reality magazine final
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A magazine dedicated to helping teens understand that they are beautiful as they are and how to live a healthier lifestyle.TRANSCRIPT
Reality Magazine
Photoshop:
What’s real and
what’s fake?
Plus- Eating Disorders
Interviews from patients and
trusted professionals
Charts and
Much needed
Info!
Recipes to help
you get started
towards a
healthy weight!
Our mission
statement:
Our goal is to bring
awareness of the lies
that the media feeds
to young adults and
teens. We hope our
magazine will help
people become more
confident with who
they are and to help
them live a healthier
lifestyle.
efore
Curvy Beyonce Knowles
Penelope Cruz had her ribcage
removed for this photo shot
We have all seen the glossy pages of magazines sporting the personification of beauty. They are the
models who have all the perfect features and the hair that never falls out of its place. Barbie herself
would become insecure of this sight; the flawless look seems so rare in real life and yet we see it
everywhere in magazines.
The reality is that even the models don’t live up to photos of themselves. Computers and Photoshop
have twisted and manipulated each model, so that they exemplify perfection. For example, H&M
recently received some criticism for their latest model’s “new” computer generated body. While the
virtual model was only used for the online shopping portion of the clothing giant’s website, still
others feel that meshing a model with a “pretty face” and one with a “hot body” leaves the
impression of setting the bar for even more unattainable beauty.
Even celebrities fall into this trap. Their life is consumed with their own image and climbing the social
status ladder. People admire them for this and gobble up the latest gossip. The reality is they are
more normal than we think. Take a look at some models and celebs before and after Photoshop.
-Anne Talik
Photoshop and It’s Effects
After reading and watching Dove’s Campaign for Real
Beauty, I was truly moved by all it had to say, and it furthered
my passion to bring out the awareness of the truly harmful
effects of Photoshop in today’s society. Just walk into any
convince store, you are instantly bombarded by “Flatten your
belly!”, “Loose Ten Pounds In One Week!” And “Tips for a
better body!” It’s no wonder people have unobtainable
expectations when they try what the magazine tells them and
still don’t look like the model on the front.
The Dove Campaign for real beauty, shows the process of photo shopping it is really
eye-opening. They started with an average girl, piled on make-up, as well as photo shopping
her, which consisted of lengthening her neck, moving her eyes, and making her look skinner.
Do I have to scream it? What you see in magazines are not real! So, do not compare yourself
to them. These girls do not look like that and if you saw them on the street you would not
even recognize them. Take a look at this photo-shopped model:
Crazy right? Join in the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, and help us educate young girls
everywhere that they are beautiful in their own way. Diversity should be celebrated not
discouraged.
-By: Caroline Voisard
Imagine a World Where Beauty is a Source of Confidence, Not Anxiety-DOVE®
LOVE WHO YOU ARE
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? Wrong! True beauty lies in
the beholding. Self-esteem can go a long way; there is power in positive
thinking. But the media doesn’t want you to feel secure at all. In reality, when
you look at an advertisement its purpose is to tear your self-esteem down.
Fiona Bawdon, a legal journalist who writes for the New Statesman, a British current events magazine states, “Looking at
pictures of thin women reduces self-esteem and adolescents are among the most susceptible to these pressures.”
Advertising and big businesses purposefully use models that are unrealistic to boost sales of their products to set the
false promise that you, too, can be beautiful with their product when the true beauty lies inside you
-Anne Talik.
Nine Tips to Love Yourself More:
1) Avoid being a perfectionist- forgive your faults and realize that nobody is perfect. Realize that your imperfections are
what help define you and can only make you a stronger person.
2) Stay positive and look on the bright side- Be thankful for the gifts and privileges you have. You can combat the feeling of
being incomplete and unsatisfied by acknowledging and appreciating what you do have.
3) Talk about it- open up to friend or family members; they love you and want to help.
4) Help others- When you know you're kind to the people around you and are making a positive difference in other people's
lives, you'll know that you are a positive force in the world--which will boost your self-confidence.
5) Don't always try to please others. It is great to be considerate of others, but think before sacrificing your own needs to
please them. Bending over backwards for strangers, mere acquaintances or people you don't trust may leave you with the
short end of the stick. In short, don't allow yourself to be used.
6) Start with small steps to gain confidence. Take small steps and make small choices to gain confidence in your ability to
make a decision. As you become secure in your ability to make good choices, you will gain confidence in yourself, and be
more secure about your abilities in general.
7) Face your fears and learn from your failures. We only fail when we do not make the best out of adversity.
8) Start from within. Ignore any and all destructive criticism or insults, including any from your past. Your opinion of
yourself is the most important opinion of all, because you know yourself better than anyone else.
9) Believe it yourself- if you believe that you are special, people will follow suit.
Media and Eating Disorders
Based on ANAD, a National Association of Eating
Disorders Organization, “47% of girls in 5th-12th
grade reported wanting to lose weight because of
magazine pictures” and “69% of girls in 5th-12th
grade reported that magazine pictures influenced
their idea of a perfect body shape.” These numbers
are frightfully high and show that magazines need to
be focused on making people feel good about the
body they have instead of steering them towards
hurting and starving themselves.
When girls look at other girls, they are continuously
comparing themselves to them, but what if
magazines took the step in educating young girls that
no matter what they look like, they are beautiful and
important to establish diversity?
Based on the chart to the right, there is a huge
problem with eating disorders, a lot are because of
“The Media” body image which is completely
unattainable, but these people don’t know that these
images are fake and touched up. We want to bring
attention to the media and expose their pictures for
what they are FAKE and dangerous.
-Caroline Voisard
Interview with Dr. Moore, Gastroenterologist
Q: What range and gender do you typically diagnose with an eating disorder?
A: Typically I see patients after they have had an eating disorder in the past and I’m treating them now when they’re in their
40s and 50s. However, the majority of people that are diagnosed with eating disorders are between the ages of 16 and 25 and
they are predominately female.
Q: How do eating disorders typically impact the lives of your patients?
A: There are a lot of long term side effects such as acid reflex or heart burn.
Q: What are the main factors you believe contribute to eating disorders?
A: People’s perception of themselves and a desire to be thin. Generally people I see who have had eating disorders weren’t
overweight to begin with. And, I do think that the media has an influence on people’s perceptions. I mean, on TV you
always see these ultra-thin models. You rarely see overweight people.
Q: Can people really ever be cured from an eating disorder?
A: Not really, no. People with eating disorders have psychological issues and although they might get treatment for it,
there’s always going to be long term, residual effects.
Q: Do you feel there is a lot of pressure in society today to be thin?
A: Yes, definitely.
Q: Would you say that society today is obsessed with beauty?
A: I wouldn’t say obsessed, but there is definitely an emphasis on being beautiful. People want to be rich and tall and
beautiful, because they equate that with success. I mean, who would chose to not be beautiful? They look in the mirror each
morning and make sure their hair looks just right. People are vain. That is just their nature.
Q: How would you like to see models in magazines portrayed?
A: Well, not really any differently. I mean, it would be nice if they were more realistic. I would like to see more diversity
and larger sized people.
Q: Do you feel that changing magazines would decrease the amount of eating disorders?
A: Honestly, no. Like I said, it’s a psychological disorder and people are going to be prone to it regardless. However, I
would like to see less stress and emphasis on looking a certain way. It would be better if instead people focused on being
healthy.
Q: What other changes would you like to see in society to decrease eating disorders?
A: We should force people to be skinny, but they should be encouraged to have a healthier diet and less fast food. We should
stress not being obese versus being ultra-thin. We should make healthy food a lot more readily available. People who don’t
have a lot of money would rather spend a dollar on a burger at McDonald’s than spend more money for something healthy.
And in general, people should strive to look muscular and healthy instead of ultra-thin. Personally, I think that looks a lot
better.
Does the Media
contribute to
eating disorders?
Interview with Elizabeth Hoover, Nurse Practitioner
Q: What range and gender do you typically diagnose with and
eating disorder?
A: Typically between the ages of 17 and 25. Mostly female, but
not always.
Q: How do eating disorders typically impact the lives of your
patients?
A: They typically have a lot of anxiety and sometimes OCD,
because there is something in their life that they are not coping
well with. Eating disorders also bring physical harm to my
patients. They are malnourished and can have problems with
their heart, throat and teeth.
Q: What are the main factors you believe contribute to eating
disorders?
A: Mainly poor self-esteem, anxiety, poor ability to cope with
something. They tend to have a distorted perception of reality.
Q: How do you typically treat eating disorders?
A: Counseling or sometimes anti-depressants. It’s similar to
treating OCD.
Q: Can people really ever be cured from an eating disorder?
A: Yes, they can get past the behavior. However, there might
be lingering traits or feelings. It’s similar to alcoholism.
Q: Do you feel there is a lot of pressure in society today to be
thin?
A: Yes, it has gotten a little better over time. I’ve noticed
clothing sizes are bigger than they used to be. For example, a
size 5 is what used to be a size 7.
Q: Do you believe society is obsessed with beauty?
A: I believe society highly values beauty. They contribute
beauty to success. It is a value that we learn
from the media, family, friends.
Q: Do you feel models in magazines contribute to eating
disorders?
A: I’m not sure if they contribute directly, but they do help to
develop a distorted perception of reality. When you look at TV
and magazines there is no diversity. The people they show
don’t look how normal people look. You never see overweight
people, people with disabilities, ect.
Q: How would you like to see models in magazines portrayed?
A: More diversity. Not necessarily just weight, but a variety of
people so that it’s more normal.
Q: Do you feel that changing magazines would decrease the
amount of eating disorders?
A: Not really. I think it would be more important to educate
people and teenagers about what’s real and healthy and
showing them how to deal with things like peer pressure.
Q: What other changes would you like to see in society to
decrease eating disorders?
A: Making people aware of what eating disorders are, and
teaching people about bullying. We should encourage healthy
lifestyles and exercise.
Interview with Kaitlyn Rogers
Q: Do you know anyone who has an eating disorder?
A: Yeah, there was a girl named Lexi who went to my
high school. She was anorexic. She was super small, so
small that she had hair on her chest like babies do, and
she was always counting calories.
Q: How do you think that eating disorder affected her
life?
A: She was always freaking out about calories, even
about things like gum. She seemed tired and sick all
the time, she wasn’t doing as well in school
Q: What factors do you believe contributed to the
eating disorder?
A: She never saw her parents, and lived with her
grandma. She got into things like drugs. I think she just
needed control over her life.
Q: Do you think magazines make people feel like their
body is inadequate?
A: Yeah, even people who are confident. You feel like
you can’t compete and you begin to idolize them.
Q: Do you think models in magazines contribute to
eating disorders?
A: Yeah, or at least not being healthy. You might not
treat yourself the way that you should.
Q: How would you like to see models in magazines
portrayed?
A: I think we should re-define beauty and go back to
something more basic. There was a time before all this
make-up and photo-shopping and there were still
people who they considered beautiful.
Q: Do you feel that changing magazines would
decrease the amount of eating disorders?
A: Yes, also the messages that are being sent by the
media. The media puts attractive women on a pedestal
and people need to know that normal people should
still be valued.
Q: What other changes would you like to see in
society to decrease the amount of eating disorders?
A: I don’t like how unrealistic the media is. There are
super-thin women, even on commercials for fast food.
I think we should be focusing on healthy food and
healthy life-styles. Also, healthy food should be more
accessible. As for eating disorders, I wish we could
change the stigma against them. It’s not that person’s
fault, and other people should be more supportive.
Anonymous Interview
Q: Tell me about your eating disorder.
A: My first eating disorder was when I was about 12 or 13
years old and I was anorexic. I ran track and I was obsessed
with fitness. My friend and I took appetite suppressants
until we started having heart issues. Then I became bulimic
from age 14 to 18. I would eat a lot, because I was stressed,
but then I didn’t want to gain weight.
Q: How did that eating disorder affect your life?
A: I would not eat all day long and then go running. I was
losing 2 pounds a day. I couldn’t think as well, and I wasn’t
doing well in school. I would eat a lot when I was at home,
but I was afraid to eat in front of people. I felt like food was
the enemy.
Q: What factors do you feel contributed to the eating
disorder?
A: Low self –esteem and peer pressure. Also, I was a bit of
a perfectionist. Plus, I had a lot of anxiety. There were
some things going on in my life and I couldn’t control
them, and this gave me a sense of control.
Q: Do you feel there is a lot of pressure in society today to
be thin?
A: Yes, there was, especially for teenagers. You don’t
know who you are and you want to prove yourself and be
accepted.
Q: Do you ever compare yourself to models in magazines?
A: Sometimes. I don’t think that’s the main problem, but it
definitely influenced me.
Q: Do models in magazines make you feel your body is
inadequate?
A: Still do.
Q: How would you like to see models in magazines
portrayed?
A: I don’t necessarily think we need to change the
magazines, but rather people’s perceptions of the
magazines.
Q: Do you feel that changing people’s perceptions of
beauty would decrease eating disorders?
A: Yeah, I think we should be reinforcing health more so
than beauty and talking to kids at a young age, so that we
can improve their self-esteem.
Q: What other changes would you like to see in society?
A: More awareness. It’s really not something people talk
about. Also, parents should teach their kids that it’s more
important to be healthy than thin.
A healthy diet and plenty of exercise is essential to a living a healthy
lifestyle. Not only will a healthy diet and exercise reduce your risk of
obesity, but it will also lower your risk of other diseases, such as
cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
According to the American Heart Association, the recommended
amount of exercise for adults is 30 minutes a day, five days a week
and for children at least an hour. It is helpful to incorporate exercise
into your daily routine and find active activities that you enjoy.
For more information on how to eat a healthier diet or live a
healthier lifestyle, view the chart on the following page or log on to
ChooseMyPlate.gov.