Letter From The Editor
Letter From The Editor Archives »
December 2008/January 2009
We made it! Or at least made it to the home stretch! As we round the last bend of first semester, we can all breathe a sigh of relief. With midterms and problem sets behind us, it doesn't matter how many all-nighters we pulled or response papers we frantically typed—we're still in the race. And now we've made it to the fun part, the scenic part, with house formals and holiday parties, and then about a million more days of reading period than we actually need. So no matter how worn down you might have felt a few weeks ago, forget about it. Replenished by Thanksgiving, we're ready to charge through this last little bit and finish off the semester strong. So rock your fiercest winter coat, pump up the holiday music, and work it. Let's power through the last leg of the race and enjoy ourselves while we're at it! At Freeze, we're dedicated to helping you. We write all our articles with you in mind—we try to write about things that you'll find relevant, and interesting, and helpful. And we want to do a good job. So on that note, we want to hear from you! Go to the Feedback page listed across the bottom, and let us know what you think—honestly. Tell us if there was an article that was right on the mark, or one that didn't quite hit it head-on. Tell us if there's something you'd like to read about in an upcoming issue—we promise we'll listen. Because it's Freeze's mission to be your source for everything that's bouncing around inside college girls' heads right now, and your feedback is invaluable. So after you send us a letter, finish tackling this semester—turn in your last problem set, hammer out your last Expos essay, and go out both nights this weekend, because we've made it to the home stretch...see you at the finish line! Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year! Freeze Love,
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Dear Freeze Readers, I recently attended a Jean Kilbourne presentation on images of women in the media. In her presentation, Kilbourne emphasized the way in which photos of models are altered to make them appear absolutely 100% perfect. She showed us a picture of a woman, typical of any beauty ad, who was not only wrinkle-, blemish-, and freckle-free, she was pore-free as well. Kilbourne's main point was that the prominence of these images in our society results in unrealistically high beauty expectations by both men and women. Women judge themselves against these images, endlessly striving to become as perfect as the model in the photograph. Many of us here at Harvard experience this drive towards perfection in our schoolwork, our personal lives, and our appearances. We realize the amazing power of Photoshop and are aware that the models we compare ourselves to do not actually appear in real life the same way they do in the pictures. We put the pieces together and, hopefully, some of us realize that physical perfection is impossible. Here at Freeze we constantly strive to emphasize that imperfect beauty is more than possible; it's a reality of life. As a result, we do not airbrush or otherwise digitally-alter the images of our models used in our fashion spreads. We pride ourselves on our use of unmodified images of authentically beautiful student models. As we come into this holiday season, it's important for us all to remember to be thankful of what we have. It's incredibly easy to become wrapped up in ourselves—to focus on our imperfections, that new zit, emerging wrinkles, those extra 5 lbs. you'd like to lose...Perhaps this holiday season the best thing for us all to do would be to stop comparing ourselves to digitally-altered images and start thinking of others. We are all incredibly blessed and uniquely beautiful, so stop obsessing, and start being thankful. Have a beautiful holiday season, Freeze Love,
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