Everyone wants their partner to love them just as they are. Unfortunately, some people let their own insecurities creep into their relationships and might end up projecting their feelings on their loved one, which can cause problems.
This is exactly what happened when a man began airbrushing his girlfriend’s photos because of the mean comments his mom made about her. When his girlfriend found out that he had been retouching her pictures for a year, she couldn’t believe he’d do that.
More info: Reddit
Hiding your partner’s true self from your family can often signal that there are bigger issues to work on in the relationship
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The poster explained that she had been dating her boyfriend for two years and that his family only knew about her through the photos that he sent them
Image credits: beststudio / Freepik (not the actual photo)
One day, the woman found retouched photos of herself on her boyfriend’s phone, and she realized that he had been editing her pictures for a year
Image credits: Getty Images / Freepik (not the actual photo)
When the woman confronted her partner about it, he said he only “fixed” her pictures to match his family’s aesthetic and to please his polished mom
Image credits: PeregrinLowell
The poster felt hurt by her boyfriend’s behavior and told him never to do it again and to clear things up by sending a group text to his family
Things seemed to be going smoothly in the OP’s relationship until she came across many airbrushed photos that he had sent to his family of her. She had never really suspected anything because his family weren’t very chatty people and hardly responded to the pictures he used to send.
That’s why when she realized that he had been retouching her photos for an entire year, she couldn’t believe it and wondered why he’d do that. The reason why it’s often frowned upon to airbrush other people’s faces or bodies in photos is that it inflicts one’s own vanity or insecurity upon someone else.
The poster questioned her boyfriend about how he had secretly edited her pictures, and he told her that he had only done it to match his family’s aesthetic. He also shared that since his mom liked having a “polished Instagram look” and had put down the OP’s photos before, he felt the need to retouch her face.
According to research, many people seem to have fallen in love with the idea of looking perfect in photos, which is why they edit every blemish and imperfection. Unfortunately, doing that too often can affect a person’s self-esteem and possibly lead them to obsess over small issues with their appearance that other people don’t even notice.
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The poster’s boyfriend tried to justify his behavior by explaining that he had just done it to make his mom warm up to her faster. He thought that by retouching her images, it would please his critical mother and that she’d no longer make comments about the OP looking “tired” or “harsh.”
What usually happens when people lie to their significant other like this is that it can create a sense of distrust in the relationship. Even omissions or white lies can slowly snowball into bigger deceptions, which is probably what happened in this case. The problem is that lying in the hope of protecting one’s partner can cause more harm than good.
That’s exactly what happened to her because once the woman found out that her boyfriend had been deceiving her for a year, she immediately felt grossed out. She couldn’t believe that he would create such an image of her in front of his family and felt like he thought she wasn’t “good enough” for them.
To make her partner face the consequences of his actions, the OP told him that he needed to send a group text explaining everything to his family and that he couldn’t ever do such a thing again. Unfortunately, he didn’t agree and felt she was overreacting about just a couple of pixels being corrected.
What do you think about this situation, and whose side are you on? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
People were shocked by the man’s actions and told the woman that what he had done was a definite deal-breaker
