Have you ever looked at a magazine and wondered how the models seem to get so perfect? The female models always seem to have the right amount of make-up on and their faces always seem to be perfectly balanced. Even the male models just seem to be the all around image of what a girl wants. Both male and female teens strive to be exactly like the models they see in the magazines. They think that if they can look like that then they can get any girl or guy that they want. Some teens even go as far as starving themselves to look like that perfect image. Even though that is a goal that seems achievable, in reality it is almost impossible. What most teen don’t know is that most of the models that they worship like gods, are just normal people who have been altered by Photoshop like programs to make them look perfect.

That is the sad truth that most teens don’t know. Teens try really hard to get to look like these models but are never able to do it. These programs that I am talking about takes models and can shrink their eyes, head, nose, lips, ears, change hair color, clear up blemishes of any kind, which most teens hate having, and almost anything else you can think of, so that these models can look like they have a goddess like face. They don’t normally just change the facial features most of the time they change their body making them taller, shorter, and a lot of the time, skinnier.

What introduced this problem to the public was when Ralph Lauren published with an almost skeleton like model on the cover, Filippa Hamilton. Her photo was altered so that her waste was abnormally skinny. People were outraged by this photo and a lot of harsh comments were shot at Ralph Lauren. He tried to fix this problem by firing Filippa for being too skinny, she was 120 pounds. Lauren was being ridiculous. He was helping fuel teen’s minds that they can get the skinny and still look good. That is a horrible lie. Lauren is not the only person in the world who does this to his models; it is downright wrong and should be stopped. In response to this grisly and sickly looking model on the magazine, there is a world wide effort to get disclaimers on magazines saying that these models were photo shopped and physically altered. I agree with this strongly.

This disclaimer would help save teens everywhere. Teens can be physically hurt trying to be like these models, some starve themselves so much that they won’t eat for days. Teens have it in their mind that no eating equals more weight loss. Teens don’t bother trying to go to the gym or going on a diet because it is to slow for them and they need to lose what now. These photo- altered models are just an example to them that they can do that without getting harmed at all. Some teens even look at the models daily as an inspiration of sorts. They are basically worshipping false gods, so to speak. And that can only lead to more trouble and suffering.

I think that photo shopped models are a horrible thing to put into magazines. The magazines are lying and giving the teens of the world false hope. Crushing them when they find out they can never look at that. The disclaimer would be a great idea and at least it would be telling the public that the models don’t really look like that and it is almost impossible to look that perfect. Like most people say, all humans are imperfect. I would like to stay that way.