--- title: Not-So-Flawless: Lorde Protests Photoshopping description: Self-proclaimed feminist Lorde joins the re-touching celebrity photos debate by tweeting a real picture of herself, acne and all. canonical: https://time.com/43699/not-so-flawless-lorde-protests-photoshopping/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-31T15:40:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:42:59.652Z og:title: Not-So-Flawless: Lorde Protests Photoshopping og:description: Self-proclaimed feminist Lorde joins the re-touching celebrity photos debate by tweeting a real picture of herself, acne and all. og:url: https://time.com/43699/not-so-flawless-lorde-protests-photoshopping/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Not-So-Flawless: Lorde Protests Photoshopping twitter:description: Self-proclaimed feminist Lorde joins the re-touching celebrity photos debate by tweeting a real picture of herself, acne and all. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Not-So-Flawless: Lorde Protests Photoshopping > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters.  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Mar 31, 2014 3:40 PM UTC  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Mar 31, 2014 3:40 PM UTC Lorde joined the celebrity debate over retouching photos on Sunday. The 17-year-old singer Tweeted pictures from her Sunday concert to her fans—one that had been retouched to make her skin look flawless and another un-retouched photo revealing traces of acne. Though Lorde didn’t make it clear whether a media outlet or fan retouched the top photo, she took the opportunity to express her preference for the real version. It’s been a controversial year for Photoshop. Mindy Kaling [defended her “Women in Television” _Elle_ cover](http://entertainment.time.com/2014/01/07/wheres-mindy-kalings-body-elle-crops-out-stars-curves/), which hid her curves while showing off the bodies of Zooey Deschanel, Allison Williams and Amy Poehler on alternate covers. Lena Dunham [stood up for her lightly retouched _Vogue_ photo spread](http://time.com/9227/lena-dunham-on-jezebel-and-the-vogue-photos/) after Jezebel offered $10,000 for un-retouched version, expecting that there would be a more dramatic difference between the before and after shots than there was. American Eagle [launched an anti-photoshopping campaign](http://time.com/1187/american-eagle-ditches-photoshop-for-new-lingerie-campaign/). And Target had to [apologize](http://time.com/22957/target-apologizes-for-anatomically-impossible-thigh-gap-photo/) for a hilariously bad thigh gap photo. It’s no surprise that Lorde, whose breakout song “Royals” scoffed at the traditional trappings of wealth and celebrity, comes down on the side of anti-Photoshop in this debate. Lorde has posted pictures of herself with acne cream on before. Plus, she’s slammed celebrities for creating a too-perfect persona and capitalizing on anti-feminist lyrics. She [has said of Lana Del Rey’s songs](http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/9-times-when-lorde-was-awesomely-and-brutally-honest-about-o), “\[I\]t’s so unhealthy for girls to be listening to, you know, ‘I’m nothing without you.’ This sort of shirt-tugging, desperate ‘don’t leave me’ stuff. That’s not a good thing for young girls, even young people, to hear.” She had a [similar critique](http://www.bustle.com/articles/8347-why-the-confident-feminist-lorde-is-the-perfect-role-model-for-girls) of Selena Gomez’s hit “Come and Get It”: “I’m a feminist and the theme of her song is, ‘When you’re ready, come and get it from me.’ I’m sick of women being portrayed this way.” And back in October, Lorde [reportedly said](http://perezhilton.com/2013-10-01-lorde-thinks-taylor-swift-might-be-too-perfect-for-young-girls#.UzmBKusafpw), “Taylor Swift is so flawless, and so unattainable, and I don’t think that’s breeding anything good in young girls.” This was of course before the two [made amends](http://www.vanityfair.com/vf-hollywood/taylor-swift-forgave-lorde) and [became BFF](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/lorde-taylor-swift-lesbian%5Fn%5F4934243.html). Still, Lorde seems set on being a feminist role model for young girls—and that begins with an anti-Photoshopping stance. ### PHOTOS: See the Same Woman Photoshopped in Different Countries  Argentina (left), Original Photo (right) Courtesy of Esther Honig  Australia (left), Original Photo (right) Courtesy of Esther Honig  Bangladesh (left), Original Photo (right) Courtesy of Esther Honig  Philippines (left), Original Photo (right) Courtesy of Esther Honig  Bulgaria (left), Original Photo (right) Courtesy of Esther Honig  Germany (left), Original Photo (right) Courtesy of Esther Honig  India (left), Original Photo (right) Courtesy of Esther Honig  Kenya (left), Original Photo (right) Courtesy of Esther Honig  Morocco (left), Original Photo (right) Courtesy of Esther Honig  U.S.A. 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