Humane Educator's Toolbox: Parodying Society's Unrealistic Standards of Beauty

Image from "Fotoshop by Adobé"

"It's you, perfected... Finally look the way you've always dreamed." ~ from  "Fotoshop by Adobé"

We've seen the ads that portray impossible and unrealistic standards, and the exposés that highlight the alteration of images of the beautiful and thin to make them even more beautiful and thin (and often lighter in skin tone if they're women of color). Media and culture offer us false hopes and expectations and help add pressure on our young people to conform to stricter and unhealthier definitions of "beautiful" and "cool." Media messages about beauty is a great issue to explore with middle and high school students, and filmmaker Jesse Rosten offers a great springboard for discussion with his recent "Fotoshop by Adobé" parody.

Rosten's film riffs off all those beauty commercials that promise virtually instant beauty with the application of their products. As Gwen at Sociological Images says, "the video parodies beauty product commercials that play on and encourage insecurities while promising women magical transformations that will allow them to attain entirely unrealistic beauty standards overnight due to ground-breaking science-y sounding ingredients and processes ('pro-pixel intensifying fauxtanical hydro-jargon microbead extract')."

The film integrates actual examples of celebrity photos that have been altered to show just how pervasive this practice is. As the parody's narrator says, "You don't have to rely on a healthy body image or self-respect anymore."

Watch the parody (about 2 minutes):



Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

You can pair Rosten's film with some of our activities exploring media and "coolness," such as Analyzing Advertising or The Cool Factor. Or for a broader exploration of the impact of our personal care products on people, animals, & the planet, check out What Price Beauty?

~ Marsha

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