Being active on social media, it seems the world is full of beautiful people. And if you are not one of hem, you don’t belong. People are judged by the size of their attributes or the style of their hair. Intelligence does not seem to be such a favorable trait. But, then something happens when you start meeting these people in real life and you realize you are living in a photo-shopped world.
It is important to realize that the pictures you see on-line are often photo-shopped or altered in some way. The ideal of beauty, therefore, is an unrealistic one. Young girls and teens may strive for these beauty goals, but they are unattainable because they are not real. When we set unrealistic goals, it leads to disillusionment and low self-esteem. We see girls taking their selfies and posting them on their social media accounts. For many, it has gone too far.
Why is our photo-shopped world harmful?
– We see a fantasy world where the made-up is made to seem reality. It is often hard to distinguish the truth.
– Unrealistic goals are set in motion, especially for girls and young women. The world of photo-shop teaches that we are not OK how we are. If our brows or butts don’t look a certain way, we are failures. Photo-shop can fix that in a picture. But, our reality is still our reality.
– Photo-shop teaches us that if we don’t like something about ourselves, we can just fix it with a few clicks of the mouse. Nothing can be further from realism. Out short-comings are often difficult to repair or simply unfixable.
– People become fixated on physical appearance. For the most part, our physical characteristics are genetically determined. We can dress them up, but they are what they are. Yet, some people pursue risky, expensive plastic surgery in hopes to modify their genetic physical attributes.
The people I met in life after knowing them on social media are often much more amazing than I expected. There is so much more to a person than how they look. Humor, kindness, personality, supportiveness and many others are what truly makes a person beautiful. And these traits cannot be photo-shopped or faked. We need to keep things real. Our society needs to stop idolizing those who are fake and setting unreachable goals for our youth. Do we want a generation of Kardaschians or do we want a generation of truly beautiful people?
Society’s role is very important here. We must give more time to the ordinary, the real. We must teach that it is beautiful to be yourself, whoever that may be. Reading books should be celebrated more than possessing the perfect female figure. We don’t all need to be the same. Diversity is what make life beautiful and interesting. Would you rather share a laugh with a real friend or be made to feel ugly by a fake one?
The world is a very competitive place. People judge us by many things, but only as much as we allow them to. I learned that I am not the only ugly person on twitter, even though it may not seem that way looking at profile pictures. But, I have a voice to get out and it will be heard no matter what others think of me. I challenge everyone to do the same. Stand up and be yourself. Not everyone in the world will love you or judge you well. And the important ones will and that is enough. We need to stop living in the photo-shopped age and stay true to ourselves.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Linda Girgis, MD, FAAFP
You sound a lot like me: https://dannysstump.com/living-in-a-photo-shopped-world/
It is important to realize that the pictures you see on-line are often photo-shopped or altered in some way. The ideal of beauty, therefore, is an unrealistic one. Young girls and teens may strive for these beauty goals, but they are unattainable because they are not real.
Add to “living in a photo-shopped world,” our dependence on a drive-thru culture: instant gratification. We are not willing to put blood, grit and sweat to achieve something worthwhile. What we to instantly see and taste and feel: we are sliding into a culture of superficiality. And we pay a dear price: it can’t satisfy (not for long.) So, we need more and more …
Lasting beauty is within, inside – and often takes time to discover.
Strength is more than bench-pressing 350 lb–it is rather persevering, not given up, trying harder, making a new plan.
As physicians though, we are partly to blame, its often about the money and selling the empty promise of beauty with a knife (plastic job) or botox or “buying” good health through pills or surgery instead of the much harder lifestyle and discipline and good old hard work.
Beautiful people are those who lift others up, who care for others, who inspire others, who challenge others, who lead by example, without flaunting their position or knowledge or financial status. They are givers.
Thank you for another thought-provoking post, Linda!