What is the author’s overall purpose for writing this text? (AKS 15)

With the rise of the media and technology in the modern age, we all can observe how unrealistic beauty standards have become the norm. Every day, people are surrounded by media portrays of famous people that send us the message that this is how we should look. What media often fails to explain to us is that celebrities have different things that help them look the way they are. Firstly, we can not all genetically be born to look the same and by popular standards. We must remember there are a lot of things in our looks we can't alter, and that is okay. Celebrities have so much more resources to spend on the way they look – to buy more expensive makeup, cosmetics, clothes that fit them, employ whole teams of people who will focus only on their look and style, etc. They can also afford quality plastic surgery more often, and they are usually required to make some of these alterations to their image to keep their status of celebrity. While we are bombarded by the pictures of perfect people in movies and advertisements, we often fail to remember there are so many factors that alter someone’s appearance.

Finally, with the rise of technology, there are many ways one can make someone look good on-screen. There are particular poses, angles, and ways to make a great photograph of someone, and there are many programs and filters that can change someone’s appearance. No one puts a picture of themselves on social media if they think they look ugly, and this goes both for celebrities and common people. Every time we open Instagram or TikTok, we see people that give us only their best. We think this is how we should look when in reality no one can look like they do on social media all the time.

This does not mean we should separate ourselves from social media or movies completely, but remember, when consuming them, we only get one aspect of someone’s look. However, there should be movement in media to change these unrealistic standards, especially the ones that are proven to be harmful (like the idealization of thinness that affects the rise of eating disorders). People working in media production and realization should think more about the effect of the images that are shared worldwide. There should be more body types in mainstream media, more people of color, people with disabilities, more natural and common people, and more talk of equality. Only with this erasure of unreachable beauty standards can we ensure that future generations will feel good in their skin and grow up to be satisfied with themselves how they are, not yearning towards the imaginary goal.

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3 years ago