Perfection In The Media Essay

The English language is constantly developing; in today’s world, people are even generating their own words, such as YOLO or selfie that they put their own spin on. Even words dating back to before our language are being altered by time and opinion. One example of this comes from the latin word perfectionem-- now known as perfection. Beginning with the meaning completeness, this word’s definition has changed with the advance of society. Perfection now takes on various forms pertaining to appearance, to behavior, and even to abilities. Whether visions of perfection contain images of celebrities on a TV screen or priests praying in a church pew, personal perception has changed this word greatly over the course of time, but one thing reigns true: it is not attainable.

That formulas end result is often the media’s interpretation of a beautiful appearance. Their covers and ads feature beautiful models, and their pages detail how-to’s of attaining the perfect hair, makeup, and the all-important body that model possesses. These displays pressure the public with headlines like “Get Pretty for Summer ” and “Work on Your Beach Bod.” After flipping through pages of these titles, many begin questioning how they can improve their own appearance to fit the media’s perfection standards. From extreme dieting to dangerous use of tanning beds, many people take drastic measures to attain that image, but is that model even truly perfect herself? With the advances in technology, nearly every aspect of a person can be digitally altered. Recently an anonymous retoucher came forward to express to the public just how many magazine images have been altered. “Absolutely 100 percent of what's in fashion magazines is retouched” (Buzzfeed). In reality, even society’s models of perfection can’t obtain these standards without the help of a computer to change their