Beauty standards in our society are getting more and more ridiculous and unrealistic under the influence of the mass media.

They say beauty is in the beholder’s eye, but not these days, particularly with the growth of pop culture around the globe. In fact, these days the world of entertainment has created some plastic beauty standards that have been sold to the universe through art and media.

This has created a ripple effect where everyone is sort of motivated to find certain beauty standards in the quest ‘to look better, feel beautiful and look way younger’. Well, If you follow some celebs online then you will agree that they look more ‘beautiful and young,’ but did you know that most of the ‘beauty’ on the screens is actually faked?

Although there is nothing wrong with this, what goes into making screen images is sometimes the thing that is questionable. A lot of celebrities have gone in for surgical procedures that include the lifting of sagging skin, tummy tuck and body contouring.

These procedures are legal although they have come under sharp criticism from society for misleading people, especially the youth, with these fake beauty standards.

Those Cover Photos Maybe Exaggerated…

It has also been established that most pictures in magazine covers and videos of celebrities have been edited to create a certain perception that resonates with the human eye. This has even got worse off with the advancement in technology allowing top-notch industry experts to use design skills to fool your eyes.

Talk of everything in the realm of image and video editing e.g changing eyebrows, increasing skin light and flawlessness to making the hair look super perfect. The interesting bit is that most of the time the celebs are not so much affected as they just have to shoot and leave the rest to the editor.

The downside though is that as this ‘perfection’ becomes elusive, most people around the globe have gone as far as harming their bodies trying to achieve it.

The media has kept on selling it anyway through the numerous celebrities we know as seen in those cool looking photographs in IG, magazines, Facebook, etc. Thinking all those pics are real?

Well, take a look at some before and after pics from top celebs whose images were completely transformed via top draw editing:

01-Ridiculous Beauty Standards

2. Katy Perry

02-Ridiculous Beauty Standards

3. Britney Spears

03-Ridiculous Beauty Standards

4. Kim Cattrall

04-Ridiculous Beauty Standards

5. Beyonce

05-Ridiculous Beauty Standards

6. Cindy Crawford

06-Ridiculous Beauty Standards

7. Madonna

07-Ridiculous Beauty Standards

8.Candice Huffine

08-Ridiculous Beauty Standards

These kinds of images have had an immense impact especially among youth who are at the discovery stage in their lives with others struggling with self-esteem. It is therefore imperative to create sessions to educate them on the fact that some of these images have been altered to promote a certain agenda.

This can be vital in avoiding cases where some of them take drastic measures in dealing with their own body. Some have even gone as far as committing suicide owing to reduced self-esteem driven by what has been popularized as cool in this culture. Again, this is why it is necessary to have a chat with the young generation to avoid such outcomes.

So, what is the moral lesson here? Long story short, it is always important to note that everyone is beautiful in one way or another. Thus, beauty should not be measured based on the chronicle that has been popularized by celebs and media. After all, what we see is not always the reality of things!

References:

  1. http://www.nhs.uk/
  2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

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This Post Has 143 Comments

  1. Chelsea Dobson

    Makes sense and a valid point. I’m just curious if the Before photos are also photoshopped to show a greater contrast.

    1. Amber Michelle

      I feel like it is.
      Beyonce has always been in shaoe.

  2. Janice Hopalong

    this is so you won’t recognize them in public ?

  3. Linda Enriquez

    WHO CARES

  4. Mimi Brooks

    No wonder millions of women have body image issues, they don’t know what to trust.

  5. Fateemah Bello

    Makes sense at least it will make women to stop feeling less beautiful.

  6. ChYaotic S Racoma

    Different person

    1. Kelsie Brautigam

      It’s not a different person. Photoshop is a thing.

    2. ChYaotic S Racoma

      I know.. But It looks different tho..

  7. Kathy Kwiatkowski

    I don’t see any difference with Katy Perry’s. Except the skin tone.

    1. Kelsie Brautigam

      The lighting is better, she was darker, and she had her chest lifted.

    2. Kim Bachand

      I thought so too, but then I noticed her cleavage is more pronounced

    3. Renee Popp

      Her boobs are longer thus her cleavage IS more pronounced.

    4. Kathy Kwiatkowski

      Oh ok.

    5. Liz Southerland

      I was just thinking the same thing!

    6. Katerina Tzarina

      belly is not fatty

  8. RoNak Roni

    Every things is fucking fake this days

  9. Lauren Olds

    Madonna doesn’t look that old and wrinkly when you see her on TV. Like somebody else said the before photos have been photoshopped for a dramatic contrast.

    1. Lilly R Busch

      No, but many times they use different lighting and camera lens focus to change our perception!

    2. Falaq Iqbal

      makeup can transform any person..

    3. Lauren Olds

      I do know about the power of makeup. But it doesn’t hide wrinkles. Anyway, Madonna’s face is stretched from the amount of face lifts she’s had.

  10. Jo Ann Kitty Rivera

    Thanks God….Mines are real…

  11. Elsie Shinn

    I’m feeling so much better about myself right now. Thanks!

  12. Dalia Morr Nino

    She doesn’t need to use the crucifix or offend anyone to get more attention .

  13. Lilly R Busch

    Well if people believe the pictures are not retouched, is their problem!
    One thing tho, I recently met a lady in my city. I had seen her on a TV news interview. Then I met her in person, turns out she was even more beautiful in person!
    Sometimes the camera doesn’t give people justice :))

  14. Andrew Garley

    Some are way over PSed

  15. Edel Kirke

    Fake news has been around a while – try advertising, fashion, magazines etc etc etc,- end the bs already

  16. Sarah Searle

    I’m old enough to understand magazine pics have been worked on bit I do feel concerned for my daughter and her peers who are bombarded with these sorts of images.

  17. Steffan Helle

    Lies, fake news and silly superhero movies is one big revolt against humanity and all for $$$$$$$$$$$ fame and satanism !

  18. María Peregian

    Thanks for telling the truth,,,,,,,,we are all humans,,,,,all the same,,,

  19. María Peregian

    nobody is perfect

  20. Karen Fortner-Barber

    I know it’s Hollywood but can’t they be, real. Celebrities need to stop trying to cover up with photo shop and plastic surgery , I respect those who forgo the touch ups and have the courage to be real with how they really look. Everyone gets old. That’s life. Most times the plastic surgery looks way worse than the way they looked naturally.

  21. Mari Zga

    Talking about false advertising!

  22. Patrick Graven

    Beauty is the essence of the heart, A love within that never parts.

    1. Debbie Grainger

      True

  23. Cori Spano

    Madonna looks better without photo touch!

  24. Cori Spano

    God bless

  25. Shonda Penny

    Top draw? A pun I suppose.

  26. Laleh Pop

    Wonder how the before pics were retrieved and do these celebs mind?

  27. Beth Liebermann

    Katy looks better in the first pic.

    1. Daniel Gallagher

      Agreed!

  28. Linda Huckerby

    Leave her alone she still looks good

  29. Julie Carrico

    They’re all clones…wakey wakey

  30. Theona Minagorashvili

    Now this is real pictures

  31. Janet Aldridge

    Yep… it’s all an illusion..just another trap…
    You could almost see if you pay attention to any of these young pop stars where they were confronted with the real world of what goes on not just in the entertainment world but in church and state around the world… as you look at these little pop stars you can almost see the day that they were shown the real world… all of a sudden their natural sometimes arrogant self disappears, and they are in misery… they act out they are lost they are trapped… it is a truth too late for many, but you will never find what you’re looking for in a world of illusion.

    1. Flower Sun

      Indeed.

  32. Daniel Gallagher

    Look madonna is really Zelda from the terrahawks!

  33. Danielle Wiltse

    I’m pretty sure no one thinks they’re real anymore.

  34. Advento Barrera

    Its not just celebrities. Your own phone can erase impurities with the camera itself. Lol.

  35. Mattie Hattier

    the magic of softglow…

  36. Gustavo Tchubas Mendonça

    Only women? ?????

  37. Brad Smith

    Bamboozled again!

  38. Sharon Lozsan

    ‘The moral lesson here’ is don’t read the stupid magazines, don’t watch the stupid TV shows, and don’t follow the lives of people you don’t know and who have no effect on your life. Why TF should you care what they have, do or look like?

    I don’t, so I have no idea what’s supposedly ‘wrong’ with me. I’m much happier and financially better off as a result.

    1. Babz McHugz

      Where’s a high five button when you need one?

    2. Sara Catherine Blaise

      I think the moral lesson is not to idolize these people. *Fake* began in hollywood and has seeped out into the social consciousness of the masses.

    3. Kevin Rezaei

      Indeed

  39. Amir Leo Habibović Vilia

    Omg.. b
    Beyonce look so old

  40. Ritsa Vasileiou

    …and you’re just finding out?

  41. Seth Fleharty

    Jesus was a middle eastern man, she is holding ceasar borgia, the son of a killer pope who wanted his son to be worshipped as jesus.
    One of the reasons for not worshipping idols because they can be false like this.

    Im not religious personally its just a pet peev because uf you take that kinda thing serious it should be known and spread.

  42. Alishia Angel Lindsay

    lol…. Madonna is an old hag now.

    1. Alishia Angel Lindsay

      lmfao…. Madonna is an old hag… and you’re a dumb for thinking she’s oh so cool. f*ck the American Hollywood elite … Madonna and all the rest of them can go jump off a bridge 🙂 they are the scum of the earth. 🙂

  43. H.Y. Nugroho

    Lol Grandmadonna

  44. John Chalisque Allsup

    Female beauty ‘standards’ have turned into something as silly as judging people by their tennis-playing skills as compared to Federer.

  45. Ersilia Liber

    Kostas η Madonna στο before μου θυμίζει θεία Κουλα

    1. Kostas Ioakeimidis

      Klaiw

  46. Carla Escobar

    I don’t pay Attention to pictures in magazines anymore.. it’s a lie. Humans are not perfect, women have cellulite, birthmarks, scars, aging spots, acne, chubby little rolls or big rolls.. who cares?? Everyone gets only one body and they should love themselves for all they are, everyone is unique, even twins are different. Advertisements the perfect business that lies.. besides lawyers.. they are the perfect liars..

  47. Juan Aulestia

    Cool pics, that’s all I see…nothing deeper than that…if you watch movies or commercials or look at pictures for sheer entertainment…mothing wrong with that, unless you immerse in a world that is not yours and understand the differences

  48. Timothy M Foley

    lol

  49. Colette Thompson

    Definitely! Cindy Crawford’s stomach? No way!

  50. Cinthia Paes

    Estamos bem!

  51. Brandy Lynn Henderson

    Both sets of pics are photoshopped.

  52. Colette Thompson

    When you Photoshop the photoshopped

  53. Alex Jones

    They can’t photoshop that empty space where character should be. In all of them. The hunger for fame has no shame. .

  54. Makayla Hughey

    Beauty standards aren’t getting more and more ridiculous. If we didn’t have beauty standards, then we wouldn’t have anything to strive for. And we’d end up being satisfied looking like fat lonely feminist with their 7 platonic cats.

  55. Jane Pope

    WITCH

  56. Anna Varty

    Absolutely, these have been shopped the other way round.

  57. Astrid Augustina

    The ‘before’ pictures could as well be photoshopped to make more drama about the ‘after’ ones. So don’t make too much of a fuzz about it. It still the same internet who want you to react like you do.

  58. Mattityahu Aaron

    Absolutely none

  59. Luke Lauder

    And me… I do this too… I’m actually Hillary Clinton bitches..

  60. Wieke Heikamp

    I know it is an illusion but also this pic is a bit extreme ofcourse.
    Madonna works her but of to stay in shape and ofcourse a lot of dollars to pay for cosmetic care etc..
    But that goes a long with her job.
    I love the idea of having beauty standards and anything to strive for..

  61. Mary Houle

    what a differenc

  62. Sarah Stephenson

    They made Jesus look so much better. Nice job.

    1. Raelynn Oster

      You kill me kid

  63. Alessa Rebellion

    How Media fool you with the Gender of that bitches! Doesn”t matter, also,!

  64. Paul HappyMexican Valdez

    The media Hell everyone on social media I don’t recognize half the girls in real life lmao

  65. Despina Kapouni

    Beauty standards are getting more ridiculous for insecure brainless women who can’t be happy about themselves.
    Women that have grown to feel good in their own skin, don’t fall for that.
    And instead of telling women to get a grip and love themselves we accuse the magazines and photographers for doing art.
    This is show business. They are artists. When you compare yourself to them and end up feeling bad it’s like comparing the doodles you make at the office meeting to Mona Lisa.
    It’s not rocket science.

  66. Jackie Mosforth

    So, unless you are flawless with no wrinkles you cannot be beautiful? How shallow.

  67. Tom Koehorst

    On films and in magazines everyone gets photoshopped, but these are clearly two different photo’s! Im thinking the left one is an imitation Of the Madonna picture.

  68. Chris Slebos

    Half of smartphone users are guilty as well then, by using all kind of filters to look better.

    1. Elisa Antoniea

      I have a Photoshop app right on my phone I can use to make any pic look like a professional magazine/glamour shot. It’s frighteningly easy and rather disgusting

  69. Margi Boyce

    Woah

  70. Nataly D du Plessis

    Doesnt matter how beautiful or ugly you are…if you are not a nice good person…and your heart and life is ugly….you are ugly!

  71. Albert Murillo

    I also read about that, The CATHOLIC church got infiltrated by the enemy at some point, unfortunately.

  72. Lilli Hagen

    This is real. She is fifty or something like that. She is still gorgeous btw, but her body grew older, her skin grew older and less solid. Just like it’s suppose to do.

  73. Zis Sum Anter

    Real beauty? You will not find it in magazines.

  74. Katalina T Mcfarlen Dorward

    Look in your own mirror – your own eyes!!!!

  75. Andrea Berasategui

    Joder! Q pasada

  76. Karen Smith

    Two different pics…the hand is different

  77. Desiree Arroyo

    If anyone actually believes people look like this, they’re completely moronic. Especially when some of these icons are well into their 50s.

  78. Ammar Ismail

    Madonna?

  79. Jackie Weathers

    And how do we know the ‘before’ pics aren’t as equally edited for shock value…? O.o
    #trustnoone

    1. Jamie Lea

      Whock appeal

    2. Bev Moore

      My thoughts exactly…. moral of the post is when we look at the media we dont know what is truth

    3. Tracy Martinson

      They totally were.

    4. Denise McAleer

      Exactly. I have seen Madonna close up and she does not look as flawed as the “before” pic-I’d say she is somewhere in between. Of course, it also depends on when her last filler treatment was too.

  80. Robyn Simmons

    She still looks like a reanimated corpse

  81. Colette Thompson

    I stand by my original post. I’ve seen Cindy Crawford’s untouched photo and the one in this article takes it and makes it worse. Complete b.s. And thanks for schooling me on what being over 50 and aging look like-LOL.

  82. Melissa Reese

    Didn’t intend to put your name here Cynthia, I meant to put your name on the succulent cakes.

  83. Dennis W Shook

    If celebrities were as great as they think they are they would use makeup!

  84. Dolores Diaz

    I don’t think Cindy Crowford looks like that.

  85. Chantal Wilson

    Kim Cantrell is still beautiful and I’m pretty sure Candace huffing spoke out about the editing of her picture.

  86. Eddy Capone

    Madonna is almost 60yo. She looks beautiful in person. Seen her in concert, front row seats in Atlantic City

  87. Tara Ciabattoni

    the left is better

  88. Lindie Williams

    Manipulation of the human race through mind games using technology.

  89. Lisa Rensberger

    Comparing photoshopped photos to photoshopped photos. smh

  90. Ernie E Torres Perivancich

    I actually think that the Madonna one is completely fake perhaps yes the photo on the right is retouched but it’s of her exact face feature though she’s not that broad like the photo on the left LOL

  91. Robin Daniels Paslay

    Umm yeah she’s 100. Anyone that thinks she looks like that is crazy.

  92. Kevin Muchowsky

    Fuck the celebrities death to the wood of holly demon worshipers and pedophiles

  93. Ana Victoria Oo

    HALF OF THE PICTURE ARENT EVEN REA

  94. Dunc Mac

    Her eyebrows don’t look any different. Don’t know what you are on about….

  95. Bruce Sugg

    Is That Hillary 🙂

  96. Josh Cannon

    It’s called makeup anyone who wears it is ugly.

  97. Tk George

    Arguing about celebs like dumbs… Lol

  98. Stefan Jarvis

    When did Madonna start to mummify?

  99. Nouni Bakr Sakr

    Lindsy lohan and Madonna before ones look so photoshopped to dramatise the subject.

  100. Michelle Burns Keerl

    Photoshop is the real Fountain of Youth.

  101. Lauren Wekesa

    Well, Madonna is beautiful and will always be!

  102. Darren Patrick

    To be fair, even Jesus is Photoshopped in that Madonna photo. #DemAbsTho

  103. L Yvette Saavedra-Ferreira

    Sad.

  104. Judith Irma Noriega

    Duh…

  105. Martin Hellgren

    Indeed

  106. Shana Burcham

    what needs to happen is that everyone needs to understand the difference between art and “false”. If someone had painted this-nobody would be calling it “fake”. they would understand it is art. So I don’t think it’s that we have to force “brutally honest” portrayals of people. It’s that we need to adjust our understandings of what we’re seeing

  107. LuLu Thorn

    One of the reasons alternative media is refreshing is that the subjects usually appear genuine–these people are revolting before and after.

  108. Martyna Knitter Visenna

    Good lighting can change everything as well 🙂

  109. Melissa Antonini

    Well most celebrities are ugly inside nevermind about the outside. Inside is what matters. Both look photoshopped tho.

  110. Mary Ana

    Yeah, like it only happens to women. Where the picture of all those male actors who are looking ugly and nobody post them here?

  111. Cheri Welsh

    apparently the m(asses) love fake things

  112. Aariel Michelle

    Even worse than being fooled by fake beauty. The picture speaks for itself! It’s creepy. And kinda satanic looking I’d you ask me!

  113. Kelly Webster

    Hello there are beauty filters on most apps now.. everybody seems to project fake version of themselves these days. Sad.

  114. Miriam Devereux

    If there is still someone freaking out that celebrities look so young etc please 😉 stop being hard on urself trying to look like a magazine cos the truth is no one does 😉 love ur wrinkles curves and freckles as long as ur healthy and enjoying the life that’s all that matters. Love and hugs.

  115. Luby Ljubov Simson

    Simple – don’t buy the magazine!

  116. Aaron Parker

    But how else are they going to get girls to feel self conscious and insecure and buy their “beauty” products.

  117. Sarah Louise Bland

    I wouldn’t want to have a celebrity’s life if it consumes looking young every day, everybody ages even the reporters who write these. The theory is every second minute and hour we get older.

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