Do you ever look at fashion magazines and wonder how somebody can be so perfect? Well, it is not entirely because of the model’s natural beauty, you know that right? The picture goes through multiple modifications to achieve that level of perfection.
Technology has given rise to things as extraordinary as Adobe Photoshop where your pictures are edited and manipulated to make them appear ‘perfect’ for magazines and advertisements. This trend boomed in cosmetics and clothing line companies where ‘perfection’ is required to stand out from other brands. Individuals are exposed to about 5000 adverts on a daily basis. These adverts promote a particular standard of beauty. This can develop insecurity in a lot of people especially teenagers.
Photoshop and Culture
Photoshop standards have been adopted in different ways around the world. It has affected the culture, norms, and values of the people on an individual level. Back in the olden days, pictures were taken in black and white. A century later, we got Adobe Photoshop as one of the most famous picture editing software accessible to all devices.
Cosmetics companies spend millions of dollars to hide freckles or other scars on the skin giving a notion that they are supposed to be hidden. In the USA and the UK, fake tanning is very common. Not only that, in a world obsessed with ‘fake’ standards of beauty as today, you’ll get everything to look like a model.
An American journalist, Esther Honig, elaborated upon this in a video:
Photoshop and Health
The National Institution of Health revealed that 5000 people were affected by an eating disorder last year. About 1000 people die because of an eating disorder every year. It should not surprise you that this is a consequence of growing insecurity among the individuals for not being able to fit the zero size. Girls from a very young age are exposed to advertisements that celebrate perfection. As a result, those who don’t follow this absurd norm of beauty are undermined at many levels.
What is life if you have to think twice before having your favorite dessert?
What we don’t realize is the fact that these celebs, although maintain their weight, don’t look perfect just because of that. Photoshop has a significant role to play here.
However, not everybody on the screen likes to get their pictures photoshopped. Many celebrities like Brad Pitt and Kate Winslet are against editing photos.
A perfect example of a celebrity with health issues is of the American singer, Demi Lovato. The star was diagnosed with an eating disorder in her teenage years. She also went to rehab for it.
Also, the media is so fixated on image perfection that even the celebrities are horrified when they see their images after being photoshopped.
Final Word
We need to accept how we look in real life. Pictures matter but not as much as how fake do those filtered ones make you feel. Celebrate your natural beauty and leave photo editing tools for good.
So what are your thoughts? Do let us know in the comments section below.
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