The idea of the ‘perfect woman’ is one that has been a popular topic of discussion over the past decade. Unreal Celebrity Photoshop Transformations was a video revealed on YouTube and Buzzfeed on January 7th 2014. The purpose was to educate the public on the effects altered photos has on society. Within a matter of one week the video gained over a million views. The argument behind the viral text has many different aspects and angles to view it from. The video argues the damaging effects of altering photos through a logical lens by displaying examples of unnecessary transformations of celebrity photos, grasping an individual’s emotions to understand the psychological toll photos take on young adults in society.
An evaluation of the text, Unreal Celebrity Photoshop Transformations, demonstrates the controversy behind altering photos for the public. The video is informing the public on a current issue, in the U.S.A. especially Hollywood, on an already popular topic. The video uses satire to ridicule the unreal photos that we, as a society, still worship and take as a reality that young woman and men work themselves to look like. To do this the video conveys a series of photos, first the real photo without any retouching and then quickly goes to the retouched photo. The layout of the photos is supposed to have a shock factor; therefore the way the video presents the transformation is key to bringing credibility to the photos that were retouched. The pictures are a tactic that exhibits the maker’s credibility along with the logical facts that go with the photos. This logical view of retouched photos is from a quote in the video mentioning that it’s “common knowledge that we can reshape a person digitally.” The statement dictates t...
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...As retouched perfect beings with no flaws or as real imperfect stunningly flawless people? The video has the same message as many other retouched videos but this is the first that ask the audiences opinion, giving the audience a chance to take part in social currency as John Berger points out.
After viewing the video I found it so compelling I wanted to share it with a friend. Previously my mother had shown me the video, passing around the information, participating in social currency. The reason I wanted to share it was because the video triggered a memory of a high school friend who tried to make herself as perfect as those celebrities, by doing damaging things to her instead of being healthy. The video acted as a trigger to my memory leading to me share the video. Emotions triggered the act to share the video, which is the reason behind the million views.
Beauty is a cruel mistress. Every day, Americans are bombarded by images of flawless women with perfect hair and smooth skin, tiny waists and generous busts. They are presented to us draped in designer clothing, looking sultry or perky or anywhere in between. And although the picture itself is alluring, the reality behind the visage is much more sinister. They are representations of beauty ideals, sirens that silently screech “this is what a woman is supposed to look like!” Through means of media distribution and physical alteration, technology has created unrealistic beauty ideals, resulting in distorted female body images.
The above advertisement for Olay Total Effects Pore Minimizing CC cream demonstrates modern day fixation on celebrity culture and photographic subterfuge to avoid truth. The model represented is a conventionally attractive woman whom, because of how healthy she appears, looks prosperous. The quote beside her “I’m not an airbrushed kinda girl, I just want to look it” conflicts with her appearance. From this we learn that she is an average woman infatuated so much with the celebrity look that she too wants to display herself as one. “air brushed kinda girl” implies that those who constantly look airbrushed (celebrities) possess negative personality traits ergo, one would not like to act like them. The assumption that celebrities are
The video promotes a realistic portrayal of women while undermining negative societal expectations put to those women. Furthermore, the message behind it, one calling people to accept themselves and to not feel the need to strive towards unreachable goals set by the media, can be applied to the lives of not only women but men as well. While the song was obviously meant for women, it is still holds the important message for people of any gender, age, or race to understand that being true to and learning to accept one’s self can only lead to positive
On December 13, 2013 Beyoncé - who was named by the Time magazine as the most influential person of the year 2014 - unexpectedly released a self-titled visual album that went viral on the Internet, that is, it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and sold 828,773 electronic copies in three days becoming the fastest-selling album in iTunes Store history. After the release of the album the artist posted coupe of videos where she was walking her fans through her songs and music videos in the album explaining what was intention and the idea behind each song. In one of those videos she speaks about how she was looking for some videos on feminism on YouTube, and when she saw a TEDx video from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talking about feminism, Beyoncé decided to use it for her new single – Flawless - as in her opinion the music and the Adichie’s video suited very well with each other. By the end of the explanatory video she talks about ‘imperfection’ and embracing one’s imperfections, which she links to her another single Pretty Hurts. This song features the issues of sexual objectification of female bodies and the culture of perfection where women are valued only for their beauty. In another explanatory video she talks about owning her sexuality and body, especially after her pregnancy. As she explains it was her joy and her confidence that allowed her to show her body to the public. In the video she mentions that she is very well aware of the fact that she is showing her body, and that she is doing this partly for other women as well to empower them, and give them an example that you can own your body and your sexuality, even after body goes into a lot of transformations during pregnancy.
How should I look like to have the ideal body? An increasing number of women ask themselves this question many times in their lives. Deborah Sullivan’s essay, “Social Bodies: Tightening the Bonds of Beauty”, discloses the different cultural traditions that require various methods of body modifications. Women should undergo such modifications to obtain social acceptance. Similarly, “Pressures to Conform” by Celia Milne discusses the effects of media and society on women, and how women view their physical appearance. The media gives women a plethora of choices for the perfect body and even provides ways on how to achieve them. There is no escaping. There is no excuse of not getting the ideal body that ranges from that of a stick-thin ramp model’s to the buff and chiseled outline of a body builder’s. Still, the struggle doesn’t end here. Women also desire smooth, wrinkle-free skin, hairless faces, and ample busts. “Stencil” women are celebrities, models, actresses - women whose coveted looks are seen through discriminating TV screens, posters, and magazines. The steady demand for these forms of media is mainly due to women who are looking for body images to pattern from. These women are on the constant lookout in updating their appearance and considering the bulk of information that the media presents to them, the media is a source of considerable amount of physical and psychological stress. In their fight for their roles in society, women undergo various body modifications to suit the taste of the present-day culture.
One of the ways photo manipulation in the media is ruining lives is by destroying the image of female beauty. Through all forms of popular media women are being bombarded with image...
Instead he tries to understand the positive effects if this dramatic increase in the influences of social media over our lives. Titlow describes it as a break from the highly edited and crafted world of popular media and advertisement photography, stating, “It used to be that most of the photographs of other people we encountered were carefully crafted images of flawless-looking individuals portrayed in popular media and advertising.” In contrast, while some images are still edited on social media, the degree in which this done is severally decrease. Society is growing use to seeing images of everyday people instead of celebrities or models. In addition with the increase in popularity of the social media platform Snapchat, even the photographs of celebrities or models we see are not as professionally crafted, despite a silly puppy or flower crown filter. Titlow then goes on to reference psychologist’s fear of the effects of those carefully construction images from popular media on one’s self image. He connects the idea of these less processed and more diverse images from Instagram or other platforms as a solution to these fears. It’s a simple concept, when people are surrounded by pictures of real people instead of one’s with unattainable beauty standards, they are less likely to hold themselves to such unrealistic
The concept of beauty and racism in modern western society is held to the highest of standards for all of it’s members; including celebrities. The perfect woman is described by Odette (2013), as solely for men’s pleasure and domination. If we look on the cover of any popular magazine, the women are usually: light skinned, slender, and tall. Men on the other hand must be tall and powerfully built. Our culture is valued on the basis of how men and women are perceived by their image, making it impossible for the average man or women to achieve the high beauty standard expected in society. Celebrities play an influential role in the way people view themselves, making the need to look like our favourite celebrities all the more desired. A person's
The modern world is full of photographs. They are used for ads, political campaigns, and magazines. However it can be hard to tell whether or not a photograph is real. Many are ‘doctored’ or altered in some way. These doctored photographs can be seemingly harmless, such as advertisements, but they can misrepresent a product or person. There is a fine line between what is ethical and what isn’t for doctored images. Photographs should never be altered in order to deceive individuals, damage someone’s reputation, or when they have a strong negative impact on self-esteem. However if doctored photographs are used for art or for minor touch-ups for advertisements that don’t misrepresent a product then
In the article by Aaron Quinn, “Accepting manipulation or manipulating what is acceptable,” the issue of ‘photo editing’ and its role in current day journalism contribution is discussed and two questions in the article are addressed below: 1. What are the proper ethical guidelines for post-shoot photo manipulations (manipulations made after the photo has been taken)? 2. How much should we rely on intra-camera exposure calculations instead of post-shoot manipulations? Aaron Quinn does state the fact that the manipulation of images through the use of modern day technology has led to rising levels of mistrust in the media and reporting, however also discusses the role played by intra-camera exposure calculations and the act of picture taking
The Jennifer Aniston coverpage of GQ magazine provides the male population with an unrealistic interpretation of the average female’s appearance. In the photo of Jennifer Aniston, she is airbrushed and Photoshopped to perfection, making flaws seem to be an oddity or abnormality to be shunned by the general populace. Her body has no tan lines, blemishes, or pimples, whereas the normal person would have at least some imperfection. The makeup is applied flawlessly to be in compliance with the standards of beauty that society holds women to.
Throughout the recent years, Photoshop has become a widespread phenomenon amongst the world. With the rapidly developing inventions of camera’s and devices with cameras on them; posting pictures on social media has become extremely popular. Along with that, the pressure to appear perfect in said pictures has increased dramatically. Society has become exceedingly focused on the idea of perfect, and what perfect looks like. Especially now, with growing photo sharing phone applications such as Instagram, photo editing is becoming even more popular. Photoshop has proven to have many beneficial uses; however, it also has very negative consequences such as false perceptions, and misleading people.
Strength, power, and self-confidence are three meaningful words that the poem “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou illustrates. Angelou uses alliteration, rhythm scheme and her own personal style to convey the meaning of a “phenomenal woman,” which is what she considers all women to be. Angelou, as an example, enlightens readers that not all hardships and tribulations have to be known. One can interpret that every woman experiences a trial in their life that eventually makes them a stronger individual. Moreover, a “phenomenal woman” is different, but beautiful in their own unique way. She states at the end of each stanza, “I’m a woman / Phenomenally. / Phenomenal woman, / That’s me” (line 10-13). The word phenomenal has great significance, which is being extraordinary. Angelou enables women to believe that being their own individual makes them dissimilar to another woman. However, she expresses that one’s inner beauty also contributes to the way a person can differentiate themselves from one another.
Alexandra Scaturchio, in her article “Women in Media” (2008) describes the media’s idea of beauty as superficial. She supports her argument by placing two pictures side-by-side; a picture of a real, normal-looking woman and her picture after it has been severely digitally enhanced. Her purpose is to show young teenage girls that the models they envy for their looks are not real people, but computer designs. She also states, “the media truly distorts the truth and instills in women this false hope because…they will live their lives never truly attaining this ideal appearance”. Scaturchio wants her readers to realize the media’s distorting capabilities and feel beautiful about themselves, even with flaws.
Throughout history there have been many claims about what is beautiful and what is not on the face and body. America’s idea of beauty in the past changed many times from the fragileness of the Steel-engraving lady to the voluptuousness of the Greek slave. The ideal beauty in America is not so different from the ideal beauty of cultures around the world and follows many of the traditions practiced throughout history. The widespread of advertisement and technology is something that’s said to be the contributing problem to the ideal women phenomenon, but I believe history and trend plays the bigger role.