Photoshop

I've been thinking a lot about how women are portrayed in media such as tv shows, advertisements, etc.  And at times it has made me wish that photoshop was illegal.  Because who can look like that?  To me it just doesn't seem possible yet there it is.  Staring me in the face nearly everywhere I go.  I think this is why I like the idea of living in the UK so much.  Because there are strict laws against the use of photoshop.  That it can't be used in beauty ads as that is lying about how a product works or in magazines etc.  Because not only is it unrealistic, it is also selling lies to your customers.  I like this.  We are spoon fed lies nearly every day.  About services, products, nearly everything.  And it makes me wonder just why we think any of this is ok.  Why is selling lies such a good thing?  Because you make money?  True you might make money.  But at a cost.  It costs us our pride, confidence and self esteem.  And ultimately our trust.  I use to look at these beauty ads and nearly worship the products they would sell knowing that if I bought it I could look just like the women in the ads.  Then I took a photoshop class in college.  And I learned it is easy to hide the imperfections of an individual.  To give them that smooth skin, no wrinkles or blemishes.  Bags and dark circles under the eyes.  Thin out their thighs, hips and waist.  It makes me well angry in all honesty.  Annoyed, irked however you want to call it.  This is damaging to women everywhere!  It is telling us that we can be this thin and fit.  NO WE CAN'T!  Everyone's body is different!  In nearly every way.  If you stood me next to someone who was my exact height and weight I bet you dollars to donuts our bodies would look completely different compared.  Because we are not the same.  And trying to sell this is horrible!  It's degrading and above all it is disgusting if not damaging.  It causes eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression.  Show me something real!  A real woman!  Not this fake fantasy.  But it is not only the media that is to blame for these images and the harm that they do.  It is on us as well.  We cannot blame them entirely.  For it is how we perceive these images and how we allow the younger generation of women to react to them.  Mothers, aunts, sisters, cousins, etc.  We can't truly protect anyone from this.  However we can teach them, younger women, that they don't need to be this.  That they are fine how they are.  How they should perceive these images and messages. That they are beautiful!  But we don't!  And for that I say shame!  I am a hypocrite true as I have been affected by these images.  But I fought through it.  I found salvation, I opened my eyes, my mind and my heart.  It was not easy.  It took YEARS.  But in the end it was worth it.  I found a new sense of self. True slowly the media is changing how it depicts beauty.  It is something.  But still.  Without us there to show younger girls, heck women of any age, that these images and messages should not govern how we feel about ourselves.  How we are supposed to look.  It will only make the journey just as rough.  And even more difficult.  Allowing us to fall even further behind.