#nvxoxo

Hales, 15, England:) I think photo-shopping is very deceiving and doesn't show what you truly look like. I'm not fully against photo-shopping however, because it can be used sensibly. For example, just covering a huge spot as spots aren't permanent. On the other hand, sometimes it can used to change fixed characteristics - eye colour or your overall size (i know that's not permanent but it fits into this category) which is when it starts to affect viewers in a bad way because it's fake.

I think photoshopping and the general message the media portrays has an extremely negative affect on the youth of America. Not only does it promote body shaming, but also the idea that if you don't look like the people in the magazines, then you aren't good enough. DOWN WITH PHOTOSHOPPING! (Emily Hayes, Pennsylvania, age 17)

Holly, USA, 15. I believe that photo shopping is one of the main reasons that many people are insecure about the way they look. They see these edited photos of people in magazines and are constantly comparing themselves and others to them. People feel that the only way to be beautiful is to look like these people in magazines and it's causing them to do ANYTHING to their bodies to look that way. Photo shopping is badly effecting society and is something that I think should be stopped.

Miranda, USA, 18. I think while photoshopping is an effective advertising technique, its detrimental to the psychological (and eventually physical) well-being of any culture. Sadly, many young girls do not understand that they will never look like models on covers of magazines simply because it is physically impossible. As a 5 foot girl non-rail thin girl, its hard to not look in the mirror and wish I wasn't like a popularized image, however unhealthy and unrealistic it may be for me personally.

mariana,15,usa, i think that photoshopping is really bad because it is distorting young girl's minds into thinking that they should be perfect like these models that we see i photots, we have a low-self esteem and then want to be something that isnt even real its just photoshopping. beauty should be appreciated for its natural not fake computorized beauty

Denise. USA. 17. I think Photoshop has nothing but a negative effect on society. It creates overwhelming expectations of what people "should" look like. People see these images and raise their standards for what their partner should look like. Men and women believe that if they don't look like the photoshopped model they aren't "good enough". And the people who are being photoshopped become unbelievably self-conscious of what was changed. Photoshop leaves people feeling inferior and unlovable.

oh and i forgot eating disorders. can you imagine how many girls have eating disorders because they want to be as skinny as the girls in magazines and catalogs?

madison 14 usa. photoshopping makes celebrities and others look more glamourous and desirable giving its audience the idea that people are a lot more attractive and what not than they really are to boost advertising and purchase of beauty and dieting products. it adds to the body image factor of social media and ultimately contributes to the number of young people's insecurity and sometime self harm and suicide. if you think youre ugly isnt it going to add to how lowly you perceive yourself?