The Danger of Before & After Images
If you’ve spent any amount of time on social media, you have most likely encountered a series of “before and after” photos. While these images intend to serve as a source of realism against the falsity of social media, this comparative approach actually acts as a convincing method to lure us into a mentality of thinking our bodies are not enough.
These side-by-side comparisons of individuals who ‘fixed’ their bodies through Facetune, Photoshop, or similar apps force us to consider whether our own bodies need fixing, too. While the internet has been a main culprit for photoshop, these images are not solely encountered on Instagram; it’s hard to walk into a department store or check emails without being affronted by Photoshopped images of “perfect-looking” people. But these perfect images are made possible through apps like Facetune. We are offered the opportunity to alter the brightness of teeth and change waistlines before these images are shared online under the guise of reality.
It is becoming increasingly more challenging to distinguish between what is real and what is digitally enhanced. The expectations we impose on our physical appearances have been warped to fulfill a naturally unattainable standard. Our forced immersion into a sea of unachievable perfection has led to an image-driven culture. However, when the standards that we try to live up to are not based on reality, we set ourselves up for a lifetime of frustration and disappointment.
While some in the public eye have admitted to modifying images, others now share unedited images and break down the tips and tricks that go into manipulating angles and lighting to achieve the altered image of perfection.
Almost everyone has edited photographs, ranging from applying a filter to editing a pimple or two out of the image. Apps like Facetune are poisonous to our body image; they make it difficult to accept that our online body is different from our tangible body. The longer we spend editing our images, the more we dislike how we look untouched, destroying self-esteem.
Magazines have used Photoshop for decades to convince us of a flawlessness that cannot be achieved. The beauty industry continues to profit from our insecurities. Not only do we compare ourselves to celebrities who have an array of makeup artists and personal trainers at their disposal, but we now compare ourselves to doctored versions of celebrities as well as altered versions of ourselves.
Instagram accounts are now dedicated to revealing photos of celebrities who use Facetune. These pages are not designed to be an outlet for hate; rather, they are a source to expose the façade of social media. It’s easy to become desensitized to the prevalence of Facetune, Photoshop, and similar apps. If a warped floorboard cannot be seen, it is almost impossible to tell if an image has been retouched.
Despite the attempt by ‘before and after’ images to disrupt the superficiality of social media, a culture of ‘not being enough’ has been created where we constantly compare the self we see in the mirror and the “self” we present online. We must acknowledge that much of the media we consume is edited and must learn to befriend our real bodies once again.
Strike Out,
Mae Brennan
University of Notre Dame
Editors: Jane Miller, Shane Stanton
