I think it's really hard to make decisions sometimes...
but the biggest one for me to make on a daily basis is to live my life gratefully. Yes, I love my life! But the pressure of figuring out what you're going to do with your life- where you will go to school, what career choice you're going to take... its all a big mess in my brain. What I can do for now, is live a grateful life. One thing I'm grateful for is my active body. Active: It moves, its healthy, it works! I understand that people can be insecure about their bodies, BUT they work right? For example, who cares about the number on the scale. If you can use your body, and yes, it may help to stay fit, then you should be grateful. If you stay heathy, eating well, going outdoors, etc, you don't have to be thin! Strong is beautiful. Short is beautiful. Tall is beautiful. Everyone is beautiful! So, I think it is very important to be grateful for your body,
even if its hard. You will benefit from it!
I wrote an essay (yes, sounds boring) but its about an important subject,
so... if you have time, and are interested, have a read!
Photoshop Affecting Teens
by Dominique Ensing
Teen magazine images can be a bad influence to teen girls because it sets an unrealistic standard on physical body image. Companies want to photoshop bodies because they desire to make their products or models look better. As a result of these altered images teens try to mimic these images through unhealthy practices. The Bible has the greatest things to say about our bodies and how we should take care of them. Teens have a choice to follow the false photoshop magazine images, or accept and cherish the image in which God created us.
Why do people feel the need to photoshop women’s bodies for magazine and advertisements? Photoshop is a very powerful thing, and in some cases, it isn't bad. However, there are ways photoshop can be harmful. Many companies use photoshop as a way to make their product look better, to make people want to buy it more, or mainly to make people look “better.” The advertising industry feels the need to make women thinner, taller, and fuller so people will be intrigued, and buy their products. What they are doing is setting an unrealistic standard on what woman or girls bodies look like. It’s not actually possible to have a body like the people in these magazines. Another thing is they are giving a bad influence to young girls. Due to this, lots celebrities are also against photoshopping because they aren't even looking at themselves; they are looking at a thinner, fuller woman.
Photoshop magazine images are damaging teen girls bodies. Photoshop is people making women and teens look slimmer, have unrealistically smooth skin, and have bodies that are not possible to actually have. More and more girls around the world are having anorexia nervosa, and many other eating disorders. This it leading to an obsession with thinness for teen girls, and making them want bodies that aren't real. Girls try to get their bodies to look like these images by not eating, excessively working out, or even surgery. Bodies need fuel, and by not eating, one’s body can start to shut down. It is unhealthy and unsafe to not eat, especially for growing teens who need energy. People need to see real bodies, not fake ones. “When teenagers and women look at these pictures in magazines, they end up feeling unhappy with themselves,” believes Jo Swinson, a British member of Parliament from the Liberal Democratic Party. People need to change how they think about their bodies and remember what God has to say about them instead of what the advertising industry and their what false images portray.
The Bible calls his children to take care of their bodies, because it is a temple of the Holy Spirit. God created bodies to function to the best of their ability and to enjoy the things that God created people to do. By taking care of your body, God is honoured. God encourages his children, “Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious” (1 Peter 3:3-4 NIV). God created people in his image, he cares about everyone.
Photoshop magazine images create an unrealistic and unhealthy standard for teens to follow. Believing that changing one's image through purchased products will make one have a higher recognition in the world, is a lie. God has a different perspective on people's bodies. He says to care for one's bodies, and to love them. Therefore teens need to know that their bodies are perfect. people start to change what they think about themselves. Rejecting the advertising industry's false photoshop images, and accepting realistic body images, brings health. Now is the time to make the world think differently about body image.
CITATION
The Holy Bible. NIV.
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Hogan, Heather. "Doctors to Magazines: Stop Ruining Young Girls' Lives with Photoshop - AfterEllen." AfterEllen Doctors to Magazines Stop Ruining Young Girls Lives with Photoshop Comments. 12 July 2011. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.
Pfanner, Eric. "A Move to Curb Digitally Altered Photos in Ads." The New York Times. The New York Times, 27 Sept. 2009. Web. 3 Feb. 2015.