Girls are taught from a young age that being skinny is the same thing as being pretty, wearing makeup is the same thing as being pretty, having long legs is the same thing as being pretty, and a big contributing factor to these lessons is photoshop. Using Photoshop on a picture means to digitally alter and “enhance” a person’s natural features, it can make the model skinnier or put makeup on them, or basically change their features until they look flawless. Photoshop has changed beauty standards for girls, and definitely not in a good way.

  Photoshop is generally used for magazines and advertisements for clothing, or really anything where human models are used. The typical changes made to girls’ bodies are: adding makeup, making their limbs longer, and slimming down their waists. Basically they are given the “ideal” body shape and image.

In reality, none of these alterations can actually be made, making the pictures in magazines and advertisements completely unrealistic and unachievable. These unachievable features are what give girls a bad body image of themselves. Seeing pictures of “perfect” girls in the media only reminds other girls what they don’t have, even though what they don’t have are impossible body features.

Some stores such as Aerie, Modcloth, and even an entire magazine (Verily) pledged not to use photoshop on their models. These stores believe that we need to start setting more realistic beauty standards. Standing up for natural beauty is something that is almost never seen, and good for them for making a stand. In the future I hope to see more stores follow their lead.

Today, the media tells us that to be pretty we have to be skinny, and petite, and have long legs and long arms, and wear makeup , but in reality this couldn’t be farther from the truth, it’s just what the media’s beauty standards are showing us. Do what makes you happy, and if that means not wearing makeup, or wearing makeup, or working out, or not, be yourself! Photoshop doesn’t have to change our body images or how we feel so, next time you’re tempted to compare yourself to a picture in a magazine, remember that as long as you’re happy with yourself everyone else will be too.