Should Models be Photoshopped by Companies?

839 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Impact of beauty standards

When a company photoshops pictures of models, self esteem of the models and young girls plummets to unhealthy levels. It is not just manipulating their bodies, it has the potential to manipulate our minds. Everyone has something about themselves that they are insecure about, whether if it’s a part of their physical appearance or something internal. The American Medical Association (AMA) is taking a stand against photoshop, they believe it will lead to unrealistic body expectations, eating disorders, and other emotional feelings. And indeed it's true, 40% of models may be suffering from an eating disorder; most commonly anorexia. "The average American model weighs about 117 pounds and is 5'11 while the average American woman weighs 140 pounds and is 5'4," (Media Influence). If this doesn't prove a point about models feeling self conscious about their weight, I know that this will. A model named Cleo Glyde was eight days away from her runway show and wasn't feeling skinny enough to fit into her outfit for the night. So she went on the eleven grape diet, consisting of three grapes for breakfast, two for snacks, and six for binges. She ended up collapsing in the hotel and was carried to a nearby hospital. In fact models weigh 23% less than the average woman. Celebrities on the other hand have very mixed opinions about photoshop. Some love it and insist it to be done on their pictures, and others, like Kate Winslet, are very against the idea of photoshop. GQ magazine photoshopped a picture, more like photochopped a picture, that Winslet covered in. This was done without her permission and made her look unrealistically thin, when she is known for her curves. This might have hit home with Winslet because she too suffered a disorder. A... ... middle of paper ... ...sel.com/2012/11/22/litigation-photoshopthe-next-false-advert ising-ris>. "Media Influence." Eating Disorders and the Media. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014. . Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, n.d. Web. 21 May 2014. . "Melissa Lui." Melissa Lui RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2014. sement/>. ""My 11-Grape Diet": A Model Confesses." Marie Claire. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2014. . "The Photoshop Effect - The Negative Side of Media." The Photoshop Effect - The Negative Side of Media. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • Leslie twiggy Hornby

    1283 Words  | 3 Pages

    From Twiggy to Kate Moss, the fashion industry has been attached to idealizing extreme slenderness, encouraging real women to hate their bodies and at extreme, develop anorexia or bulimia. If these models are exemplars of ideal beauty, then the measure for women is that to be beautiful, starvation level is required. It appears that the media and the fashion industry would have the public believe that ultra thinness symbolizes beauty when in reality, the standard represents infertility, and premature death. The public has to realize that Twiggy is different.

    Read More

  • Media Influence On Girls Essay

    1494 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... taking a stand against Photoshop for fear of ruining the careers of actors, actresses, and models. That statement alone proves that society values physical perfection than the health and emotional well-being of people, specifically impressionable teenagers. There are girls everyday who are impacted by the media in one form or another.

    Read More

  • Media And Eating Disorders Essay

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...odels in magazines usually achieve their body shape in unnatural ways. They either undergo plastic surgery or have an eating disorder like anorexia and bulimia. Most models have the BMI of a person with anorexia. Their weight is 15-20% below what is considered normal for their age ad height. The photos seen in magazines of these models are also airbrushed and photo shopped before being printed. The body shapes of the models are unrealistic, unhealthy, and unobtainable for the average person. In addition to the models, magazines are also filled with advertisements. Most ads in magazines are directed towards beauty in some form. Again, these ads all show photographs of women with the unreachable “perfect body” that can cause multiple victims to feel insecure and unhappy about their body shape and weight. In some cases it will result in developing an eating disorder.

    Read More

  • Unrealistic Body Images

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, women should be comfortable in their own skin and shouldn’t feel compelled to be as thin as a model. Women need to feel appropriate and content in their own skin, and to not feel inferior to the model on TV or pasted in a magazine advertisement. We are all different and no woman is exactly the same and even the ones that seem to be picture perfect have flaws and love handles, and women need to realize that is the truth. So, by accepting one’s self for who they truly are and what they have accomplished in life is what is going to boost our self-esteem. Once the world understands this, then the media won’t have such a monumental affect on society.

    Read More

  • The Need for Diversity in the Fashion Industry

    1415 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...th the modern era defining beautiful as having less weight. (WiseGeek, n.d.) Another argument is that thin is a feminist issue and they just use this as a headline grabber because 39.4 million of Americans suffer from obesity and the British NHS survey of Disordered Eating noted 620 hospital treatments for anorexia or bulimia (with some patients registered twice or more) for 2005 to 2006 as opposed to 17,458 for the same period for obesity. They also argue that more material is being saved when models are thinner and clothes look more elegant and drapes effortlessly on skinnier models. Most models and designers argue that models are not supposed to eat and they are meant to be skinny to sell more clothes or make them look more appealing.

    Read More

  • Tyra Banks: America's Next Top Model

    906 Words  | 2 Pages

    With all the traveling and being in the public’s eye, it is not uncommon for a model to have anxiety issues. “We found that the majority of models begin their careers very young — most start working before age 16” (modelalliance.org). The majority of models start working at the age of 16 and some even younger. They are required to work just as hard and be able to take the same jobs has models older than them. “60.5% of models lack the privacy while changing into clothes, 46.4% posed nude because they were okay with it, 86.8% have been asked to pose nude without advanced notice and 27.5% ended but posing nude because they felt they had to even though they didn’t want to” (modelalliance.org). Many models are exposed to modeling naked no matter what age they are. “‘Insecurity is in everyone and we don’t feel it just because we’re models. We just see ourselves more often because we’re in pictures all the time, so it’s become more apparent to us. It’s easier for us to admit that we are insecure. Models aren’t any different and we don’t think that we’re that perfect image’” (telegraph.co.uk). This statement was made by male model, Jamie Jewitt; Jamie has explains that he was not always as fit as he is and he usually only sees his imperfections. In the statement, he explains how everyone has insecurities even models like him and it's easier to admit it because of the amount of times they are in

    Read More

  • Reasons Why Women Develop a Negative Body Image

    1161 Words  | 3 Pages

    In modern society there is more and more digital editing without the knowledge of consumers. Currently there are various reasons for why women develop negative body image, low-self-esteem and eating disorders. According to Naomi Wolf in her novel “Beauty Myth”, one of the many reasons women obtain concerns with their bodies is due to the universal images of young female bodies presented through advertisements in fashion magazines. Advertisements in magazines are altering and shaping the desires of men and women. Magazines sell viewers images of beautiful, skinny, flawless confident young women. When people are constantly antagonized with the magazine industry’s ideal of “perfect beauty” the viewer’s then, subconsciously believe these images to be true and begin to form biases about what they themselves should look like and what other people must also look like. People who view magazines get mislead by advertisers because they are unaware that all the images displayed are digitally altered through Photoshop and airbrushing. Today’s magazines are formed completely on false ideals of flawless beauty and unattainable body images, to prevent women and men from falling victim to the magazine’s deceitful images we as a society need to become aware and educate ourselves.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Fashion Models

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    Are models really the perfect beauty queens society thinks they are? Whether it is “perfect” bodies or “perfect” faces; Are they really that perfect that teens and the fashion industry idolize them? Medical professionals say that 20% to 40% of models have eating disorders currently. From Anorexia to bulimia, models will do anything to get that size 0. Not only is this way of life giving a false perception on true beauty, but it is also influencing teens and children that they also must go to these extreme measures to get the “perfect body”. A whopping 5% of teens die of an eating disorder every year. These teens see a model with her bones protruding from her skinny waistline and think “why don’t I look like that?” The models sporting the very unfashionable bone accessory not only harm themselves, but everyone around them. So should there be a weight limit put upon these models? Should there be a standard BMI that every brand and part of the fashion industry should instill? Although many argue that the model and designer have the freedom to do and imagine any design or figure they want for their “artwork” to be displayed upon, is fashion really an excuse to let people die from? In reality, the only way to stop the drastic measures of models and teens alike is to strictly set a BMI upon the fashion industry.

    Read More

  • Harmful Effets of Photoshop

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    When using Photoshop on a person to “perfect” the image the editors get quite drastic; in a recent cover for Rolling Stone Katy Perry was shown sitting on a bed in just a bra and underwear, seems like the average cover right? Well yes it is like every other magazine except this one had its pre-photoshop cover leaked as well. In the above picture we can see that the editors of this photoshop slimmed Katy down, enhanced her breasts, removed moles, made her skin look glossy, and even removed the sock on her right leg. Its this nit picking that causes harm to our society and to our communities. It seems as though everyday we hear of another young girl committing suicide because she felt worthless.

    Read More

  • Effects Of Photoshop On Society

    1744 Words  | 4 Pages

    In today 's society, people have a very skewed perception of beauty. People are exposed to so many advertisements and pictures that are photo-shopped each day that many do not even realize what they are looking at. They are seeing an image of something that is not real; something that is not even possible to obtain. Photoshop has an outrageously negative effect on men and women in society, creating an unattainable image of perfection.

    Read More

  • Responsibility of the Fashion Model Industry

    1518 Words  | 4 Pages

    A tall, glamorous runway model is every girl’s dream. Long beautiful legs, lean body, and beautiful shiny hair is what an average young woman views as an ideal image for a female. If you don’t resemble the images of those stunning Victoria Secret models and Fashion Week models, you suddenly become ashamed of your own body. It is a great life to have with the high pay, fame, drinking champagne on a yacht with famous celebrities and even being on the Vogue cover page. Fashion Modeling Industry has been the most influential source in our young women’s lives. Young girls and young women are seen eating as little as they can, even starving themselves at times to resemble those models. What they don’t realize is that they are contributing to the 2.7 percentage of 13- 18 year olds suffering from anorexia and bulimia. Susan Albers, a psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic said exposure to thin models is a great trigger in maintaining an eating disorder. When watching America’s Next Top Model or flipping through a Fashion magazine, these young women don’t apprehend that those models are either naturally slim or they are suffering from an eating disorder themselves, in other words, hostages in the dark hell hid behind those runway curtains. The growing number of young anorexia and bulimia patients, and the number of websites such as thinspiration, where girls put up pictures of their thin bodies clearly suggest that the fashion modeling industry do not at all bear any responsibility in providing healthy, realistic physical role models for young women.

    Read More

  • What Is Body Dissatisfaction?

    1786 Words  | 4 Pages

    This gives children, teenagers, and even adults this factor. “In this media-driven age, it seems most people are dissatisfied with their bodies. Recent studies show that kids as early as third grade are concerned about their weight” (Maynard 6). To repeat on what Maynard stated, third graders are worried about their weight. What the media feeds to children gives them the sense of that it is something that they should be. Seeing thin models and looking back at themselves seeing that there is a big difference between the two. At this young of an age, they do not know anything about what the dirty truth is. What the media does to the pictures, photoshopping the flaws and enhancing the shape of face. Rollero conducted an experiment with college students giving them four images that were digitally altered. Results showed that retouching salience can reduce the level of internalization of beauty ideals and thus the negative effects of media images exposure, such as negative mood and decrease in self-esteem (Rollero 199). With this being said Rollero’s experiment shows that the digitally altered photos give the college students a false sense of beauty and a decrease in self-esteem. Giving these false ideals of beauty make men and females feel insecure about their bodies make them feel that there they need to fix the ‘imperfection’. What the media does not realize is not everyone can look the same, with these images

    Read More

  • The Fashion Industry Promotes Eating Disorders

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    Society is now so used to seeing these models who have their beauty and superiority idolized that they feel all women must look this way. However, looking like a model is becoming increasingly unattainable. According to Bennett the difference between the catwalk and reality is so stark that the slightest change in a girls form makes them self-conscious because they are constantly sizing themselves up to models (Bennett). Today models are dramatically thinner and taller than they were a few years a...

    Read More

  • Society Is the Problem: The Beauty Standard

    743 Words  | 2 Pages

    Susan Bordo states in her article “Never Just Pictures”, that children grow up knowing that they can never be thin enough. They are thought that being fat is the worst thing ever. The ones responsible for this are the media, celebrities, models, and fashion designers. All of these factors play a big role on the development of the standard and how people view themselves. Everyone at one dreams about being the best they can in any aspect. But to achieve that most believe that one of the big factors is outer beauty. So people look at celebrities and fashion designers, and believe that to be accepted they have to look like them. That’s when they take drastic measures to change their appearance because they’ve been influenced by the Medias idea of “beautiful.” This feeling mostly happens in women but in recent years the gender gap has become smaller. Now men also feel the need to look good because of the media. On the TV, instead of having infomercials ...

    Read More

  • Impact of Cosmetic Advertisements on Women

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    middle of paper ... ... Of course these women are not "real" women, but far too often do women take drastic measures to look like these fashion models; this eventually will lead to eating disorders or severe depression. According to Natural Health magazine, 44% of women who are average or underweight think that they are overweight.

    Read More

More about Should Models be Photoshopped by Companies?

Open Document