Pop culture and mass media are pervasive as they both play a major role in womens’ mental health. The media is making it difficult for us as women to evolve into individuals; we spend a lot of our time always judging ourselves and one another based on someone else’s idea of perfection on and offline. Advertisers have got to realize that there is a difference between beauty and digital alterations. There have been plenty of reports that show how many women have been negatively affected by constant exposure to models that fulfill an unrealistic ideal of beauty.
Popular culture plays a big role in influencing people’s perceptions about right and wrong, good and bad. Most of the time, you will see someone who looks close to the models depicted in the media, but more often than not, these are average people who are digitally altered. The problem with this idea of digital alteration is that it is becoming more problematic to see the limits of what is real and what is imagined. Digital alterations have been going on for many years, and quite frankly, it will never stop since they want people to believe that the person is almost “perfect.” Real beauty can’t be seen in digital alterations due to the unrealistic standards that are incorporated.
Digital alteration largely impacts how popular fashion magazines such as Vogue, Marie Claire, and Paper portray celebrities and models in a different light. Almost every aspect of pop culture is about marketing. The beauty ideal being sold to girls and women everywhere is that in order to be beautiful, you must be thin, sexy, young, and fair-skinned. The promise sold along with this idea is that once it’s achieved, you are guaranteed happiness.
What the mass media fails to warn us of is the damage that occurs in the pursuit of this unrealistic and unobtainable ideal. Studies have found that within three minutes of viewing fashion magazines, it left 70 percent of women feeling depressed, guilty, and ashamed. Additionally, 10 minutes of watching a music video portraying ultra-thin models left adolescent girls feeling dissatisfied with their bodies. Clothing firms use size 0 models in their advertisements that are often photoshopped to alien-like dimensions that would be unachievable and unhealthy in any human being.
Personally speaking, body image has always been an issue with me by admitting that, I too, am also learning how to love the body that I am in. We must all also understand that every person is shaped differently and the only goal that we need to focus on is the goal that we create for ourselves. There isn’t a magic spell to help you reach your desired figure, but hard work, discipline, and optimal care will allow you to achieve your goals.
What do you think of digital alterations in the media? Let me know in the comments below!
