spot light as a poster child for domestic violence. A role she never asked for or imagined. Domestic relationship are very toxic, complex and cyclical, something that Rihanna has expressed in her music. For Rihanna's sake many wish and don't understand why she wouldn't cut Chris out for good but the truth of the matter is, she is HUMAN, just as imperfect as the rest of us. She is trying to work through a relationship with somebody who she has had a heavy past with and placing judgement and opinions on a situation that we really only know half of isn't going to change or make it any better. We have absolutely no idea what goes on her in head, but it has been made fact that Rihanna has had very little positive male influence in her life. She has had a rocky relationship with her father. He has reportedly fat shamed her multiple times in the past and even stands up for Chris Browns actions stating "everybody's entitled to make mistakes in their life." 

My point is Rihanna is a strong woman. She has made it through adversity under the spot light of the media and has used her experience to grow. She perceives a hard posture but we often forget because she is a celebrity that she is also a woman. A person. Who is entitled to make mistakes and deal with issues the best she knows how. I might be standing up for Rihanna but god damnit she deserves it. 

Lay off a little, shall we? 

photoshopped society

This past summer I lived in New York City interning for a high end fashion and luxury lifestyle publishing company. The company published 10 magazines throughout 10 major cities around the country. Gotham, La, Boston, Vegas, Philadelphia to name a few. These magazine were filed with celebrity gossip, parties, spreads about the latest and greatest must have gaudy fashion trends. I was hired on as an intern this summer in the digital imaging department, which was one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. Soon as Spring semester commenced I packed my entire wardrobe into two suite cases. Starting the internship I did not know what to expect. I assumed filing and cleaning would trap me on the 7th floor building from running wild and free (with my credit card) in this bright, wild city.

It surprisingly taught me a lot more than that. Throughout my work day I would receive request for several different things which included using a track pad and pen tool to outline anything from jewelry to celebrities. The other request I did was photo retouching. That meant cleaning up skin blemishes, "slimming" figures and correcting skin color. The first few weeks I watched on as the senior digital imager manipulated females to fit societies idea of "perfection". My first major request was Bethany Frankel's summer spread where my assignment was remove the wrinkles and spots on her under eyes and forehead. Following that assignment I received a spread with a Sport Illustrated model who to any eye would think she was a very skinny female. My request we to slim her inner thighs, stomach and arms. I was very uncomfortable completing the request but felt obligated as this had been the field I dreamed of being apart of for so long.

Photographs have consumed my life, I think it is such a powerful tool in society. Yet the media has figured a way to manipulate perfectly normal and healthy human beings into unrealistic figures. These images are seen by thousands of male and female readers daily and give off a perception of wealth, power and privilege. Young generations see these images and want to encompass them, so they wrap themselves into a world that has been digitally manipulated to be glitzier, skinner and ageless.

This worries me as an aspiring fashion and documentary photographer that society cannot trust everything they see. I want to be a photographer who celebrates the beauty of aging and the curve of the female figure. I want to teach woman and men to look at beauty in a different way than how our media presents it.

Believe it or not, go open a magazine, every image, every single image in that magazine has been manipulated in one way or another.