In the documentary MissRepresentation, we learned that 53% of 13-year-olds are unhappy with their bodies. Isn't this a problem? Isn't this something we should give more attention to? This is a pressing issue that we need to address. If 13-year-olds are already feeling self-conscious, then what are they going to feel like when they're even more assaulted with beauty standards and comparisons in high school? If we, as a society, can try to alleve part of the pressure that young women feel are a constant shadow in their lives.
So, what exactly leads to this pressure? Part of the cause is the unrealistic photos of women in the media. Women on magazine covers and in ads are most likely photoshopped, which can go unnoticed unless further looked at.
These phototshopped images give young girls the idea that it is better to be skinnier, curvier, bustier, and younger. What's up with all this? The "perfect body" is not the majority of the population and frankly, it's disheartening that our society encourages it.
The woman in the picture above is beautiful just the way she is. She didn't need to be made skinnier, whiter, and younger-looking. We usually don't notice things like this because we don't think about all the people paid to make the cover model look more "ideal." We take for granted what these women look like, which just results in the readers comparing themselves to those unrealistic standards that the photoshop artists created.
We find photoshop amusing when there's a very obvious difference in the before and after or the person's body is so skinny that she looks like someone took a chunk out of her side.
Yes, this can be amusing at first glance, but what's not amusing is how it's making young people feel.
The fact that women are becoming less and less able to see themselves as beautiful is truly heartbreaking. Natural is beautiful. Women are beautiful. They do not have to go to crazy lengths in photos to make women look "perfect". The media is attempting to shove the idea down everybody's (including men) throats that they must be perfect to be attractive when in fact perfect is not achievable everyone has flaws thats human nature. They also make it seem as though without being attractive you will never be loved and that is definitely not the case. The way you look is irrelevant for the most part. The most important things are that people are able to love themselves for who they are naturally, even when things like the media make it difficult and to respect others for who they are not what they look like.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Photoshop is a much bigger issue than some might think. In the celeb world, models and stars are contorted so they have attributes that are actually impossible for humans to attain. Not only does this not keep the person in the picture true to themselves, it also influences the people who see that photo who don't realize that they are not seeing the real thing. Especially with all the headlines about body shape and stuff like that, it can make anyone feel as if they aren't good enough. I liked what you focused on in this post and the images you provided as well.
ReplyDeleteI really like everything that you covered, particularly the fact that the model was made to look whiter. Women's portrayal in media does need to change completely, and the current white=beautiful standard is no exception. Women can't change every aspect of themselves to be perfect, and shouldn't have to, or at least think they need too.
ReplyDeleteIn order to bring about change to the beauty standards young women are held to, it would have to involve those doing the advertising to take a stand themselves. Yet that is where the problem lies. These careless companies are so desperate to earn money that they don't attempt to better society. It seems that this can be found in many other businesses, in which companies lack ethics that would otherwise cause them to make change in their own ways. Hopefully these "beauty" companies can take a stand sometime in the near future before things get out of hand.
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