In today’s day and age, many individuals scour magazines and compare themselves to these flawless images in front of them. Little do they know that nearly every single photo has been retouched using photoshop and every inch of these models and celebrities has been reviewed time and time again. The fact of the matter is that photographers no longer need to take remarkable photographs to get a remarkable end result, all they need to do is rely on their Photoshop software to paint over the skin, slim down the waist, elongate the legs, fix the hair, erase a tattoo, etc. The images we are confronted with on a daily basis are no longer real, but this negatively impacts peoples’ body images.
Advertising for men depict busty, slender, tan, beautiful women, that are used to send the message “purchase this product, and I will be yours.” Unfortunately, the same image is used for women, however the message in female advertising is “purchase this product, and you will be me.” This creates an illusion in the minds of women that they are insufficient and need to constantly improve their looks in order to compete with what they see in magazines. The majority of people do not know how photoshop is used and to what extent it changes a raw image, thus people hold themselves to unattainable standards. Little do they know that without retouching, these depicted individuals are not flawless, and are truly everyday individuals. Because of photoshop, advertising today is false advertising.
The following images show celebrities and models with apparent retouching:
