"As much as we would like to think that (media would show) a more diverse array of the American public to young girls, that's simply not going to happen," Britto said, asserting you'll find "pretty much the same type of individual" on covers of magazines such as Seventeen.

Emma Stydahar -- a teen activist affiliated with Spark, a movement devoted to ending "the sexualization of women and girls in media" for whom Bluhm has blogged -- acknowledged on HLN that altered images are widespread and do negatively affect girls.

Still, she expressed excitement about Seventeen's new public declaration and anticipation that it will spur other publishers to follow suit. And if it doesn't, she promised, young women such as she and Julia Bluhme will keep pushing to affect change.

"I definitely see that in the future," Stydahar said. "I know that, myself personally and my co-workers at Spark will not change until this capitalization off of young woman's body image stops."