Stop editing their advertising, & hire healthier models, healthier images, and end the victimization of young women

"Julia Bluhm asked Seventeen magazine to include at least one unaltered photo spread each month and gathered thousands of signatures to support her cause. This month, the magazine announced a ‘Body Image Peace Treaty’ saying they retouch things like stray hairs and pimples -- but nothing more. NBC’s Maria Schiavocampo reports."

In honor of what this young girl stepped up to try to change, I think that many of us adults need to stand behind her and demand better advertising from our more adult magazines. In particular, we should start off with (in my opinion) one of the worst offenders, Victoria's Secret. Their magazine is full of terrible photoshop fails, with uneven breast enlargement on the pictures, the photoshopping to airbrush out the hip bones and rib bones many times unsuccesfully I might add. If you look for yourself, you will see many pictures where the head of the model in the photo has been taken from another picture, due to the angle being off, of where the neck points, to how uncomfortably impossible it would be to twist your throat that far.

Any way, to google image search the phrase "Victoria's Secret models too skinny" you will see pictures that the media have posted, that have not been meddled with much other than tons of makeup before hitting the streets in their skimpy outfits and foot deforming heels.

It has been affirmed by psychiatric and medical professionals that unhealthy body image is directly linked to low self esteem, and relying on outside influences to dictate how people should feel about themselves. The images we are spoon fed today tries to sell us that being skinny is to be perfect. When in all actuality your body can completely shut down from malnutrition.

Many people with low self esteem suffer greatly from depression, and not everyone loses too much weight. In fact, the reality of it is that just as many people who struggle with annorexia nervosa, suffer from over eating, stress eating many call it. They use food as their comfort. That is not healthy either, but put 2 and 2 together and you get a spiral of depression, low self worth, altered body image, self degrading and destructive behaviors and tendencies, unhealthy lifestyles and food choices, which in many cases equals high milligram, sedating medications for psychological problems that cause other negative side effects, which in turn in many cases are treated with additional medications.

We know this is a problem, so let's take a stand and shed light on how unhealthy our society has become, because if we do not make the noise, if we do not spark the conversations, if we do not make sure we are heard, we can never hope to improve vulnerable people's lives, it will lead t healthier decisions within our societies, raised self confidence, happier people, and more peace. When it comes to peace, all we can do is take as many baby steps as we can, to push the next generation just a bit further before we leave them.