The media overfeeds society with unrealistic, perfected images of what an ideal and beautiful appearance should look like. It has gained so much control over what society is supposed to think is beautiful. I wish every person, every child, knew how much airbrushing and retouching goes into these photos, drastically changing them. I do. I hold the knowledge of this media manipulation. It cannot touch my mind. Or can it? Sometimes the negative thoughts reel me in.
I see her on the television, in the magazine, and on the billboard. She is everywhere. All I see is beauty and perfection. I walk to the mirror and see myself. Now I begin to compare. I realize she is everything I am not. She is the one that has flawless and smooth skin, resembling a baby’s skin. She has sparkling white teeth and plump eyelashes. Her sculpted body has curves in all the appealing places. She does not have wrinkles, or acne, or any unsightly lumps, as I seem to have. Nothing is possibly wrong with her. How can it be? Her perfection magnifies my flaws. She is the idealized symbol, the constant reminder: I do not look like that.
Krutika Puntambekar is a student at San Jose State University.
The Bolt Magazine 