Finally, A Magazine Cover That Won’t Depress Real-Life Moms

In the same week we saw Demi Moore Photoshopped beyond the point of recognition for a Helena Rubinstein ad campaign comes a totally un-retouched shot of 42-year-old Cate Blanchett. To call it refreshing would be an understatement. That’s because Blanchett looks gorgeous and get this real. I’m pretty indifferent to Blanchett and yet I want to blow up this photo and share it with the world or at least to other moms like me who feel old and haggard and who, despite approaching 40, still spend countless hours obsessing over our facial lines.

The Oscar Award-winner appears on Intelligent Life‘s March/April 2012 cover (a lifestyle and culture mag from The Economist). As Tim de Lisle explains in his editor’s letter:

“When other magazines photograph actresses, they routinely end up running heavily Photoshopped images, with every last wrinkle expunged. Their skin is rendered so improbably smooth that, with the biggest stars, you wonder why the photographer didn’t just do a shoot with their waxwork.

She looks like what she is”¦ a woman of 42, spending her days in an office, her evenings on stage and the rest of her time looking after three young children.”

The truth is, an un-Photoshopped Blanchett is still more beautiful (physically) than your average woman. She’s a Hollywood star, after all, and she happens to be drop-dead gorgeous (those cheekbones!). Still, she looks human and, man, is that ever refreshing! Tim de Lisle goes on to explain that “the shot is at least trying to reflect real life,” which is truly does. He also says, “It’s a curious sign of the times that this has become something to shout about.”

I couldn’t agree more, and yet I’m still shouting about this cover big-time and hoping it’s a sign of things to come.

(Photo: moreintelligentlife.com)