Amber “Abby” Sepulveda

The models you have in Vogue are too beautifully surreal. They make me and other teen readers feel inferior and ugly.

Do you think women can’t be pretty unless they are skinny? Whatever happened to “beauty is skin deep?”

If you make people believe that they are ugly since they don’t look like the women in Vogue, they will do things to change their natural looks. Look at the folks around you who don’t look like models, why not use them in your magazine? People of all colors and ethnicities can be beautiful. I’ve seen many white girls in your magazine – but where are the Blacks and Asians?

In my world, big breasts and a round butt rule. Where are my people in the pages of Vogue?

The models are all wearing too much make-up; some look like mannequins or cartoonish characters such as Betty Boop. You make us feel bad about ourselves and the next step might be that we need some surgery to look better. Are you saying people must wear make-up to be pretty? Whatever happened to “naturally pretty?”

My friends tell me that my nose is too big, not like a model’s nose. So I question myself about liking it when others don’t. Mine is my Daddy’s nose and it was a gift from him. And to be honest, I’m proud of it whether someone else likes it or not.

Aren’t models skinny because most are on drugs or are anorexic or bulimic? Some students in my class read Vogue and look at these girls and say “I wish I looked like that” or, “one of these days I will become that skinny.”

I’ve noticed that many of my friends have been skipping meals so that can get a model’s figures. And everybody knows that if you skip breakfast in the morning before going to school, your brain won’t have enough energy to think, which is very bad for learning. My friend is picking the nutritious stuff off the salads her mom makes and is eating just tiny portions of lettuce. I’m afraid she’s going to become anorexic.

People need to love their own beauty no matter what: fat or skinny. Beauty is on the inside, not on the outside, and natural beauty trumps all. Being pretty or having good looks doesn’t necessarily make you more talented in life, so why are those people picked to be in Vogue?

Aren’t eating disorders a consequence of comparing ourselves to models such as those in your magazine?

Dear Vogue, when I get my braces off next month, will you please put me in your magazine me: an Asian-Latina naturally beauty with her Daddy’s nose?

Sincerely,

Amber “Abby” Sepulveda

This is a viewpoint of a teenager; a consumer of today’s trends. How do her words make you feel about the images American teens are seeing in fashion magazines?

Photograph Credit: Dr. Sabrina Segal