Body Image
Body image and representation of women in the media is a problem that needs to change. The fact that so many images of women are ‘perfected’ beyond recognition with the help of technology is unacceptable. Whether or not a person is aware of the image alterations, not everybody realizes exactly how much these images are changed to fit the seriously unhuman and unrealistic ideals that we see.
Not everyone understands that it isn’t just fashion magazine covers that feature drastically
Photoshopped images. It’s TV. It’s video. It’s your favorite brand online. It’s everywhere.
The majority of images of women are being digitally altered, so are our perceptions of normal, healthy, beautiful are unrealistically attainable. As women we need to recognize that we are not just a body; is not just an ornament or an object to be judged — it is an instrument to live and do and be.
Photoshopping shows a mediadefined standard of acceptable appearance, which is in fact, merely a fantasy. It is not realistic and it damages the self esteem and often the health of our young female population as they attempt to achieve this impossible goal.
The National Institute of Health estimates 5,000 people a year are affected with an eating disorder.
Approximately 1,000 people each year die from an eating disorder and 90% of individuals with an eating disorder are young girls from the ages of 12 to 25.
So why do we allow the media to expose us to such images that destroy young girls selfesteem and alter their perceptions so greatly, that it could lead to an eating disorder? Why is the media so fixated on perfection, and an unattainable beauty that even the models and celebrities on these covers cannot attain without the use of photoshop?
These unrealistic standards of what women’s body types should look like are increasingly getting worse. Decades ago women with fullfigured bodies were embraced and loved, and being extremely thin—which is what women strive for now as the
Not everyone understands that it isn’t just fashion magazine covers that feature drastically
Photoshopped images. It’s TV. It’s video. It’s your favorite brand online. It’s everywhere.
The majority of images of women are being digitally altered, so are our perceptions of normal, healthy, beautiful are unrealistically attainable. As women we need to recognize that we are not just a body; is not just an ornament or an object to be judged — it is an instrument to live and do and be.
Photoshopping shows a mediadefined standard of acceptable appearance, which is in fact, merely a fantasy. It is not realistic and it damages the self esteem and often the health of our young female population as they attempt to achieve this impossible goal.
The National Institute of Health estimates 5,000 people a year are affected with an eating disorder.
Approximately 1,000 people each year die from an eating disorder and 90% of individuals with an eating disorder are young girls from the ages of 12 to 25.
So why do we allow the media to expose us to such images that destroy young girls selfesteem and alter their perceptions so greatly, that it could lead to an eating disorder? Why is the media so fixated on perfection, and an unattainable beauty that even the models and celebrities on these covers cannot attain without the use of photoshop?
These unrealistic standards of what women’s body types should look like are increasingly getting worse. Decades ago women with fullfigured bodies were embraced and loved, and being extremely thin—which is what women strive for now as the