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As the cover girl for November's issue of Modeliste Magazine, Z posed for a whole fashion shoot. When she saw the final, retouched images in print, though, she noticed that parts of her body had been slimmed down to make her appear skinnier, and less curvy, than she really is—so she took a stand.

Immediately, Zendaya took it upon herself to share the images side by side on her Instagram with this message: "Had a new shoot come out today and was shocked when I found my 19 year old hips and torso quite manipulated. These are the things that make women self conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have. Anyone who knows who I am knows I stand for honest and pure self love. So I took it upon myself to release the real pic (right side) and I love it. 😍😘"

Luckily, Modeliste Mag agreed that the images were overly edited, and agreed to pull the issues from stands and replace them with the original pics. Editor-in-Chief Amy McCabe even went out of her way to apologize for the pictures in a statement she shared on the Modeliste website (you can read the whole thing here).

"Upon review of the final edited images which had been submitted to us by an independent editing company, together, as a collaboration between myself, Zendaya and her parents, we concluded that the images had been retouched to an extent that was not acceptable and not true to the values and ideals we represent and promote in our publication.... We were honored to work alongside Zendaya and her entire creative team and family for the photoshoot in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and specifically chose Zendaya as our Cover Model for the issue as we have a deep respect and admiration for her openness, honesty, the genuine manner in which she connects with her loyal fan base, as well as her integrity," McCabe wrote. "Modeliste advocates positive body image, self love and the empowerment of women. We are all beautiful and unique in our own way, and it is through these differences that make us who we are as individuals. There are so many issues with public body shaming, negativity on the internet and social media, personal attacks on celebrities, and such an intense focus on weight and body issues in media that has created a distorted reality, and for many, a negative internal dialogue, eating disorders, and an unrealistic and often confused expectation of what is real."

We're so proud of Zendaya for standing up for herself, and for engaging Modeliste Mag (and by extension magazines all over) in a discussion about photoshop, retouching images and what's truly beautiful: being confident in our own skin.

What do you think of Zendaya speaking up for herself and sharing the original photos? How would you feel if someone photoshopped your pictures?

Photos credit: Zendaya, Modeliste Magazine

by Alexa Matthews | 2/1/2016