Nick Barnhouse - Blog 1: Magazines in the checkout line: Airbrush much?

You're waiting in line and decide to browse through the rack of magazines out of boredom. You pick one up and look at the cover. It's filled with headlines like "Stop Calling Me Fat!" and "I'm Not Anorexic!" boldly printed over various images of "fat" and "anorexic" celebrities. Some of them don't even match said labels by your definition. Yet, there are some who are noticeably over or underweight; enough so to negatively impact their health. All exploited for entertaining the reader. You ask yourself, "Who would even buy this?"

Magazines like these sell slandered opinions to society on what they think a person's body should or shouldn't look like. Most of the time these images aren't even true to the original untouched image. A number of them are photo shopped extensively: manipulated by airbrushing, saturation, lighting, etc. You technically aren't even looking at the actual person anymore. You're beginning to view an extensively edited image of what used to be a person to pose as an example of a perfect body. By that point that's all that it is, an image, an object.

And what does that object say to society? "You must look a certain way or else you'll be considered ugly?" Forget that. Everyone should be unashamed of their body. Yes, you should be concerned about your overall body image in relation to your health, but you shouldn't have to feel obligated to look an unnatural way. In the end you're the one who has to live with your body, not someone else. The body should be taken care of for it is a temple after all. It shouldn't be sold to the opinions of others.This is why I can't bring myself to read these overly dramatic magazines.