Subconsciously women are being encouraged to dress a certain way, do their hair or make-up to suit trends, and diet, seemingly pointlessly. Women feel the need to do such things to fit in with society. If the magazine images were removed from public view, there is a chance that women would be free to live as they please and look how they want.
There is no such thing as true natural beauty anymore. Natural beauty is that of being happy in your own skin, happy enough to step out each morning wearing no make-up and whatever you want, not the latest fashions.
Photo-manipulation puts such pressure on being thin and beautiful that women go to extreme lengths, even cosmetic surgery. The results don't even make the woman feel any better about herself, so why bother? We are all trying to live up to a fake reality, thinking we wont be accepted unless we look like that girl on the cover of this months glossy. However how can we ever achieve what isnt real in the first place.
In many cases manipulating photographs is not necessary. For example, above the models waist has been shrunk, her breasts enlarged, her tan enhanced, her eyes moved and the background and colours changed, all to make her look more beautiful. But truthfully it makes no difference. The Model is still just as beautiful. If anything the image on the right doesn't look better, the colour and lighting change make the model look worse, as if she were plastic and fake.
Photography has the power to influence how people live their day-to-day lives. Maybe photographers should use this power more positively.
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