Opinions on society: Negative uses of Photoshop

I recently chanced upon an article which talked about the various feats that photoshop can accomplish. However, does Photoshop really have that many benefits? If you don’t already know, Photoshop is an image-editing software that is commonly used in print media such as magazines and digital images. Through the use of Photoshop, a person’s entire appearance can be altered or even an entirely new person can be created.

This leads me to think about how Photoshop can cause negative body image issues. Teenagers these days are very concerned about their appearances and many of them tend to have some dissatisfaction with their bodies. Furthermore, these teens are exposed to many false appearances which are created by Photoshop itself. I believe that the negative message that those photos represent, especially to someone who is already struggling with their image, can impact them terribly. Many teenagers also believe that beauty can only exist in an unachievable body type and they get the impression that it is healthy to look like the models they see on the covers of their favourite magazines. I must agree that even I myself sometimes chance upon a magazine and go “hey, how I wish I could look more like her”. That’s how Photoshop plays a part in setting such unachievable standards and this contributes to the negative impact it has on teenagers. These may also result in eating disorders in teenagers who are trying to achieve unrealistic body goals. It has been proven that the number of teens (especially girls) being diagnosed with eating disorders are on the rise. It was also reported that girls who often read magazines were three times more likely to be engaged in extreme weight control behaviours! I strongly believe that this is because in magazines, advertisers commonly alter their photographs using Photoshop to enhance the appearances of their models which leads to an impression that “perfect bodies” do exist. For example:

The purpose of this article isn’t to ask you to download Photoshop but it’s to remind teenagers, such as you guys that nobody is perfect and that we should all stop trying to hide our flaws and start embracing them instead!

Fiona Goh (4F)