FLY (First Love Yourself)

Posted on  December 6, the 2013th by  
(This post is meant for many young girls whom I know hate themselves and their bodies.)
Way back in February 1990 when Photoshop 1.0 was shipped to its first customer, the Knoll brothers, Steve Guttman and Russel Brown along with Adobe's creative team looked at it as the programme to help process digital images, the gray scales levels of which Macs could not display. After 6 versions (2.0 - 7.0) the 8 th  Version, Photoshop CS, HAS was Released in 2003 and had 5 More in the Series - till C6. The latest version, CC, was released in June 2013.
I delved into the history of Photoshop when I came across two links which laid threadbare how the advertising industry is exploiting human bodies to earn billions in profit for themselves and their clients. They make us buy the products and try new ones over and over again. And the byproduct of it all is the mindless objectification and commodification of women which has led to a lot of other disastrous effects including the abject loss of self-esteem in many young and even old people. It would be wrong to say only women are affected by it - men are too because they expect women to be like in those chic ads. Needless to say it has engineered a vicious circle.
Many young people implicitly believe what they see in ads and posters, films and videos - curvaceous models, fair and lovely skin, lustrous long hair, all the other beautifully seductive parts of the human body. For the old, it is a desperate attempt to regain their lost youth. No one realizes that there is a great deal of difference between what they see in those visuals, digital and in print and what is real - and that there is a great deal of manipulation taking place. Did you know that almost 100% of the pictures of models that you see are altered ???
Ah, and it is Photoshop that enhances the quality of these images with its sharpening tools, softening skin tools and also those that create high contrast portraits. Take a look at this image to see how changes are effected. And the result, beautifully sculpted bodies, fairest of 'fair' and flawless skins - dreams of many a person, young and old!

The saddest thing is that many young people hate their bodies and have very low self-esteem. They think their bodies are far from what is touted to be beautiful and desirable. This eats into them and each day they lose their confidence. Without self-esteem and confidence they become fragile individuals, ready to hurt themselves and others; and even kill themselves. They hate their bodies and are constantly comparing their body with that of these models. They diet and starve to get 'zero' size figures - the result: eating disorders like Bulimia and Anorexia. Thus the effects are two-fold - physiological and psychological.
Today beauty parlours are big time business. Endless hours are spent before the mirror. Thousands of rupees are spent on beautifying activities and cosmetics. Much more money is spent by the rich on Botox, nose jobs and silicone implants various other surgical procedures. Beautifying the body and preserving it is a multi-billion dollar industry.
Feeling good about oneself is one thing - but being obsessed by that alone is sure to drag one's life into a quagmire of 'pining for what is naught'. The stereotypes generated through these ads of how a woman or a man ought to be for that matter has only degraded human beings, bringing out the worst in them. It is high time that we see through the profit-making ploys of burgeoning global beauty business.
It pays to watch this Youtube video:

Girls, love your body, just the way it is. Make peace with it. This is what your parents bequeathed you and embrace it lovingly. When you do that, you will find a metamorphosis within and outside you. You look at life in new light and say - Life is Beautiful! We owe this to ourselves !!
I love this Mark Sterling quote: "If you want to Soar in Life, you must learn to FLY First Love Yourself

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