How Photoshop Affects Body Image

For research for my FMP I have created a survey and shared it with people in the college. I wanted to find out what other people thought of the topics that I was covering in my FMP. I was generally surprised about how people answered several questions, particularly the difference between the amount of photoshop used on men and women. Overall people thought that women are photoshopped more than men as you can see from the bar graphs below. The last question was really interesting to read as well, I asked "What else do you think causes self consciousness?" and I received a wide range of answers. I have selected a few and placed them below.

'Other' responses:

• Online articles

• The Mirror

• Empire

• Daily Mail

• Star, Hello, Real Life

'Other' responses:

• I tend to ignore the adverts.

'Other' responses:

• Sometimes

'Other' responses:

With both genders, there are more 'body positive' presentations arising in media more and more often

There are 21 responses to this question so I have selected a few to show.

• The media has lead me to believe you need to be in amazing physical shape to be 'normal'.

• You should be able to see past these things in the media and not obsess over these perceptions

• I see that the media doesn't give an accurate representation of female and male bodies but it does not change my perception of myself.

• I constantly feel that my body isn't good enough because I don't look like models. Same for my male friends who feel as though they don't have enough muscle

• The media have put the image across that it's not normal to have imperfections. All the models they use look perfect and flawless, everyone wants to look like them but actually it's all fake and photoshopped.

There are 18 responses to this question so I have selected a few to show.

• Yes, as well as comparing myself to other people.

• Yes - I believe photoshop is the main reason for this, as people are often taught to compare themselves to models/people in the media, despite the fact that they are often heavily photoshopped. It makes people become obsessed with having the "perfect" body, which is often impossible to achieve.

• Sort of? Like I wish I could look the way people look when they're photoshopped but I reckon even if I did look that way I'd still be concerned with the way i look.

• Yes, I have many imperfections but I don't like to show them as I think people will judge me as my body is not perfect like in magazines

• Yes, we are constantly shown unnatural bodies and it's very hard to turn away from the idea that we aren't good enough

There are 21 responses to this question so I have selected a few to show.

• Judgement from others

• A range of body types are not often shown in advertisements, meaning that people are not necessarily shown body types which are similar to their own. This can make them feel self conscious as they may not feel their body is "normal" (again, comparing themselves to other people).

• Probably like bullying, or the way someones brought up.

• Fashion and clothing, also polarised portrayals of femininity, either 'girl' or 'dyke' and the lack of middle ground to do with all that

• the lack of awareness for different types of bodies such as plus sized women, women of colour, disabled women etc.

• Media, media representations, oppressive aspiration impractical in real life, and a lack of understanding of what is genuinely beautiful vs what photographs "well".