annaiswriting, 10/2

         During Thursday’s class we saw an unedited image of a woman on one side, and then a thinner version of the same woman on the other side. This led to a conversation about how often images of women are manipulated by Photoshop or other editing techniques. Even though we are aware of how unrealistic the beauty standards perpetuated by the media are, it feels nearly impossible to be completely immune to their harmful effects. We discussed the Dove commercials that demonstrate how even models completely different in real life than they look in magazines. After class, I was inspired to rewatch one of these Dove commercials. The most popular example of this is the video “Dove Evolution” directed by Tim Piper and Yael Staav, in which they first show the model without her hair or make-up done. Then, the directors show the time-lapse of the stylists putting on her makeup and styling her hair. It then goes into photographers taking pictures of her until they get the perfect shot. This “perfect shot” is then photoshopped. This image is then displayed on a billboard as an advertisement for a makeup company, spreading the idea that if women buy the company’s makeup products then they will look like the model, which is untrue because the model was heavily photoshopped. The directors then close the video out with the quote, “no wonder our perception of beauty is distorted.” Our perception of beauty is distorted because most of these beauty ideals are not based on what real women look like.

In addition to the ways in which beauty ideals are unattainable, there are many unattainable ideals of realism perpetuated in society. In class, we discussed how certain ideas of realism are unattainable such as the American dream that everyone has the opportunity for success if they put in the effort. We also discussed some big ideologies such as love and romance and how the way we see love and romance in the media, such as in Hallmark movies where there is always a happy ending, is not always an accurate depiction of reality. It is important to understand that realism does not necessarily mean real. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U