Photo alteration and falsification have become rampant, if not the standard, for magazine covers and advertisements today. Images of twig-thin women and overly built men sporting glowing faces, ivory grins, and flawless skin overwhelm every newsstand. Consumers, undeniably affected by such images, often critique their own bodies according to the unattainable standards set by these digitally modified figures.
For my final piece, I will be writing a social and cultural critical essay on the frightening power that photoshop has over body image. It will explore the unrealistic definition that the media, magazines especially, has given to the word “perfection” and the pressures that stem from this unavoidable, in-your-face perception of beauty. I hope to speak to the detrimental effects that this art form has on individuals, ranging from self-esteem to confidence to eating disorders. Why do people buy this idea of beauty if, in many cases, it is a source of stress, self-deprecation, and of never measuring up? I want to argue that in a day and age where photoshop is the norm, used for completely transforming photographs rather than mere touch-ups, it is inevitable that exposure to these images, and the ideas presented in such images, will have a negative effect on consumers.
I plan to use various magazines, such as “People” and “Vogue,” and articles and studies for my sources. I believe that I can effectively write this piece because I have experienced the struggle of comparing myself to unachievable measures of perfection, and I have witnessed family and friends go to great lengths, often unhealthy ones, to “be beautiful.”
This is a great topic to explore! I am so excited you are doing it. I dont know if you want to expand it as far as gender expectations but I think it would be interesting to look at magazines such as "seventeen" and "sports illustrated". "Seventeen" is obviously targeted at teenagers and those teenagers are always vulnerable to what's in front of them. And "sports illustrated" would be interesting because I know a lot of guys that I hang out with idolize those models and I swear they will spend all their life looking for someone so perfect...and be so disappointed when they dont...still believing an anorexic and airbrushed model is a realistic expectation. I even told them the other day that Megan Foxx has acne and all their faces dropped in bafflement and disgust. And for girls who think they have to live up to that....it definitely takes a toll.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and can't wait to read the final product!!
I also think this is a great topic choice. To bounce off of what Tiffany wrote, I think that you could do some really interesting writing about how the problems of Photoshop not only manipulate how women view themselves, but also how it manipulates the standards that people follow when looking for partners. I think that element of this problem is especially important because it places such a huge importance on the physical attributes of a person without much room for looking beneath the surface.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck.
I agree that this is a great, and really important, topic. Every time I watch face wash commercials I think to myself...does this person actually look like this? How does everyone in Hollywood have perfect skin? It's so obvious that someone has been fooling around with the image on the screen. I think this topic will be relevant as long as what the media portrays as beautiful continues to be what it is today. And I like what you say in your last paragraph, that you are the right person to write this piece because you've struggled with this. I think more people are affected by popular culture than would like to admit, and I appreciate that you are willing to admit that. Good luck Nicole!
ReplyDeleteYes, this is a terribly important subject. I want to make sure that you don't forget about talking about art, though. One way you could do it is put photoshopping in the context of other contemporary portrait photographers who don't use photoshop, who show people in a more diverse representation of beauty. Richard Avedon and Annie Liebovitz come to mind. It will be important to narrow the scope of what you do with this piece, because it could get out of control very quickly. Will you look at still photography only, or will you look at "moving pictures" also? If you decide to look at ads, you'll need to make it clear whether or not they're art (or not).
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