Mixed Signals: Nigella Lawson Refuses to Airbrush Her Curves for The Taste

Did you hear about the latest celebrity photo airbrushing incident?

The buzz surrounds English food writer Nigella Lawson, who is one of the hosts/judges on ABC’s new show The Taste. Promotional materials for the show include Lawson, who is wearing a form-fitting dress. And it shows the curve of her stomach.

Rounded stomachs are frowned upon in Hollywood, however. Airbrushing techniques are typically used to create a more subtle curve so as to not offend the Hollywood standard.

Lawson refused:

I was very strict and English and told them they weren’t allowed to airbrush my tummy out. Wise? Hmmm. But that tum is the truth and is come by honestly, as my granny would have said.

Lawson’s willingness to be exactly who she is—curves and all—not only impressed me, but also challenged me. No, my photographs are not altered before I post them to the world (via Facebook). But how often do I airbrush the truth of who I am—in character, wisdom, wit, and more—to create the image I want others to see? I enhance a little bit of this and downplay a little bit of that.

I need a bit more of Lawson’s no-nonsense the “tum is the truth” in regard to who I am. The curves of my character that are in need of alignment to the image of Christ are real, honest. Not that I’m proud of them, but they represent where I am, in this moment of time, based on what God has taught me so far. And I can count on God’s deep, enduring love for me to work those “curves” out in time—I do not need to hide them or misrepresent myself because someday, those character “curves” will come into full alignment with the standard that is Christ.

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Mixed Signals is where Erin Straza muses about marketing miscellany in advertising, branding, and messaging.