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.