The media encourages us to hate our bodies. Advertisements tell us that we are not skinny enough, pretty enough, fit enough or successful enough. Flawless models are constantly displayed across advertisements, magazines, television, billboards and movies -- effortlessly representing the ideal standard of beauty. However, this “beauty” is constructed through professional make-up, lighting and digital image altering techniques (like photoshop). Yet all we see is the final perfect photo.
This shocking video shows a model being transformed by photoshop:
Multi-billion-dollar companies feed off the depths of our insecurities, reinforced by the desire to meet unrealistic beauty standards. How many products are in your home and what are they promising? Clear skin? Weight loss? Thick, shiny hair? Voluminous eyelashes?
These societal messages teach us that we have to maintain this epitome of perfection and until we do, we will be deemed unworthy.
What kind of world would it be where our feelings of self worth weren’t impacted by the amount of likes on an Instagram picture? A world where the images of models and celebrities remain unaltered by technology. A world where the media put more emphasis on values that are not skin deep.
