Solange Knowles photoshopped
Photo credit: Instagram
Lupita Nyong’o was not too pleased with Grazia Magazine after they photoshopped her natural puff in their Nov. 2017 issue to make it appear sleeker and smoother.
On Instagram, Nyong’o captioned the original and photoshopped picture saying, “I am disappointed that @graziauk invited me to be on their cover and then edited out and smoothed my hair to fit their notion of what beautiful hair looks like.”
Lupita also added, “#DTMH”, a hash tag that represents “don’t touch my hair” that has gone viral since Solange Knowles released her album, “A Seat at the Table” and also had to call out a magazine for altering her pictures.
Solange’s hair was edited out of Evening Standard’s magazine cover and she exposed them for taking her crown braid out. "Dtmh @eveningstandardmagazine," Knowles captioned the post.
There has been other instances where photographers have altered images of their models to try to make them more appealing, and celebrities like Chrissy Teigen, Zendaya, Kerry Washington and many others have spoken out against this.
Photoshop not only affects the celebrities but also their fans that look up to them, especially young girls.
When asked how the women in TV and magazines affected Ivy Gray, a first year student at Florida A&M University (FAMU), she said “I would always wonder why my hair was not longer or why I didn’t have cool clothes like the women in commercials.”
Gray stated that when she was in middle school she faced low self-esteem a lot and it was hard for her to look in the mirror.
“People would say I have a nice smile or that I’m pretty but it was hard to accept the compliments,” stated Gray.
According to a survey conducted by AOL, 80 percent of teenage women compared their appearance to celebrities in magazines, and 40 percent said they are dissatisfied with they way they look.
“Photoshop affects young girls because it makes it seem as if the women who are seen on magazines covers are how you’re supposed to look.” Gray stated.
With the already cruel world we live in, it’s hard for women to see these beautiful but unrealistic figures in the media and not compare themselves to it.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) “affects up to one in 50 people and many with the condition "self-medicate" by undergoing frequent and repeated plastic surgery procedures, according to BBC.
BDD is often overlooked and seen as a first world or minor problem but it’s actually a lot bigger than that.
According to Health Research Funding, the suicide rate for those with BDD is some 45 times higher than that of the general population.
This disorder affects young girls and boys who have been exposed to what the media shows them is acceptable and kids, and who have often times been bullied by their peers.
Photoshop can also be a reason that people develop eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating.
Findings by The Renfrew Center, an eating disorder treatment facility, show that approximately 24 million people in the U.S. struggle with an eating disorder, including 30% of high-school girls and 16% of high-school boys.
Rachel Harden, a freshman African American Studies student at FAMU, says that Photoshop should’ve never begun in the first place and has created an unrealistic beauty standard on both sides.
“The model feels like ‘wow, my natural beauty alone isn’t good enough’ and the viewer feels like ‘wow she’s beautiful, I’ll never be able to be a model because I don’t look like her’,” said Harden.
She also feels that photoshopping is unethical and should no longer be a common practice.
“It’s false advertising in my opinion and causes emotional distress for viewers.”
Photoshop has affected many women over the years and will continue to affect them until the problem is fixed.