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| Yes | 25% | 7 votes | Total: 28 votes | |
| No | 75% | 21 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesAltered images have become a staple in the beauty business in recent years. There are benefits to this heavily criticized trend, and not just for the magazines wishing to produce gorgeous cover photos.
First, it shows us that not even models, chosen because they epitomize the current aesthetic ideal, can meet the ridiculous standards created by the fashion and beauty media. Magazines live and die by their sponsors, so the ultimate goal is to make readers feel as if they must buy the products hawked and reviewed in its pages in order to measure up. What better way to create that sense of urgency in readers than to display an impossibly perfect image on the cover and inside the magazine?
When beauty magazine audiences realize this, they can see the industry in the same way they view commercials for potato chips or vacuum cleaners. Most of us like to think we're immune to the call of the commercial; in fact, unless an ad is especially creative or well-done and provides some entertainment value, we usually just flip the channel or leave the room. We can apply this same attitude to beauty magazines; they can be fun to read, but their goals are pretty transparent.
If even models, hired because of their flawless skin, tall, slender figures, and perfectly symmetrical faces, require digital tweaking of their likenesses in order to sell magazines, something is wrong with the industry, not its models or fans. They are trying to sell an image that, apparently, no one can live up to. Sought-after models have the means to buy any beauty product they desire, and access to the best plastic surgeons and top stylists. If their images are still not quite perfect enough, that speaks volumes about the aims of magazines, and the effectiveness of the $200 jars of moisturizers and other products sold in their pages.
Seeing the beauty media as just another business, doing anything they can to make money, can encourage us to seek out ways to rebel against it. While the people in the industry are just doing their jobs, trying to be competitive like any other kind of business, this does not mean we have to be victims of their pursuit of perfection. Instead, we can take their media manipulation as a challenge to appreciate ourselves for our creativity, kindness, sense of humor, and even what is interesting or attractive about the way we look, rather than lamenting our short legs or less-than-perfect skin. After all, if supermodels are unable to cut the mustard, maybe we should chase our dreams, rather than some elusive, unattainable goal of physical perfection.
Learn more about this author, Stacy Calvert.
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No
The picture does not tell the story.
As the saying goes "a picture is worth a thousand words". At times is not worth a dime.
White lies, false advertisement and deceiving practices have been around for a long time and will not go away any time soon. Considered the life of any business and intended as a way to promote, entice and above all to create an imperative "need", advertisement is here to stay.
Looking at magazines and seeing the same smiling faces for decades, one may think that aging has escaped models and celebrities. This is exactly the point advertisers want to make; do what they do, and use what they use.
The message is loud and clear: buy more and better products and spare no effort and no money. It is implied that in the end the reword will justify the purchase and you may even have a chance at being forever young, forever beautiful, forever sexy.
Whether the product is jewelry, perfume, clothing or cosmetics, the message always spells "buy now and buy more". The goal is always to promote sales and nothing else seems to matter.
The real danger in having photographs of models altered to the point where they exceed perfection is in the physiological impact those images have on the viewers. Not that we don't appreciate beauty; we all do. In fact our appreciation goes as far as to make more and more people ready to emulate the models they so admire.
Young girls are starving themselves and women of all ages are rushing to the plastic surgeon's office for liposuction, dermal fillers, lip enhancement, breast augmentation, facelifts and the rest. The line between reality and the fantasy encouraged by the media becomes blurred.
Retouching photographs is nothing new; it has been done long before digital cameras became popular. It was an innocent way of making people look a little better by changing the color of the background or by using a more flattering light for a family picture.
Times have changed and old sentimental values have been replaced by new and more commercial needs. In order to have a big and immediate impact on the consumer new and evermore sophisticated ways of deceit are being explored. Advanced and sophisticated electronic technology facilitates the "witched" capabilities of digital cameras to alter images. The not so innocent trick plays right in the hands of the advertisers, making their job easier, faster and more effective.
Supposed to promote business by ensuring visibility, the companies involved in advertisement have only one goal in mind; keeping their customers happy by whatever means. Decency, morals and other "minor considerations" do not enter the equation. Profits are above moral standards. The bottom line is the driving force of any business and that will never change.
The beauty industry is notorious for making unproved claims. Being unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration they can say almost everything without fear of repercussions.
Even when they are being penalized for outrages promises, their profits are so exorbitant that the industry hardly feels the pinch. The "buyer by aware" saying is what keeps them out of trouble most of the time.
Pay close attention to their language and you will realize the not so orthodox methods the cosmetic industry uses: the cream will "soften" the lines, the skin will "appear" brighter, the complexion will "look" revitalized and so on, until every single one of your dream is fulfilled and your pockets are empty. All of those words are subjective and the beauty industry is counting on your wishful thinking.
L'Oreal has paid big fines in the past, but take a look at their new commercial for collagen mascara supposed to lengthen lashes and make them fuller. The fact that the model is wearing a triple strip of false lashes does not matter to the beauty giant or their advertising company. Knowing that the potential customer will "never notice" the deceit, since they will be so smitten by Longoria's beauty and their attention to details will be masterfully diverted, they feel free to do what makes then money.
Making people feel inadequate while giving them hope and providing a "solution" is a very profitable business. Since even the most intelligent people are being brainwashed by relentless and effecting advertisement, the dream will go on and sales will skyrocket.
As always, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the truth in advertising is not in best interest of big business.
Learn more about this author, Gabriella D'Anton.
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