By: Sumaira Hai
“IN ORDER TO AFFECT THE WORLD, WE
MUST AFFECT OURSELVES FIRST”
“Imperfection
is beauty,
madness is
genius and
it's better to
be absolutely
ridiculous
than
absolutely
boring.”
Marilyn Monroe
Introduction
1
The unrealistic portrayal of
women in almost all media sources is
not a new controversy. In fact, the
origins and use of “photoshopping” and
image alteration date back to the early
90’s. Since its initial release by
University of Michigan PhD candidate
Thomas Knoll ("Adobe Photoshop."),
the program now includes 16 new
features, such as slicing and erasing,
and can be accessed in over 27
languages; and it is still evolving.
However, as Photoshop’s original
software is altered more and more, so
do the images that we, the average
consumers, see. It is uncertain of how
this concept came to be, but advertisers
thrive upon the idea that sex sells.
Female bodies are ubiquitous appearing
in media outlets from movies and video
games to magazines and newspapers
and can sell anything from toothpaste
to cars.
The industry invests in the idea
of the “perfect human” by “[using] a
model that is unachievable to society
[in order] to maintain profits” ( "How
the Media Portrays Women"). By
encouraging the idea that there is
always something a woman can
improve on and reinforcing the heinous
saying “nothing tastes as good as
skinny feels,” advertisers help stabilize
the profits of cosmetics and weight loss
products. In fact according to Dove,
“The diet industry alone is worth
between 40 and 100 billion a
year” ("How the Media Portrays
Women.").
While all of these statistics are
extremely disheartening, there is
nothing more heartbreaking than
learning that of 10,000 girls ages 8-12
who were surveyed, “17% induced
vomiting or used laxatives or diet pills
to lose weight.” ("How the Media
Portrays Women."). Rather than
relishing in the playful fantasies of
Disney, these young girls are more
concerned about the fat that they need
to lose from their arms; how their lips
could be fuller; how their eyelashes
could be longer; how their thigh gap
could be bigger. In fact, eating
disorders are the third most common
illness affecting adolescent girls ("How
the Media Portrays Women.").
Negative enhancements
including the manipulation of images
and sexualization of women convey the
message that a woman’s weight or the
prominency of her pores are a factor
when measuring her value and stature
in society. It suggests that we should
always strive to adjust so we can
achieve the unachievable; objectifying
women, classifying their bodies as
gadgets or commodities that need to be
perfected. It is not an issue that is not
new, however it still lives on everyday.
The best way to eradicate the effect that
industries like magazines, movies, and
video games have on future generations
is to get to the roots and understand the
ins and outs of these media outlets. To
change the ridiculous norm that society
has placed in regards to beauty, we
must understand how they do what they
do so we can learn to better accept
ourselves because in order to affect the
world, we must affect ourselves first.