SO YOU WANT TO BE A MODEL?
By: Krista, 21, (aka CottonCandyStar)

Flip through a magazine and take a look at the models. You may dream of becoming like them someday, but you aren’t seeing the whole truth. Sure, it’s glamorous and neat, but there’s something more. What we see in those magazines, posters, and ads aren’t completely real. For years, magazine editors and art directors at magazines have taken photos to the top notch by using Photoshop to correct "flaws".

A tuck of skin here, and smoothing of the skin there...it’s all in an effort to make the models looks better, and sometimes, even a little unrealistic. The smooth skin we see in makeup advertisements isn’t purely from the cosmetics, it’s made using filters and effects in photo editing software. Editors use these programs to make skin smoother, hair tamer, and sometimes, even make a model look even thinner than she already is.

So, why do girls take a look at these models and feel inferior to what they see? Because it is what is what the public tells us is attractive. Being reed thin with perfect hair, perfectly groomed eyebrows, and zero skin flaws and no sign of a zit or pimple. How does this affect teen girls? It’s simple. It makes them feel like they have to look like those photoshopped models to be accepted. They have to be a certain size, have a certain color hair, and even a certain color eyes to be considered beautiful.

Our generation needs to realize that we do not have to be model clones to stand out and be beautiful in a world that has grown to make most girls want to look exactly alike. What makes each individual beautiful is her own unique look and style, and she should never feel like she needs to change that.

Seventeen Magazine recently started The Body Peace Treaty, a simple promise you make to yourself to love yourself and your body just the way it is. Not to look in the mirror and point out your flaws to yourself. Many stars have promised to this treaty, giving girls all over the nation the power to stand up and bring to attention that we are all beautiful in our own unique ways!