Assignment #5 - Ugly Beautiful

I think that we have just about all see The Evolution of Beauty on youtube, if not you can check it out here, but it's pretty crazy to think that it takes that much work and that many people and especially that much digital enhancement to create what we think of as beauty. So why are they doing this? To sell more magazines? To create the illusion that these women actually look like that?

I think that the publication's practicing of altering photos is morally wrong and it should not be allowed. Thousands of women have subscription to these magazines and it isn't only hurting their self esteem, what about the young girls whose hands these magazines may fall into, their daughters or little sisters. Seeing these falsified images of these women and how they look can lead these young women to depression and in some severe cases an eating disorder.

Here reputable news anchor Katie Couric from Photoshop.com, is shown in a touched up photo that she didn't even know was going to be altered. The photo on the left is the original image taken and you can see on the right they have lightened her skin tone, and slimmed down her face and waist.

Sometimes editors are doing these kind of things without the model knowing it, but in most cases the person being photographed is well aware of the improvements made to this bodies and happy about the non surgical adjustment. The editor should only be able to do something like that if they have the consent of the person being photographed, it is never acceptable to change how someone looks without them knowing about it or asking for permission.

I think this particular photo was altered because when people see a skinny person they expect them to have a perfect face and body and not to have wrinkles, pimples of cellulite. This picture shows that just being thin doesn't make you beautiful or free from any flaws.

This is not an acceptable use of alteration because that picture on the left is who that girl really is, not the airbrushed cartoon on the right, allowing young girls to think that that is what she really looks is sad and damaging to their self esteem. Seeing people for who they really are can help improve the outlook our shallow society has on what beauty really is.