Airbrushing reality

Are airbrushed/digitally-altered images alone to blame for young women’s and men’s poor self-esteem issues?

No. But they contribute in an enormous way. If they existed in isolation, we may be able to accept them for the fantasy and marketing tool they clearly are. But they don’t. They exist in a world where facades have too much emphasis, where cosmetic surgery is on the rise, where stories about diet, make-up, skin care, fashion does and don’ts scream from screens and pages. Where even little girls are being taught to compare themselves with their dolls, their televisual and film idols, each other, and despair.

Men too are falling victim to this struggle for a perfection that has never existed. 

Whereas digital enhancing/retouching has been around for a long time, it has become so extreme it’s no longer about removing a blemish, stray hair or piece of unruly fabric. These days, wrinkles are erased as if they’re symptoms of disease, necks and legs are elongated, cellulite has become the eighth deadly sin, waists are shrunk, breasts are pumped, so not only bodies but expectations are disproportionate and unhealthy.

It’s no wonder that one photo re-toucher told Newsweek magazine that he felt “like Frankenstein.”

Studies also reveal that we’re sick of these defaced faces and craving ‘normality’, diversity and wrinkles in our visual diet – not at the expense of the digital ‘perfection’, but alongside it – to create balance.

But do photos need to carry a warning?

Legislation is not the answer – education is – about the media, about what they do to images and how they circulate and for what purpose – for all ages. The younger this starts and the more age-appropriate the lessons, the better.

So is shoring up resilience and self-esteem in our young people – by ensuring they have, as the UK report suggests, solid social support. This means being ready to intervene in the messages they receive and, to the best of our ability, set boundaries around what young people access. Most of all, we can provide enormous support through our own behaviours and attitudes, becoming ‘perfect’ role models in the process.