Could PHOTOSHOPPING be creating ED issues with teens?

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  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
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    I truly believe this is true. It isn't just Seventeen, it is ads for makeup and clothing too. No, your mascara will not make it look like you have grown. That lipstick won't make your lips plump up. Those jeans won't make your butt shrink and get rid of your muffin top. That bra won't make you look like you got a boob job (ok, maybe some do).

    It is the same thing for the diet industry - instant results, no work, miraculous changes. Adults are easily swayed by this stuff, think of how much worse it is for kids. Kids don't understand that they don't tell the truth in advertisements.
  • BaconMD
    BaconMD Posts: 1,165 Member
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    All of this makes me wonder what a parent can do to help prevent this in their children, regardless of what role media plays in eating disorders.. And what the success rate is for such tactics.
  • cel81xtreme
    cel81xtreme Posts: 12
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    sorry i lol'd alittle bit when i read title and thought Erectile Dysfunction o man i gotta read this...
  • GinNouveau
    GinNouveau Posts: 143 Member
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    I think so. It causes low self esteem. "I can never look that way so I'm worthless." We are talking about images of models made to look thinner. If models aren't even able to be perfect enough, how hopeless should a 14 year old girl (or 30 year old) for that matter feel? If you don't think images are powerful, google "thinspo". Or ask yourself why you are so obsessed with before/after success story photos. It'd be nice to see a successful attractive woman who has thick thighs, stretch marks, cellulite, or a little muffin top. Instead of I'm worthless/unattractive maybe girls can say "I have thick thighs but so does that girl and she's attractive and famous. So it's ok to like myself anyway." You can't photoshop a person "healthy".
  • MassiveDelta
    MassiveDelta Posts: 3,311 Member
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    Erectile dysfunction is serious....But I highly doubt photo shopping is causing it.
  • Runnermadre
    Runnermadre Posts: 267 Member
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    I can't say whether or not photoshopping causes eating disorders, but I do think it contributes to an unhealthy self image. I can remember thinking that if I could just "look like that," people would like me more, or I'd like myself more. :-/ I was never the "skinny" girl, and when you're a teenager living at home, a lot of your meals and food choices are beyond your control. You eat what your parents make. I just feel like we should be putting more emphasis on being healthy instead of being skinny.
  • deaddivya
    deaddivya Posts: 102
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    I'm not for that Photoshopping, but I think that it's way to easy to blame such magazines for eating disorders and low self esteem - not everyone who reads them and sees the pictures is as concerned and impressed by the shape of the models. It definitively needs more than just some pictures of skinny arms and legs that a young girl stops eating because she wants to look like the models. There are a lot more issues behind that and not everybody is affected the same way by magazines. People without a lack of self esteem don't care much about that. I mean, we all know that it's not true.
  • GinNouveau
    GinNouveau Posts: 143 Member
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    If you mean making them eat less, no. Too many overweight teens at is it.


    If you think the images don't cause overeating too, you aren't paying attention. Mental health and physical health are directly related. We are taking about a fabricated ideal. An image. Not a real person. I would think if you are concerned about overweight teens, you may also think promoting healthy attainable images would be a priority.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    Certainly a contributing factor. Young women's perceptions of what is attractive is so warped it just makes me feel ill.
    Erectile dysfunction is serious....But I highly doubt photo shopping is causing it.
    That's caused by the porn industry.
  • melbot24
    melbot24 Posts: 347 Member
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    In UK, cigarettes show a warning that covers like 40% of the pack about warning signs. In US, its a similar thing but in smaller size.

    Why are there no laws saying that the images have been modified. I know that WE know it and a measly warning wouldn't do much but atleast it'll be a start of realizing how serious the problem is becoming (and yes, this IS becoming a problems...)

    That's a great idea.

    I recently signed a petition on change.org to get seventeen magazine to start including photographs in their magazine that aren't photoshopped.

    If you're interested in doing the same here's the link;
    http://www.change.org/petitions/seventeen-magazine-give-girls-images-of-real-girls

    We can complain all day long, but we really need to do is come up with creative solutions.
  • Sazzleeee
    Sazzleeee Posts: 11
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    If magazines/advertisements keep making us feel inadequate by comparison to their 'perfect' edited images, they keep us consuming any product that they lead us to believe will help us attain that. As long as the companies are making money, they don't care about the ethical issues surrounding portraying unattainable beauty standards.
  • NocturnalGirl
    NocturnalGirl Posts: 1,762
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    No I don't think it is creating ED issues but it does have some impact on some teens, especially me. It has influenced my body image greatly as I want to be super super skinny and lose tons of weight. EDs are more than just looking skinny like everyone thinks, there are many other factors included which people disregard. I think starving is wrong and it's something that the media shouldn't be encouraging at all. I do under-eat but I cannot help it and I can't get out of it, I am trying to increase my calories though and that's all that matters now. There are other factors that has caused this but the main reason is that I believe I'm fat and I do realise it's because of the celebrities in the media. I do not blame the media really, I blame myself. To be honest, a lot of my friends would call a really skinny celebrity too skinny, there's only a few out there that get influenced. The media is also trying to get plus-sized models in as well.
  • Kairi13
    Kairi13 Posts: 5
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    I had anorexia when i was 12 and 13, and honestly, I looked up many images of super skinny celebrities for motivation. Now i realize *most* of them were fake. I dont think it is a main cause because anorexia starts off as a weight thing, but then the feeling of control overwhelmes it. I dont think it helps it AT ALL though. And to all of you who think thinspo and photoshopping is OKAY since there are overweight teens who need inspiration, then why dont you go through anorexia (or any eating disorder) and see if you still think that is true...
    Cheers
  • springermad
    springermad Posts: 242
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    I have to say I agree that photoshopping can be creating anorexia, as someone that has suffered with anorexia on and off for many years, I have always wanted to be the thinest and always look at "thinspo" to help me reach my goal weight. saying that there are many other factors that contributed to my anorexia and a lot of the time people just need a trigger to set it off. I do blame myself for mwhat I hvae done to my dody to starving and restricting my calories but sometimes you can't help it and once you have that thought in your head that you are fat and you are ugly and dont deserve to be loved nothing can help you, until you help yourself.

    Media has a massive impact on ED's and sadly it effects so many people

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