Ethical and Unethical Implication of Digital Manipulation

“The average American is exposed to over three-thousand ads every single day, and will spend two years of his or her life watching television commercials” (Kilbourne). Everyday people are exposed to billboards, television commercials, influential mall kiosks, and magazine images that portray beautiful, flawless, perfect women selling a product. The women in these advertisements have had their hair, makeup, and even their body profile altered in order to look a certain way. That altered image is what Americans think beauty should be. Advertisement companies are continuously photoshopping women in their advertisements, giving a false idea of what women should look like; this is wrong and it needs to be banned in the United States.

The fashion industry plays a huge role in portraying bad images of ideal beauty, which in turn affects today’s society perception of their own body image. Not only are women affected by what is seen and heard about how the perfect body should appear, children of young ages are now feeling insecure and obsessed with their bodies before they reach teenage years. This ‘ideal image’ the fashion industry continues to enforce only focuses on very thin models who seem to be in shape and are very healthy. Furthermore, many people think of the influence from the fashion industry as being human representations (models). Because of the rising problem with the image of beauty within the fashion industry, it is shown that even mannequins and non-human representations (mannequins, dolls, photoshopping) of bodies play a significant role in women’s body image; which causes problems to the individual. (Anshutz & Engels, 2010). Body image and self-satisfaction, eating disorders and non-human representations all can cause harm to the individual, if prolonged.

The dove beauty campaigns are again a perfect example of this, as they depict a digitally altered photo of a woman being presented on a billboard (Tpiper). Depicting a remarkable transformation of an ordinary woman, this video shows a billboard model being produced through means of excessive makeup and hair styling in conjunction with digital editing after the photo was taken. This woman is not natural. She has pounds of makeup on her face, as well as photoshopped touchups, and yet she is perceived by the public as the standard of beauty. Nobody is able to compare with such a carefully sculpted face, and therefore this establishes unrealistic expectations

When Victoria’s Secret is allowed to have models prance around on screen but Lane Bryant Ads (lingerie for plus size women) is banned then there’s a problem. The media is portraying these models who are thin to the point where it is unhealthy. And the media is feeding society lies. A perfect example is of Gerran Tyler. Tyler was a 12 year old supermodel. She walks the run way for clients like Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, and Betsey Johnson. She’s tall, thin, the perfect model because she hasn’t hit puberty yet. She walked during New York Fashion Week and posed for these designer brands advertisements. This body type is unachievable for almost all adult women (Roberts). Somebody in their twenties or thirties doesn’t have the ability to look like a twelve year old girl, but this is how these designers are telling us to look. Tyler had an amazing career and high expectations but the fame didn’t last long. As she got older and hit puberty she began to develop boobs, hips, and curves. She began getting less and less bookings. Her supermodel career was virtually over. “Eighty percent of 10-year-old American girls say they have been on a diet” and the, “Number one magic wish for young girls 11-17 is to be thinner” (Missrepresentation). This self-esteem problem with young girls is a result of these unobtainable ideas of beauty. Jennifer Siebel, creator of the documentary Missrepresentation, says

The media group that retouches images skews the “normal” body image of people through many of its outlets, including models in advertising and magazines, and actors in TV and movie productions. “The average model portrayed in the media is approximately 5’11” and 120 pounds. By contrast, the average American woman is 5’4” and 140 pounds” (Holmstrom, 2004). This statistic shows how the media manipulates consumers into believing that because they are not what the average model looks like, they are not living up to a certain standard which implies that they need to look like that to be beautiful. Another research fact that shows a similar concept is that, “In the United States, 94% of female characters in television programs are thinner than the average American woman, with whom the media frequently associate happiness, desirability, and success in life” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This association of female thinness and happiness, desirability and success makes consumers believe they must achieve this unrealistic thinness to achieve more ultimate goals and fulfillment in life. “The media also explicitly instruct how to attain thin bodies by dieting, exercising, and body-contouring surgery, encouraging female consumers to believe that they can and should be thin” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This idealization of thinness in the media is seen so much, and is extremely harmful to women’s self confidence and is often associated with body image dissatisfaction, which can be a precursor to social anxiety, depression, eating disturbances, and poor self-esteem (Yamamiya et al.,

This article talks about how photoshop allows advertisers to give models different body types that they did not had before. The false images affects the way that people see beauty in an unrealistic way, also false image cause low self-esteem and negative impact of people body image. With false advertisement women feels pressure to have the perfect body either by plastic surgery or unhealthy diet plans. This article is useful to use because it shows what the media uses to bring people self esteem down and how people would look at their body image differently

Teens often feel flawed if their bodies do not match up to those of models and actors. Media’s portrayal of women is a mirror image of what society wants teenagers to look like. Advertisements often stress sexuality and the importance of being physically attractive in an attempt to sell products, however people are concerned that this is pressure on women to focus on their appearance.Photoshop and airbrush are currently at their extreme such programs have existed for removing minor imperfection such as stray hairs, the advancement in technology has made it possible to manipulate an image creating unrealistic perfection. Celebrities are airbrushed to perfection on their album or movie covers but it is not actually them. Aside from enlarging eyes,trimming thighs, and airbrushing away wrinkles, more dramatic measures are now taken Images were not inclined to the manipulation with Photoshop and airbrushing which create images as it is seen today. Magazines did not start airbrush and Photoshop their models until the 1980s. In the fifties, models like Marilyn Monroe would grace the weekly covers but they would have been seen as overweight by today’s

Although it is not easy to admit, there is a hidden pleasure in watching stick-thin models parade down the runway wearing the newest and hottest lingerie. As secretly amusing as this may be, should we really be supporting industries that make their revenue by exploiting women’s bodies in the media? Companies such as Victoria's Secret spend large amounts of money each year broadcasting these types of images on TV, in magazines, and on billboards. With the widespread access to media that exists today, Victoria’s Secret’s target audience is very large. In this paper, I will prove that the body image portrayed by Victoria Secret in the media changes body image ideals in society, supports racial stereotypes, and causes confidence issues in young women.

For example, Jennifer Lawrence was recently featured on the cover of Flare magazine, but it wasn’t entirely her. An already beautiful woman was altered and refined so that she could fit the qualifications of the magazine editors. They photoshopped her to look thinner, have more appealing features, and even changed the shape and color of her hands. If a famous actress that is already looked to as gorgeous had to be modified to look better, how can common women ever feel good about themselves? Only 5% of women in the U.S. are said to naturally have the picture-perfect body that is portrayed in media. 40-70% of girls that are in grade school either want to lose weight because of magazine pictures or think that the perfect body is depicted by magazines. 42% of girls in 1st through 3rd grade want to lose weight. 81% of 10 year olds are scared of getting fat. The media’s interpretation of the ideal body is even affecting kids. We can prevent that by stressing that being “average” isn’t what you see on magazines, being “average” is any way someone can be

“Advertisers are so manipulative,” Christy Turlington, a Calvin Klein model, confessed to a magazine company (Rowland 54). The pictures are not only fake, but airbrushed to a point where the actress, model, or famous individual barely resembles an actual human being. Christy Turlington’s experience with airbrushing is an unpleasant one and she deems it necessary to call out the media that continuously allows this to happen. The idea of perfection and ultimate, top-notch beauty shows adolescents that flawless beauty is the only type that will be accepted in society today. Airbrushing and other devices that are capable of fixing imperfections can lead to “depression and eating disorders” (Issitt). This only emphasizes that the media is affecting the overall psychological progress young minds adapt to. Additionally, at age thirteen, 53% of American girls dislike their bodies because of the media’s influence; that number continues to grow as they get older ("Teen Health and the Media"). This directly correlates with problems that follow such as self-consciousness, lack of confidence, and depression. The effect media has on an individual lasts a lifetime and becomes a serious problem to overcome as a result. Society is also affected by models and the theory of the “thin ideal” which in turn discourages a positive body image.

The media plays a tremendous part in our everyday lives. It affects how we eat, how we dress, and our self-esteem. Whether it’s a heavily photo shopped model in a magazine, or a fad diet that encourages unhealthy beauty standards. The stress that these standards place on men and women have been heavily correlated with increases in eating disorders. The perpetuation of being extremely thin in the media has a huge impact on young people and children especially, because they are still learning what is considered normal, and will attempt to copy the esthetics of what they see in magazines if they aren’t taught what is a healthy body to have. Mass media portrays men and women to impossible standards that could never be reached

This power has allowed the creation of new standards for women who are expected to be in perfect in every way and do everything to reach the established standards, even if it means putting their life at risk in order to meet the “ideal” body or face. Being exposed to these models flaunting their perfect bodies millions of women suffer from insecurities and low self-esteem. In the article Reconstructing the Ideal Body Image in Teen Fashion Magazines the writers Malachowski and Myers state that “Magazines are particularly influential because they target an audience in which disordered eating is most common, and display models that are thinner than 98% of American women” (2). Studies show that the most affected by these ideals are girls and teenagers, which is sad because they only care about looking like models in orders to be considered beautiful or just to be part of certain group. In the article No model for girls Fiona Bawdon states that “In a study of 3,200 young women carried out in February this year by Girlguiding UK, over half of 16- to 25-year-olds said the media showed in magazines or fashion advertisements made them feel that "being pretty and thin" was the "most important thing". This proves how the media and The Fashion Industry guide and shape the concept that society has about beauty

As stated before, due to the loss of confidence in society's younger generation, people try and change themselves to various extents to fit the mold photo-shopping has created for them. What was omitted from the previous paragraph was the horrendous extent of it. Unfortunately, society's expectations has led people to shun and even bully those who do not fit into the mold. This causes eating disorders and depression. Indeed, it is no wonder that this might become a “reflection of the events and spirit of our times for the future” (Grundberg 35). How far will people go to achieve the expectations photo-shopping has raised? Plastic surgery, dieting, self-harm, perhaps even going so far as suicide; all of them are caused by how these altered pictures make people view the world and the people in it. Such false advertising should be condemned. It is like false advertising for medication. Instead of overdosing on pills, society's overdosing on appearances. Having been photo-shopped, images of models drastically change the population's views on what beauty entails, resulting in health problems beyond measure, some even going as far as to result in

People can get the wrong idea about life based off of what they are being exposed to, whether it is true or not – especially children. Young minds are moldable, and what a child is exposed to can mold the way they think. Digital editing does have its upsides to it, but at the same time, as with any new innovations, this impact also has a darker side. In regard to the younger generation, as parents and caretakers, we need to properly educate them on what true beauty is. That beauty is not about what is on the outside, but rather what lies beyond the outer

Every single day when I wake up in the morning, one of the first things I do is look at myself in the mirror. Am I skinny enough? Is my skin clear enough? Do I look like the girl from the magazine I was reading yesterday? No. I don’t. But I’ll keep asking these questions each and everyday because that is what the media tells me I need to look like. Because if my waist isn’t small enough I’m not pretty. Because if I have cellulite on my legs there’s something wrong with me. Because if I don’t slot into this unattainable standard. I'm not beautiful. Airbrushing and photoshopping models in pictures to display through media is something that frankly speaking is appalling. We are alienating beautiful human beings because of the media’s dictations on what we should look like. I am sick of being brainwashed to the point where all I can ever seem to do is single out the ‘flaws’ in myself. If we display, real, beautiful, raw pictures of people in media then so many problems caused by this would no longer exist.