We Need To Stop Photoshopping Models

Essay, Pages 5 (1148 words)

Views

Beauty magazines should stop photoshopping models. Most advertising tell their audience the ideal person that they need to be, or what society and counterculture expects them to look like in order to considered “acceptable” or “beautiful” in the eyes of the world. Partly because society embraces a very rigid standard of beauty. There is an excessive use of photoshop that can be found in the majority of the photos we see in the present day. What many fail to realize is that the photos on social media are not reality, they are simply a perception on a man made illusion of beauty.

Don't use plagiarized sources. Get your custom essay on

“ We Need To Stop Photoshopping Models ”

Get custom paper

NEW! smart matching with writer

From advertisements to magazines, we are endlessly surrounded by unrealistic images. In a society that promotes a flawless physique young girls and women often feel the pressure to conform to the unrealistic expectations promoted through digitally altered photos.

Beauty magazines should stop photoshopping models because it affects the highly susceptible audience we have in the present day. It sets impossible beauty standards.

These beauty standards can cause not only teens, but also women to feel self-conscious and carry insecurities.

Image enhancement become ability to alter and distort every detail of a captured image models that are already skinny and are made even smaller by magazines and photographers. Their waists are shrunk, and every flaw and imperfection is completely erased. In today’s world, from advertisements to magazines, we are endlessly they surround us and consume us, granted that we may just brush them off and act unaffected, the truth is that they affect us subconsciously more than we think.

Companies are feeding into the insecurities of children and images are causing to the self- esteem of an impressionable youth that they should feel ashamed of the way they look because naturally they will never reach the level beauty persona that companies and brands have fabricated. Magazine covers and some photos go as far as to distort the women into figures that are impossible to achieve in reality and Barbie like dolls causing mental issues such as eating disorders, insecurities, and or depression.

Photoshopping and its complications don’t just focus on one single gender but affects both female and male. Girls feel as if they need to be skinny and have perfect skin, while guys feel the need to have a six pack in order to be attractive. More often than not, the use of Photoshop on photos send out a poor message, but it also can cause low self-esteem. Images have been altered to manipulate our minds to believe in only one beauty standard.

Moreover, there are more extreme complications in result to these mental alterations in images that are associated with photoshopping pictures and ads altering ones perception. Psychological problems arise as a result with eating disorders, depression and body dysmorphia. A poll study done by The American Medical Association has shown that there are many studies that link eating disorders and body dysmorphia as a consequence to photoshopping images. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) “Anorexia is the third most common chronic illness among adolescents, and one in 200 American women suffers from anorexia. Two to three in 100 American women suffers from bulimia, consequently eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.” A study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) reported the following eating disorder statistics: “50% of girls between the ages of 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight. 80% of all children have been on a diet by the time they've reached fourth grade. 86% of people with eating disorders report onset of an eating disorder by age 20.”

And as for the men, studies indicate that “by their first year of college, 4.5 to and 0.4% of men have a history of bulimia. The dangers to Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.” Many men suffer from bulimia under the perception and idea that staying in shape can consequently result in compulsive exercise achieve the desired perfect body society and its images make us believe. It is estimated that approximately six percent of serious cases die. For many others, there are long-term, irreversible consequences which can affect one's physical and emotional and physical health. Anorexia nervosa has the highest death rate of any psychiatric illness including major depression.

In in the same way, a Body Dysmorphic Disorder also known as (BBD) is a mental health disorder that goes hand in hand as a complication. In which someone can’t stop thinking about one or more perceived defects or flaws in their appearance. People who suffer from this can dislike any part of their body, In reality, a perceived defect may be only a slight imperfection or nonexistent. But for someone with BBD, the flaw affects them much more, them to feel so embarrassed, ashamed and anxious that result in avoiding many social situations.

BDD most often develops in adolescents and teens, and research shows that “it affects men and women almost equally. BDD often begins to occur in adolescents 12-13 years of age.” According to the American Psychiatric Association. “The causes of BDD are unclear, but certain biological and environmental factors may contribute to its development, including personality traits, life experiences like peer-abuse, and obsessive compulsion of the appearance seen on tv, magazines and ads.”

We may think that a thin women and a built man is what we all want, but as times change the standards of beauty change considerably through history and we begin to accept the beautiful flaws every human has and embrace them. Asymmetrical features of the face are now considered to be attractive and beautiful. It creates a perception of a realistic healthy beauty without the need to alter and deforms ones face and body. Although companies claim that photoshop is about helping sell their product, some studies show that it is no longer needed in this climate. When companies endorse a real and clear image of a person, campaigns are more likely to increase sales. Accordingly, the public celebrates their use of diversity. For instance since “American Eagle Aerie decided to not use retouching in any of their ads, their sales raised nearly 10 percent because of it.”, according to an article from Woodland, Leyna.

In conclusion, Social media and the upcoming society needs to get rid of photoshopping men and women in an effort to sale an unrealistic image. This is the only way we can become much more accepting and focus on teaching ourselves self-care and self-love rather than continue to mess with filters and create false illusions. In other words we need to applaud the embracement of physical flaws and stop hiding them. It’s what makes every single human different and gives a characterization that makes us stand out and draw attention to ourselves. Change must happen to create a new world where we harmonize and accept one’s other facial features.