Week 5 Post for Mass Media Class

I was asked if I thought that magazines have a greater responsibility not to alter images because they are so popular. I’m afraid that I don’t have a solid answer to that question. I suppose that I have an artist’s point of view.

I don’t think I have ever really compared myself to the people in magazines because I did know from a young age that photos don’t always tell the truth. I grew up in a family of photographers and was given a camera at a young age. Altering photos to create a better image is just another part of being a photographer. Painters and writers do the exact same thing in their own way. I believe that the people who actually alter the images for magazines aren’t trying to do anything other than sell the product that is being modeled or create a better image. That isn’t always the result, but I believe that is the intention.

From an older sister’s point of view, I see the way girls look at magazines and want what they see. I have a younger sister who is very impressionable even though she was raised the same way I was. She knows magazine images aren’t real, but she is a typical teenage girl who looks at the pictures of models and wants to see herself the same way. She is also a dancer which means her weight is very important to her. See doesn’t try to alter herself anything past putting on bright makeup or wearing heels, but she does worry about what she looks like to others. I can’t tell you how many times I hear the words, “I’m fat,” come out of her mouth. I am thankful that she is surrounded by a family who tells her how ridiculous that is.

Writing this entry, I think I have changed my mind about the responsibility magazines have. I don’t think they have one at all. Maybe it is because I was raised in an environment that taught me to love myself for who I am. Maybe it is because I know that everyone sees flaws in themselves and that gives them motive to strive to correct themselves. Sometimes that is good thing. I don’t think that these images are detrimental to people’s conceptions of women’s bodies. At least, they aren’t for everyone. People just have to realize that what they see isn’t how it is in reality.