Alexis Richardson

English 1102
Ms. Eaker
April 1, 2014
Photo shopping and the Body Image of Adolescent Girls
How many times have you flipped through a magazine and stopped to notice a flawless
image of a model? Magazines sold all around the United States, for example, Vogue, contain
images of beautiful women with perfect skin, nice hair, and a thin body shape. Flawless women
that you may see on the covers of these magazines include the familiar celebrities, Kirsten
Stewart and Emma Watson. Controversy is beginning to rise as some people believe photo
shopping can have harmful effects on teenage girls and others believe that it is a new form of
technology and is just a picture that has been created. The media has already discussed how
women are seen as sex objects and are mostly judged by their physical appearance, so
displaying what our society sees as the ideal woman all over magazines could be influencing
young girls. Arguments that support such claims come from physicians who see a correlation
between the viewing of magazines and eating disorders, as well as, anxiety and depression. On
the opposite end, photographers argue that it is just modern photography. Finally, there are
groups of teenage girls who find themselves comparing their bodies to the womens bodies
throughout magazines. The popularity of magazines and the change in image of the models has
brought more light to issue concerning the body image of adolescent girls.
Psychologists argue that the use of photo shop to alter images of women is harmful
because it sets high expectations of what the perfect women should look like. Their concern
comes into play when adolescent girls are viewing these unrealistic images during a crucial
period of life. A peer reviewed journal titled, The Skinny on Body Dissatisfaction: The
Longitudinal Study of Girls and Boys covers what a group of psychologists were interested in,
what studies they conducted to research it, and the results they found. Psychologists, Sarah Kate
Bearman, Erin Martinez, and Eric Stice have conducted studies such as, longitudinal studies, and
questionnaires to test the idea that young girls who view photo shopped images of models in
magazines are more likely to experience body hatred because of natural changes. Teenage years
involve puberty and physical changes, but psychologists believe if you throw in the idea of what
a perfect woman should look like, that period can be a negative and disappointing experience.
Longitudinal studies, which are studies that look at a group of people and follow that same group
for an extended period of time, are used to see how extensive viewing of magazines with edited
images affect teenage girls over a course of a few years. The results shown from the multiple
studies conducted suggest that teenage girls who have media influences, such as magazines,
during the years of physical change, they are more and likely to have a feeling of discontent with
their physical appearance (Bearman, 5-24).
Psychologists have determined that the media has one of the largest influences over our
society today and plays a role in the increased desire of losing weight and being thin. Research
has shown that body dissatisfaction and body hatred is becoming prevalent in girls at a much
younger age than first expected and implicates that young girls are being exposed to mass
amounts of media at a way younger age. Psychologists find the unrealistic images of women in
magazines harmful because it encourages teenage girls to pursue extreme diets and become
unsatisfied with their physical appearance. The purpose behind many of the studies conducted
on young and teenage girls is to find the root of the increase in body hatred and eating disorders.
Although psychologists have looked into peer and family influences, results are pulling their
opinions toward the media having the biggest impact (Dohnt, Tiggemann).
Psychologists have also looked into the history of magazines in the media and compared
it to what messages the media is sending now. Carolyn Ross, who wrote the article, Why Do
Women Hate Their Bodies, discusses how the ideal image of a woman has changed over the
past 50 years (Ross, 5). Her big question is how our society went from idolizing a full shaped
woman to a nearly emaciated woman. Dr. Ross emphasizes how the media is constantly
portraying this new perfect woman to the point where girls all throughout this country believe
that it is real and it is what they must look like. Carolyn Ross argues that the self-hatred coming
from a large portion of the women and adolescent girls in the United States is strongly related to
the media and the messages it sends to society (Ross, 9-10).
Although photographers have not done any studies to go against this, many say that photo
shop is a new technology and is used just for that reason. The new way of photography allows
photographers to take a picture, cut out the background, change the background, remove
blemishes, change body shape, adjust hair, and other changes. Jeff Shewe, a photographer,
defends the use of this modern technology and claims that it can create new illustrations and
pieces of master work (Diller, 6). Just as painting an image, drawing an image or sketching an
image, photographers see creating a digital image in the same way.
Photographers and artists who are responsible for the images in magazines argue
that photo shop is a way to enhance what one already has and want to be recognized for a new
kind of illustration. Contrary to how psychologists view photo shopping, photographers view it
as a way to stylize an image. Some magazine advertisers have made a similar statement to, I
want my cake and eat it to in relation to what they want out of photo shopped images. Many
want a balance between their photographer skills and the magic of spicing up those images with
photo shopping techniques (Fortini, 5). Photographers want to use their skills and technology to
produce style-orientated images and are not so agreeable on the subject that photo shopping is
affecting our society in drastic ways.
One photographer in particular named Ritchie Roesch argues that the critiques
against photo shop can only see in black and white. Roesch claims that there is more to a picture
than what part of it is real and what part of it is not (Roesch). Roesch does not personally use
photo shop but supports the artists who do because of the reasons behind it. He argues that no
picture is perfect and photo shop is just there to enhance and improve certain aspects of an
image. His main issue with those against the use of photo shop is that they turn to the negative
parts and do not really take a look at the real reason why photographers use this type of
technology.
Teenage girls have a very unique voice on this issue because they are the main age group
that is being affected by photo shopping and magazines. As some teens mentioned from the
documentary, Cover Girl Culture, that they wanted to be a model or made comments such as,
I wish I was skinnier (Cover). That comment is extremely important because it allows
parents, the media, even our society to see that young girls are comparing themselves to this
unbelievably high standard and are aspiring to be the cover of a magazine. Teenage girls want to
be models instead of pursuing careers such as doctors, politicians, and other highly admired
occupations. Throughout the documentary, young girls stated certain parts of their physical
appearance that they wish they could change including their nose and chin (Cover Girl Culture).
These young girls see the models in magazines as role models and women to look up to.
Many teenagers have the same viewpoint about what goes into the magazines sold all
around our country, but there are some that are aware of it. Teenage girls are aware of the affect
that magazines have on their body image, as well as, the effect on others. Many young girls
claim that they are exposed to what they call body bashing on a daily basis with some of these
sources including magazines. A popular aspect that has been re-occurring is the thigh gap
which leaves teenage girls criticizing themselves and their peers around them (Atassi, 5). The
media and magazines have sent teenage girls the message that a certain physical appearance is
in and that message is being sent around from girl to girl in harmful and criticizing ways.
The teenagers who are aware of how media can affect the body image of others argue that
fighting the media and uplifting those with self-esteem can help the problem. One teenager from
the article mentions that there are positive comments shared on social media to encourage other
girls to see themselves in a more positive light. On the other hand, the teenage girls who have
succumb to comparing themselves to the models in magazines will critique their physical
appearance, claim that there are things they could change and wish that they could look like the
models in magazines, without realizing how many skipped meals and unhappy days they have
experienced.
Different people in our society have a different way of viewing the issue of photo shop
and how it affects the body image of adolescent girls. Many psychologists see photo shopping as
harmful and creates an unattainable beauty standard for young girls. Photographers see photo
shopping as something completely different. The eyes behind the camera want to put this new
modern technology to use and do not believe it is dangerous. Lastly, teenage girls speak up about
how they feel when they flip through a magazine. Many adolescent girls find themselves
criticizing their bodies and going to unhealthy extents to fit into the perfect body image. This
controversy is still going strong in our society and nobody has come to a decision about what to
do with photo shopping. The people in our society have to take a good look at what photo
shopping does and determine, where should the line be drawn? What kind of restrictions could
be placed on photo shopping to prevent it from having such a strong influence, but still be
allowed for those who want to explore new ways of photography and experience this new form
of technology.










Works Cited
Atassi, Danah., Roache, Kiley. See Myself, Hate Myself. Huffington Post. 19 September 2013.
Web. 12 April 2014.
Bearman, Sarah., Martinez, Erin., Stice, Eric. The Skinny on Body Dissatisfaction: A
Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Girls and Boys. U.S National Library of Medicine. April
2006. Web. 21 March 2014.
Clark, Nicole. "Cover Girl Culture". 2008. Web. 21 March 2014.
Dohnt, Hayley., Tiggemann, Marika. "Body Image Concerns in Young Girls: The Roles of Peer
and Media Prior to Adolescence." Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 2 April 2006. Web. 11
April 2014.
Fortini, Amanda. In Defense of Photoshop: Why Retouching Isnt As Evil As Everyone
Thinks The Cut. 29 August 2010. Web. 16 April 2014.
Roesch, Ritchie. Defending the Use of Photoshop in Photography. Roesch Photography. 22
April 2014. Web. 25 April 2014.
Ross, Carolyn. Why Do Women Hate Their Bodies? World of Psychology. Web. 3 April 2014.