We live in a world where getting that flawless look takes implants, crazy diets, and photoshop. Since 1987 photoshop has been a computer program that manipulates digital images. The program can remove an unwanted object in the background of an image as well as getting rid of flaws such as acne and changing one’s body to look perfect. The media like magazines and commercial advertising use photoshop on almost every image that they take, and it has gone too far. Photoshopped beauty in the media has created a false sense of reality while setting unachievable high standards. Society needs to remember what’s behind the filter of the media.
The first picture ever to be altered was by the future creator of Photoshop John Knoll. Knoll had found a new piece of technology while working with Lucasfilm’s special effect company. The new technology was known as the Pixar Image Computer; it was one of the first that could be used to manipulate images. He edited a picture of his girlfriend on their vacation and was amazed by what that technology could do. The Pixar machine was very expensive and had a unique complex image-processing software that required a trained operator. Knoll then discovered his brother Thomas had a new hobby and developed a similar software that could run on a much cheaper Macintosh Plus. After adding features to his brother’s program Knoll had a product he could sell. Ever since Photoshop was released companies have used it for advertising, magazines have used it to edit covers and other pictures in their articles. Almost every magazine found in the doctor’s office or in line at the grocery store will have a model or celebrity on the cover that has been photoshopped to look perfect. The idea of perfect strives from two theories society has told women what they need to look like. The first being “men prefer mates that look fecund and fertile. That is how the notion of ‘prettiness’ evolves; being pretty means to be close to the population averages,” (Szewczyk 3). With this theory, if women are not the ideal pretty to a man they are considered ugly and imperfect. The second theory “refers to socio-cultural constructs and the notion of rarity: in the recent decades slenderness has become a token of assertiveness, self-control, and achievements,” (Szewczyk 3). With these theories that society has considered the standard of beauty; magazines especially in the fashion industry have made their covers with poster children of these ideals. “Fashion editors, most of all, want to write about aesthetics, it elevates the magazine’s status,” (Szewczyk 3). The aesthetically pleasing look causes unpleasant actions to be achieved.
With the standards that society and magazines hold on women, it has caused negative effects. It pressures women to try and fit into an alternate reality. Even though there is more pressure on women than men; men have pressure on being fit and muscular. “In comparing pressures on women and men, Anderson and DFomenico (1992) showed that women’s magazines contained 10.5 times as many diet promotions as men’s magazines,” (Spettigue and Henderson, 3). As diets are advertised in the media it creates an unhealthy relationship with eating. “Perceived pressure to be thin from the media is theorized to lead to body dissatisfaction and eating pathology,” (Spettigue and Henderson 12). Models and social media influencers contribute to dissatisfaction as they are used for advertising because they have the ideal body for weight loss supplements even if the models didn’t use that product to achieve their “flawless” body. This type of advertising “spread[s] the idea that supplements, diet pills, and detox teas are the best way to achieve [the perfect] body type when in reality, it could not be further from the truth. More often than not, [model’s] looks are a combination of gym, plastic surgery, and a generous amount of retouching,” (Obiora, 14). Society tends to be obsessive over appearances, so if one doesn’t like the way they look in the mirror they are more drawn to plastic surgery. “Psychological research, recently validated in a plastic surgery setting, [it] demonstrates that individuals tend to prefer a facial photograph corresponding to their mirror image rather than their true image,” (Schaefer 2). Plastic surgery is the photoshop of real life. Enhancing one’s appearance is what leads to young impressionable girls believing they can achieve computer bodies that only photoshop and surgery can create. There were “17.7 million cosmetic procedures performed in the U.S. in 2018… nearly 230,000 procedures were performed on patients ages 13 to 19; and 831,000 on patients ages 20 to 29,” (Rush University Medical Center, 4). The pressures of social media keep photoshop and plastic surgery in business.
As a society we obsess over celebrities, we love the idea of fame and fortune. They are role models for the world. So when we see celebrities on the cover of magazines looking flawless and perfect, we believe it. But what if those covers didn’t look as flawless? What if celebrities looked like us? Would we still admire them as much? Some celebrities will have their manipulated picture released and go on their way while others want to show who they are in real life. For example actress, Zendaya had an extreme photo edited that she didn’t approve of. She went on to say ‘these are the things that make women self-conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have,’ (Yang, 8). Zendaya knew that her edit would cause young girls to strive to be like the computer version of her. The reality of celebrities is a taboo topic, but as we grow into a more accepting culture, reality has become part of the conversation. Lady Gaga is another celebrity to talk about what needs to change in the world of fame. During her women of the year speech, she calls out the false authenticity of magazines. ‘I felt my skin looked too perfect. I felt my hair looked too soft … I do not look like this when I wake up in the morning… it is fair to write about the change in your magazines. But what I want to see is the change on your covers… when the covers change, that’s when culture changes,’ (Yang, 10). There are a select few companies that portray beauty for what it is. CVS, for example, is eliminating photoshop on beauty advertising. CVS Pharmacy President Helena Foulkes said in an interview. ‘We’re all consuming massive amounts of media every day, and we’re not necessarily looking at imagery that is real and true… to try to hold ourselves up to be like those women is impossible because even those women don’t look like how they appear in those photographs,’ (Bomey, 4). If our culture becomes more accepting it could change how people see themselves. Comparing women could stop and they could start to find each body and person beautiful. “Today, 72% of girls feel tremendous pressure to be beautiful while only 4% of women around the world consider themselves to be beautiful, according to company research from Dove, whose controversial Real Beauty campaign was launched in 2004 to promote body confidence and self-love among women of all shapes and sizes,” (Adamczyk, 3). Advertising photoshop perfection gives a false sense of reality to its consumer.
In a world of advertised perfection, there is a real person behind the photoshopped version. Getting rid of flaws is a technique to sell more products. Photoshopped beauty in the media has created a false sense of reality while setting unachievable high standards. Society needs to remember what’s behind the filter of the media.
