Photoshopped LiesThe media plays a huge role in today's society. Technology coupled with media such as the Internet has connected the world, sparked revolutions, and achieved many things that have benefited us for years now. While all of this seems true for the media, some media portrayals have had devastating effects that continue to grow. Photoshop has become increasingly popular with magazine and brand editors, celebrities and models. This affects how teenagers perceive themselves, leading to drastic measures such as eating disorders, cosmetic surgery, and bullying each other for being different. The first medically recognized case of an eating disorder dates back to 1873 (“Key Events”). The eating disorder was anorexia nervosa and was associated with personal physiological factors. At that time, it was not known that many cases of eating disorders were not exclusively a mental illness, but resulted from the impacts of society on an individual. Today, every gossip magazine uses some sort of photo altercation about an individual in each publication (“Celebrity Gossip”). In 2010, researchers at Cardiff University in Wales conducted a study on the effects of celebrity gossip magazines on adolescent body image (“Celebrity Gossip”). Students were asked to record their eating habits over a six-month period and students who had been exposed to more media containing unrealistic body expectations were found to have more eating disorder tendencies than adolescents whose eating habits remained normal due to lack of exposure to media and gossip. magazines (“Celebrity Gossip”). The study found that teens who regularly consumed celebrity gossip were more likely to develop an eating disorder (“Celebrity Gossip”). Another...... middle of paper ......uire photo shop. The consequences of such practices include eating disorders, cosmetic surgery and bullying among adolescents and young adults. Teenagers would like to look like the models and celebrities on the covers of magazines. What they need to understand is that what they are looking for does not exist. A photo of the celebrity is taken and then sent to photoshop: the waist is slimmer, the neck is longer, imperfections disappear and are erased and the thighs become smaller and perfectly shapely in a few seconds. He then appeared on the cover of a magazine where teenagers saw him everywhere they went. Unless the public protests the media's use of photoshop, it will continue to be in the minds of teenagers wishing they looked like someone else when in reality the only person they should want to be is themselves.