Poisonous Photoshop
By: Madelyn McDonald
In today’s society, Photoshop is all around us. Whether we’re sitting at the dentist flipping through a magazine, looking up at a billboard, or watching a commercial on television, photoshop sets unrealistic standards for everyone. Photoshop negatively impacts people, especially young girls, who attempt to reach a goal of impossible perfection. Letting young girls see this environment of what “a perfect girl looks like” is not only toxic but disgusting. According to Gina Vaynshteyn, a writer for the blog HelloGiggles, 42% of girls in grades 1st through 3rd want to be thinner, 78% of 17-year-old girls are unhappy with their bodies, and 30% of high school girls have eating disorders. Imagine a seven-year-old girl who is supposed to be care-free and happy feeling self-conscious about her body, worrying if she is “too fat or doesn’t look normal.” These statistics and others like it only show how Photoshop can truly damage a person’s mind to achieve a false sense of an “ideal body” and how destructive that can be to one’s mind and actions.
As someone who has experienced feeling inferior and embarrassed about their body and face because of Photoshop, I know that it can lead to having severe mental health problems. I first started to feel fat at the age of nine years old. It started when I used to flip through magazines wishing I looked like the girls on the pages, or when I would have a longing to have a “normal” body like the one my friends had. I thought that my body looked gross and ugly compared to everyone else. Little did I know that was the start of a long journey of negative thoughts towards myself. At that time, one of the most awful things was to be asked to go swimming. I feared going swimming with friends in public places – my hands would get sweaty, my throat would clog up, and I’d panic, making up an excuse as to why I couldn’t go to the waterpark or the pool that day. I refused to wear a bathing suit when I was forced to swim, instead opting for a shirt and a pair of shorts up until I was fifteen. I remember when we had to play water polo for PE one year, I begged my teacher to let me stay in the stands because “it was my fourth week being on my period.” I used that excuse to avoid having to change into a suit and letting my classmates see my body. The fear of people seeing me was so intense for a growing girl like me to handle. It took years of learning (and still learning) to feel better in my own skin to overcome this. Everyone is supposed to have flaws, and when we hide them from the world, we hide our true selves as well.
Aspiring to be the “perfect girl” is hard enough as it is, but adding the internet to that pursuit is a whole other level of toxicity – trust me, I know. Social media is another weapon that we have that tells us to hide any flaw we have from the world. Whether it’s fixing your acne or slimming down your waist before posting a photo, apps like Retouch or Instagram (which has been called “the worst social media platform for mental health” by CNN) have got you covered with helping to remove your “problems.” These actions can create anxiety, depression, and insecurities for women all around. A top example of how Instagram has allowed this to happen on their site is by letting celebrities promote products with the “#ad” in exchange for profit. One advertisement that I have seen repeatedly on my page is Flat Tummy Co – a weight loss brand that sells protein shakes, lollipops, and tea. The goal is to consume the drink or snack twice a day for four weeks to “cleanse and debloat your system, or move some of those stubborn lbs.” Yes, you read that right. A lollipop is supposed to make you lose weight. Although the website is filled with positive reviews about how great the results are, the facts behind it don’t add up. Each serving contains only 140 calories, barely enough for a full meal. By the time one would finish the four weeks, they could be prone to skipping meals – putting them at risk for developing new or triggering old eating disorders. Researchers have reported side effects such as diarrhea, headaches, dizziness, and in extreme cases, liver failure when using it. Some have even gone on to say that the product is not safe at all. Nutritionist Keri Gans stated that “since our culture is shifting away from diets, women who want to lose weight are closeted, but if a celeb is using a diet product, it makes them feel less ashamed, so they buy it.” Many women trust these celebrities because of their fit and toned bodies (thinking it’s from these weight loss items), but they don’t know the whole truth. In reality, these celebrities have personal trainers, cooks, and dietitians to help them achieve the body they have, further proving how they’d rather have a paycheck than thinking about the physical and mental health effects of girls who see these ads. When I learned of the stories behind these ads, I was hurt and angry that these people could be so selfish in willing to risk their followers and fans for a paid promotion of a trashy, phony brand. These people should be role models, especially to younger girls, praising the idea that it is okay to have stretch marks, cellulite, or fat on our bodies and still feel confident. Since having these apps, I have realized that the media that is portrayed does not have the best intentions for us – its goal is to tear us down with these photos, so we overlook and question our own self-worth. I’m tired of society allowing this type of body standard to last – things must change if we want to protect the next generation of girls.
We rely on photoshop so heavily nowadays that it has become ingrained in our brains to the point where something so unrealistic could seem as if it’s real. It’s hard to say that “everyone knows that it’s photoshopped” or “to just ignore it” when we have it stuck in our faces every day. If the world accepted our real bodies, we wouldn’t even have to hear that a third-grade girl wants to be thinner. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Photoshop and its effect on women, which is why it should be gone for good. Photoshop has taken years of childhood innocence, self-love, and confidence away from me, and, in return, it has given me doubts and insecurities. It’s difficult to look back and see all the moments I have lost because of it. Overcoming these feelings was hard, but I learned with age and experience that I didn’t need to look “perfect” to be happy – the way my body looked didn’t define who I was. It took me way too long to accept myself for what I am, and it pains me to see other girls having to live through it as well, not understanding yet that they are beautiful. No one should have to worry about their body like that. Ever. While I have already begun my journey for growth, I wish we had a better support system to help us install self-love and acceptance within ourselves – if we did, our world would be a much better place for us all.