No More Airbrushing, Seventeen Vows

In the great fashion wars, Seventeen magazine is declaring peace: a "body peace treaty," that is. The venerable teen magazine has long had a policy against changing models' faces and body shapes. But now, thanks to greater awareness of body image problems and an 85,000-strong online petition started by a 14-year-old reader, Seventeen is making its entire staff sign a pledge to not alter images and to feature a diversity of body types, reports the Globe and Mail.

While Seventeen says it makes minor alternations—for wrinkled fabric, bra straps, and the occasional zit—the editors made the pledge to publicly show their concern about young women's self-image. "We want every girl to stop obsessing about what their body looks like and start appreciating it for what it can do," wrote editor-in-chief Ann Shocket. So far, the vow has gotten plenty of good feedback, including from Katie Couric, who tweeted that she was "happy to see Seventeen mag is going anti-airbrush, hope more continue to follow." (More Seventeen magazine stories.)