Photoshopping: Altering Images Of The Unhealthy Body

For example, Mark Baptiste, a leading fashion photographer in the United States, explained that you cannot promote the average body because they will not make money, every photo is touched and edited since the goal is to make the image look perfect. Baptiste goes on to explain that the marketing industry is selling dreams, they need to make money and target people insecurities. Here you have a famous photographer whose has photographed many celebrities, like Paris Hilton, admitting

As guest editor of Star Telegram newspaper, I did what was asked of me and reviewed the article written by Susan Bordo “Never Just Pictures”. Bordo focuses on body image and our perception of beauty and how we are “supposed” to look according to the media. “Never Just Pictures” should be published because Susan Bordo has factual evidence to back up her reasoning to her claim about body disorders, the role that different types of media have on society, and how it is creating a false image of what true beauty really is. In this article, Bordos central claim is for the readers to get an understanding of today’s obsession with body image, and how we are no longer accepted for just our personality and our good traits but for the physique of the human body.

Plastic surgery is the rigorous medical process of altering the human body through means of reconstruction, the removal of tissue, and the addition of tissue for cosmetic purposes. People see it every day and do not even question it. People’s faces and bodies are augmented in ways that humanity sees so regularly that viewers have become blind to it. Seeing faces and bodies perfectly sculpted by knives for sharp cheekbones, fuller lips, larger breasts, and a slimmer waist has tricked society into forgetting what the average person actually looks like. Consumers have become so blind to this constant fake image that humanity does not notice the difference until an unaltered, natural image is forced down our throats.

The models in the advertisement are far from average American women. The models represent the “ideal” American doll with tall, long legs; a “naturally” tanned complexion; and a waist size under 26 inches. Many Americans resonate with and aspire to achieve this image of beauty—regardless of how infeasible it may be. Consequently, when the Victoria’s Secret models kickbox, rock climb, or run on the beach, the audience desires the same look when they work out. So, the next time that a young woman shops for some new workout clothes, she buys from Victoria’s Secret because she’ll be one step closer to looking like a VS

Photoshop and the “corrective” trend are impacting society so much that celebrities themselves are trying to move away from that trend. Businesses want to portray the perfect picture; celebrities, especially women, want to be portrayed as imperfect. This has caused a clash between the need of businesses and the willingness of celebrities. The result is a parallel trend promoted by some celebrities in which they take pictures of themselves without photoshop and without makeup. This new trend is to reflect to society that

The media portrays these unrealistic standards to men and women of how women should look, which suggests that their natural face is not good enough. Unrealistic standards for beauty created by the media is detrimental to girls’ self-esteem because it makes women feel constant external pressure to achieve the “ideal look”, which indicates that their natural appearance is inadequate. There has been an increasing number of women that are dissatisfied with themselves due to constant external pressure to look perfect. YWCA’s “Beauty at Any Cost” discusses this in their article saying that, “The pressure to achieve unrealistic physical beauty is an undercurrent in the lives of virtually all women in the United States, and its steady drumbeat is wreaking havoc on women in ways that far exceed the bounds of their physical selves” (YWCA).

Men and women nowadays are starting to lose self-confidence in themselves and their body shape, which is negatively impacting the definition of how beauty and body shape are portrayed. “...97% of all women who had participated in a recent poll by Glamour magazine were self-deprecating about their body image at least once during their lives”(Lin 102). Studies have shown that women who occupy most of their time worrying about body image tend to have an eating disorder and distress which impairs the quality of life. Body image issues have recently started to become a problem in today’s society because of social media, magazines, and television.

For almost a century, advertisers have appealed to and or contributed to women's insecurities in hopes of being able to sell them the product. An example of this is in 2009, an Olay ad for its ‘Definity Eye Cream’ showed a former model who was 62 years old, looking wrinkle-free and a whole lot younger than her age after using this Olay beauty product. Turns out the ads were retouched. Digitally altered spots were made in the ad, creating not only a bad misrepresentation of Olay products, but the ad's potentially gave a negative impact on people's body images(Sweney).

The earliest known fashion photographs date back to the 1850s. Photography used for advertising had not become popular until the early 20th century when fashion started to be accessible to a larger audience. Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue were the first fashion magazines in the late 1800’s . These magazines were first illustrated by hand until Condé Nast had hired Baron Adolph De Meyer in 1913 to shoot portraits of models, actresses, and aristocrats for Vogue. Magazine importance became bigger in the early 20th century due to collaborations with well known designers.

Whether it’s magazine covers, instagram, twitter, on television or just on the world wide web in general, everywhere we look we see stunning models. Models that are incredibly thin and can look good in anything. Our society is obsessed with how perfect they look, yet at the end of the day women everywhere looks in the mirror and doesn’t see the body of the girl she sees on social media. Even though women come in all shapes and sizes in nature, the expectation to have a skinny, perfect body just seems to be the expectation for our society nowadays. Society puts too much pressure on females to have the perfect body.

Thigh gaps, flat stomach, big boobs, curvaceous hips. Something all girls dream of having and spend heaps of time and money trying to achieve it. In reality, it’s 99% impossible to get the super model “hot bod”. As an average, food-loving, lazy woman, I admire their ‘beautiful’ bodies and accept that my body will never be like theirs. Victoria’s Secret (VS) is a famous American retailer of women’s lingerie who’s widely known to use supermodels called “Angels” to advertise and promote the company’s lingerie.

Women, in our own minds, we have it set that we are expected to maintain a certain look. That is due to many years of advertisements of women plastered on the television, billboards and magazines. Products are being advertised that say we have to wear this product, or use this product, or drink this product to look sexier or prettier. As quoted by students Frances Black, Gabriella Kountourides, and Laura Ferris, who created a change.org petition, “Every day women are bombarded with advertisements aimed at making them feel insecure about their bodies, in the hope that they will spend money on products that will supposedly make them happier and more beautiful.” These women are now petitioning the Victoria's Secret ad that says " The Perfect Body" Victoria's

The presence of photoshopped images and other edited forms of photographs and videos in the media make people crave an idealized version of themselves and those around them. While looking perfect pertains to the body and the search for perfection to the mind, both are an introspective

Leslie. "The Photoshop Backlash: Beauty Is in the Eye of the Editor. " Notimpossiblenow. N.p., 25 July 2014.

Although many businesses may earn a lot of money from their photoshopped models or celebrities, they should put labels on their work, telling the public it’s been altered, and be aware of what their photos can do with young children's’ development and how it may cause eating disorders. One cause of