More Proof of Altered Images

Here's an article that came out on Yahoo! recently that shows how the "photoshop wand" can drastically alter an image. What bothers me is that this model was perfect before. The altered image looks sickly, and extremely unrealistic. It's no wonder are body image is so distorted. Here's the link:

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/ann-taylor-s-retoucher-strikes-again-2225865/

Body Peace Breakthrough

A few decades ago the ideal body image was plus size and pale. Now it has changed to skinny and sun-kissed. No matter what period in time there has always been an ideal look. People would always go to extremes to be attractive. The ancient Olmecs from Mesoamerica considered a good looking person to have the “were” Jaguar look (cut-off upper lip so their teeth where always showing, and a head deformation). Today people starve themselves, use countless products on their hair and face, and spend tons of money just to have the coolest clothes.

The media can skew our image of our body image. Famous people will set new trends all the time, and the media will blow it up and post the trends everywhere for people to see and copy. Designers will copy stars clothes and images, for other people to wear. Or the Big name designers will always be striving to create the new hot trends.

People are out there trying to change things. Dove is running a self esteem workshop to help boost girls self esteem young and old. Dove is running commercials that show the process of a photo shoot. All the make-up that goes on the model, all the professionals that it takes to make the model pretty, and even then they have people take the image on the computer and use photo-shop to make it perfect by distorting their actual physical features.

Seventeen Magazine has a section in every issue that is devoted to body image and helping girls realize that their bodies are fine the way they are. They will have real guys write in and say what they really think about girl’s bodies. They don’t say what we think they want they usually prefer a softer more natural girl compared to bone skinny girl with her make-up caked on her face. The articles focus on the way you feel in your clothes or body rather than the way the celebrities look, or the size on the tag. It stresses focusing on the good parts of your body, eating healthy, healthy exercising and most important having fun and not stressing about the way you look. After all that is what it’s all about!

By: McKell O'Brien

"Look great by simply buying things!"

A magazone with actress, Blake Lively, on the cover. She is used to sell the magazine by showing its readers that they could look like her if they read the magazine and got their hair cut like her




Mabeline New York is being advertised in the make up section. One of the ads shows a woman with perfect eyes: beautiful long lashes, perfect skin, and beautifully done make up...only by Mabeline, of course



Two girls comparing make up



Men have been told that if they aren't an Old Spice man, they are basically not a man at all




Out the with old fashioned "eat healthy and exercise!" campaign and in with the "Lose-weight-by-drinking-chocolate" campaign





Products sold in local grocery stores are advertising to make you look better, or to look like someone you've seen in a magazine, in an ad, or movie.

The Distortion of Human Beauty

The Media has created what should be the "Perfect Body:" Tanned, flawless skin, perfect hair, long legs, size zero, the list goes on. We are so easily influenced by models and celebrities, that we hardly notice it. One might say: "No, I am fully aware that models are airbrushed, and that no one is that flawless." However, although we may not admit it, the media influences most of us, (me included) on how we perceive who we are, and who we want to be, and no one is safe from its influence. The media affects men, women, and children alike. I am aware that not all media is bad. The media has done a lot of good for the world. However, the subject of body image is a topic that the media has thoroughly destroyed.

When we are watching TV, we see ads for the latest make up, or the newest fashion trend, many of us think to ourselves subconciously "oh, that would make me look good" or "maybe that will stop my acne, so I have flawless skin like him." Ads are not the only media monster to tear up the self esteem of people everywhere. Celebrities in popular TV shows influence how we feel about ourselves as well. For example, according to the Teen Health and Media Website, 10 year old girls and boys told researchers that they weren't happy with their bodies after watching music videos or tv shows with popular celebrities in them. According to a study by Nancy Signorielli, “In movies, particularly, but also in television shows and the accompanying commercials, women's and girls' appearance is frequently commented on: 58 percent of female characters in movies had comments made about their looks, as did 28 percent in television shows and 26 percent of the female models in the accompanying commercials.” No wonder our body image is so distorted. We have been trained that attractive people are well-liked, more successful than those who are less attractive physically.

The media is the most affective when dealing with physical beauty. The latest “anti-meth” commercials have proven to be more effective than other drug commercials. Why are these commercials so effective? How are they different from other “anti-drug use” or “above the influence” campaigns? Simply because the “anti-meth” commercials show what meth does to your physical appearance. Consequently we learn that by doing meth, you are going to look, to put it bluntly, ugly. We have been so distorted by the media, and what a “beautiful” human is supposed to look like, that we will do anything to achieve what the media has told us beautiful is.

By: Ashley Hansen
Sources: http://depts.washington.edu/thmedia/view.cgi?section=bodyimage&page=fastfacts

What do others think about body image?

What's All the Hate About?

Many women today feel like their bodies aren’t skinny enough. We as a society have become obsessed with looking fit and thin. One study reports that at age thirteen, 53% of American girls are “unhappy with their bodies.” This grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen. Girls even starve themselves to get a body that looks like Megan Fox’s, and guys do everything they can to bulk up. Why do we do this, and why can’t we stop?

A big part of this body image American’s have is the media. If you were to go to the store you would be bombarded with ads in magazines and ads all over the store showing “real” beauty. Nearly 50% of American girls in middle school and high school say they want to lose weight due to a picture they saw in a magazine. The makeup industry tells young women they can’t look good unless they wear a certain product or look a certain way. Even on TV programs there are hidden messages about body images. The “fat” girl is always depicted as a “loser” and as “having no friends, but in reality people that are larger have just as many friends as people that are average. Guys even worry about their body image. Going to the gym to bulk up is something I often hear guys saying.

Dove has a campaign to raise awareness and to show women that not everyone is what they appear to be. Many models aren’t even as thin as shown on billboards or magazines. There are people using photo shop to make those models look skinny and beautiful. Many women don’t understand this. The advertising business gets loads of money each year off of body image because men and women alike see the advertising and feel that they need the product in order to look good.

We need to be more accepting of people’s body’s. Instead of bashing others bodies we should be complimenting them and boosting their self confidence. There are hundreds of different body types and some women are just born with curves. No one is as skinny as ads show they are. Let’s make the world a better place by reminding everyone that they way they look is perfect.

By: Jessica Meyers

Media Effects on Body Image

Do we really understand the influence the media has on our body image?