-Photoshop-

     This week we watched MissRepresentation in class. This made me think about how many companies photoshop women to have unrealistic bodies and faces. Making it seem like the model actually looks like the touched up image, causes women to have eating disorders and hate themselves for not being "pretty".
     Scrolling through the internet, I have come across many alarming before and after photos. Companies like CVS, Ralph Lauren, and L'oreal have come under fire for smoothing out wrinkles, cinching waist lines, and reconstructing their faces. Here is a of picture that especially drew my attention.

                      photoshopped       non photoshopped                       

     They edited this photo to the extreme. I am not sure if Ralph Lauren has ever put out an apology for this magazine cover. It makes me sick to look at the photo and think that someone thinks that having that body is ideal.

     Today, many influencers are very open about how they use apps like Face tune to edit their photos. They are normalizing editing which is wrong. People who follow those influencer, also use the app and this creates a need for affiliation. Their mentality is "If everyone is doing it, then why shouldn't I?".

     I think that it is so important for companies to stop photoshopping their advertisements because there would be less people who are self conscious about how they look. Recently, more companies have stopped using photoshop in their advertisements. One of those companies is Aerie. Aerie sells bras and lounge wear. Aerie stands by their campaign called #AerieREAL since the spring of 2014. They did it because they want to spread body positivity. I think that more companies need to focus more on the well being of their consumers, not just about how much money they will make by attracting young girls into thinking that their product will transform them into looking or behaving a certain way.

     I mentioned Aerie because when I think of companies that support body positivity, it is them. I think that they do a good job of telling the girls that need to hear, that they are fine just the way they are.

     A lot of times, women are expected to be, skinny, have clear skin, curvy in the right places, and being tall. Society created this image of beautiful that should not exist because in reality, beauty cannot be depicted in a single mold.

     I guess being a model does not mean anything, because they are just going to change everything that they do not like about you anyways.