Negative Effects Of Photoshop On Teens

Manipulated photos in the media influence the eyes that see it, including children. In an article entitled “Is Photoshop Destroying America’s Body Image”, Vivian Diller Ph.D. states that The AMA ( American Medical Association) is just beginning to raise public awareness about the impact of image manipulation on childhood development. They want us all to reflect upon the way in

Within the past few decades, technology has completely transformed. The height and talent of today’s technology has completely changed America and its views. Technology has completely changed and expanded over the past 20 years. Within the past decade a new form of editing technology was created, and that technology is Photoshop. Photoshop is a software used to alter images. In todays day and age, photoshop has become the norm. It is everywhere and it cannot be escaped. Photoshop is used on everything and everyone, and it is affecting us at an extremely negative rate. Due to the works of Photoshop being used on every single media platform, society has adapted to the perfection in photos that were altered by Photoshop. What the world sees when they look at a photoshopped picture is what a company views as perfection, and this image creates an unhealthy comparison between the viewer, the image, and those around them. With Photoshop, images are altered beyond recognition. The Photoshop software takes away any blemish and flaw, and it can make the model used in the photo unrealistically thin, and by this it creates an unachievable body image. When these images are viewed by society, they only see the photo, and they don’t see the hours and hours spent altering the image to actually make them appear this way. So, when society, especially young children and young adults, see these insanely altered images they see something that isn’t real. They see someone that isn’t realistic,

Today, more than ever, teenage girls are influenced by magazines, billboards, television, movies, and most of all advertisements. While the advertisements of models that have been airbrushed to flawlessness may sell products, the effects on teen girls is undeniable. Over the past decade the numbers of depression, eating disorders, and hypersexuality in young girls has been steadily on the rise. False advertising in way of airbrushing, heavy editing, and photoshopping models has had negative effects on teen girls and according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) policy, false advertisement is illegal. It may be stretching it calling photoshopping false advertising, but nonetheless manipulating young, impressionable girls into believing

Photoshop, is almost always used in today’s media but many people refuse to see or believe it. The more photoshop the media uses the lower the self esteem, higher the depressions rates and an increase in eating disorders and mental illnesses. So why does the media still use photoshop when it is so harmful? How does it really affect girls and teenagers? What can prevent these effects of Photoshop? Photoshop has harmed high school girls to the point where 30% of them have an eating disorder (Vaynshteyn).

“Companies should absolutely stand up against Photoshop, especially those that once endorsed it and now see the damage it has caused,” Legleitner said. You may be left wondering: “What damage?”. The damage left from the use of photoshop is immense and it extends much farther than what may come to mind. A research study done by Heather R. Gallivan, PsyD, LP Park Nicollet Melrose Center found that “53% of 13 year-old American girls are unhappy with their bodies. This number grows to 78% by the time girls reach 17.” Her research shows that at approximately the age of 12 girls will have the most confidence in their body and then as the years progress of their youth that confidence will plummet. Another statistic that Gallivan shared was that in 2010 the Girl Scouts Organization did a survey with over one-thousand girls ages 13-17, the results noted that: “ 9 out of 10 girls felt pressure by fashion and media industries to be skinny.” It further explained that 60% of girls compare themselves to the models and use the images put out by magazines as an ideal body to strive for. Women and girls that feel this unethical influence by the fashion industry often times go through impacts including: depression, eating disorders, anxiety or even as terrible as suicidality. Knowing that women face emotional and physical impacts based off the unrealistic edited images put out by their brand should be disheartening to the companies at fault.

On the other hand, the images of flawless skin, athletic thin bodies , and with the possibility of Photoshop, teenagers are finding it impossible to achieve this standard of beauty. With these images portrayed everywhere, it has led to more than just low-esteem, it has led to distorted body image, jealousy, eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. The images of being thin portrayed by media can result in teenagers feeling depressed, anxious and incline in self-worth. These feelings can then lead to depression, low self-esteem and anxiety, causing teenagers to lose

Photoshop is known to fix even the slightest imperfections. This sets impossibly high standards for what women expect for themselves. Photoshopped images are destroying America’s body image. The media sets up high beauty and body standards for women. The media takes beautiful women and tells them they are not beautiful enough. Being beautiful nowadays is having a face covered in make-up, being “skinny” is having a thigh gap, and to be perfect is to have no flaws. Women need to start realizing they are beautiful with their flaws, but it’s a hard process to love your flaws and imperfections. Dove made a commercial about loving something as simple as your curls. A handful of young women (ages 5 to 11) were asked about how they feel about their

As defined by Merriam-Webster, the definition of Photoshop is as follows: “to alter (a digital image) with Photoshop software or other image-editing software especially in a way that distorts reality (as for deliberately deceptive purposes)”. Even the definition states that Photoshop distorts reality, yet girls still think that models have the ideal body image. The real reality is that models set an unattainable and unrealistic way for girls to look like. In “No Model For Girls” by Fiona Bawdon, the author explores how models and Photoshop can negatively affect adolescent girls body image. The author states that, “magazine images are routinely airbrushed: thighs slimmed, wrinkles smoothed and blemishes removed” (29). How are adolescent girls not supposed to feel self-conscious and compare themselves to models when, in with a touch of Photoshop, models can look skinnier, have a flawless face, and appear more beautiful? Another startling statistic that was in the same study conducted by Marium Javaid and Iftikhar Ahmad, was that “actresses and models had 10-15% less body fat whereas the average body fat for healthy women is 22-26%” (30). This displays just how extremely thin and unrealistic these models are. The body fat for a healthy woman is 22-26%, yet girls still see themselves as fat and continue to try and lose weight. This trend is growing more popular in today’s society, however, girls need to understand the importance of not comparing their own bodies to other people. It is an unnecessary and potentially harmful comparison to

Photoshop and photo editing apps are very important to young people so they can look “better”, or “prettier” and are continuing to grow as image standards change and new styles develop. Teens want to alter their own image so they can look more like the model, when in fact the model looks totally different than in the magazine.

Artists, editors and photographers plead the fact that they were provided with such great tools, but are constantly criticized for using them. Although there have been some very questionable fails in ads that deal with Photoshop, there have also been some very successful trials with Photoshop. Even though Victoria’s Secret models’ are retouched to have the ideal “beach bod”, they are also and inspiration for most people. According to Holmstrom in 2004, “results of studies done by both Crouch and Degelman (1998) and Biocca (1992) have shown that media increases positive body image, rather than a negative body image, in young women.” The exposure to these models’ beautiful bodies supposedly raises a positive body image amongst young women. Self esteem is raised because they aim to achieve the bodies portrayed to them in the media. Victoria’s Secret is obviously reaping benefits from this as well. Being one of the most famous lingerie stores in the United States and selling their bras from prices anywhere from $20-$258 (for one of their Designer Collection lingerie sets) along with the millions of women and teenage girls shopping at the store for the perfect fit that makes more self-confident, even if they’re the only one that ever sees their

Body image crisis is strong evidence which support the idea that media negatively affect the psychology and behavior of children and teenagers. There is an inherent interconnection between the modern media and body image. Today’s media creates stereotypes of perfect bodies which make children and teenagers who do not fit the image lose confidence in them and become depressed. Perfect women according to modern magazines and television should be thin and perfect men should be with large muscles. Children and teenager are not aware of the fact that images that are show in the media are often edited with Photoshop and that everyone is beautiful in his or her own way. These are the reason why they are influenced more by perfect images in the media

“The media has taken many celebrity appearances into their own hands, many times without permission” (“The Objectification of Women” par.2). Because of the media photoshopping women 's beauty on TV, social media, and even advertisements, it began to create a high rate of accusations of teenage girls’ all over the world. “In a recent study, the University at Buffalo sociologists found that the portrayal of women in the popular media over the last several decades has become increasingly sexualized, even pornified"( Donovan par.1). Due to this, women have been treated as sexual objects everywhere. Objectification comes from the lack of confidence and media 's portrayal of beauty; Due to this, the portrayal of men is not the same as females objectification is when women are treated like sexual objects. ‘Objectification is often defined by physical appearance, rather than personality” (“The Objectification of Women” par.2). As a result, women should not struggle to keep up with these trends today. “In order to achieve a ‘perfect’ look, the media manipulates photos using unnecessary editing in Photoshop to completely contort the original, creating an unnatural image” (“The Objectification of Women” par.2). The media is the dominant cause of these actions of teenage girls insecurities, high rates of surgical treatment, and males creating these fictitious assumptions. Objectification in social media should end because it causes teenage insecurities,

There is a growing concern with the number of teenagers undergo types of plastic surgery or change their bodies drastically with the expectation that it will improve their body image and self-confidence. (Citation). Media uses photoshop to make models look thinner and clearer, making models look unattainably

Over the years a debate over who is to blame over the decline in how girls perceive themselves has arisen. With Photoshop being the societal norm concerning the media, it has become difficult for many to understand where the line between real and near impossible standards lies. Youths see an image edited to “perfection” and strive to reach the standards that they imagine due to the images displayed on magazines, television and social media. From Disney to magazines like Vogue the mass media bombards audiences with fake beauty that they, as normal people, will never be able to achieve. The mass media is responsible for causing the rise in the number of people with a poor body image, eating disorders, and cosmetic surgeries.

With the media being a very popular way of communication and self expression in today’s culture, it influences the way of younger generations to be more involved in today’s technology, and to allow them to influence the world by the press of a button. But one of the topics that is very controversial is that in today’s society is the high expectations of what they think a girl has to look like, from girls not having stretch marks or scars, to magazines and photographers using photoshop to convince readers that the model looks like that. With all of these being factors that there is pressure is high for many girls around the world, this has to resolved.