November 14, 2012
Judge Tom
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Teen succeeds in fighting airbrushed photos in Seventeen Magazine

Julia Bluhm

Julia Bluhm is an eighth grade ballet dancer in Waterville, Maine. She is 14-years-old and led a crusade against airbrushed photos in Seventeen Magazine. Julia started an online petition on Change.org that gathered over 80,000 signatures.

The petition titled “Seventeen Magazine: Give Girls Images of Real Girls” requested that the publication print one unaltered photo spread per month. In May, 2012 Julia and a group of other teen girls delivered the petition and signatures to the magazine’s headquarters in New York City.

Julia Bluhm

Then, in August, 2012, Julia and her Mom met with editor-in-chief of Seventeen, Ann Shoket. Together they worked out a “body peace treaty” that commits the magazine to feature healthy girls and models regardless of clothing size. Seventeen also agreed to refrain from manipulating images except for the occasional Photoshop for stray hair, clothing wrinkle or zit. When touched up, a before and after shot will be posted on the magazine’s Tumblr page.

Congratulations, Julia. The power of one voice is proven once again.

Julia and like activists hope to obtain a similar agreement with Teen Vogue magazine.

Judge Tom

The Author Judge Tom

Judge Tom is the founder and moderator of AsktheJudge.info. He is a retired juvenile judge and spent 23 years on the bench. He has written several books for lawyers and judges as well as teens and parents including 'Teen Cyberbullying Investigated' (Free Spirit Publishing) and 'Every Vote Matters: the Power of Your Voice, from Student Elections to the Supreme Court' (Free Spirit Publishing). In 2020, the American Bar Association published "Cyberbullying Law," the nation's first case-law book written for lawyers, judges and law students. When he's not answering teens' questions, Judge Tom volunteers with the American Red Cross and can be found hiking, traveling and reading.

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