Editorial: Why People Photoshop, and Why It Is Bad

You don’t need to bombard every single media outlet with digitally-enhanced images of idealized versions of beauty. All genders shouldn’t let non-true advertisements ruin their self-confidence. I feel as if you want to photoshop everything on your body, it just doesn’t feel right.

If you are insecure about your body and want to hide your stretch marks, tattoos, and etc. then you shouldn’t have taken the picture to where you could see those things. We have to come to terms with the fact that altered pictures will never be eliminated from our society; however, we can and need to define limits as to what is too much.

Until then, women need to stay educated and aware of the difference between reality and idealistic beauty. Girls have to be told from the moment they learn to talk that beauty is not in media, but within themselves. There is no ideal, there is only us. Photoshopping can also hurt those whose images are altered. To cite just two: 23-year- old Australian model Meaghan Kausman was excited to work with a famous photographer. But after the swimwear label Fella Swim published photos of her beautiful size 8 body Photoshopped to a size 4, she spoke up for herself. “They had drastically altered my body, thinning out my stomach and thighs in an attempt to box me into the cultural ideal of beauty,” she posted on Instagram alongside the photo, saying “My body is a size 8, not a size 4. That’s my body!” Fella Swim apologized to Kausman, saying they didn’t intend to offend, disrespect or hurt her.