Walt Whitman's I Sing The Body Electric

Words: 1586
Pages: 7

No matter the day or age, societal standards, both physical and emotional, will cause individuals who do not meet these standards feel inferior. Represented by models, societal standards are often held as a means of acceptance of others. Models can play a crucial role in society, for they act as physical role models for anyone who stumbles across a picture of them. Recently, the job market has increased its range to add an influx of photographers and graphic designers for more intimate and personal assignments. Unknown to the masses, photographers and graphic designers are hired to alter body proportions, both desired and undesired, of models, celebrities, and ordinary people (Ianniello). This process may seem phenomenal, however, the use of body altering in Photoshop can in term create unrealistic body standards for both genders (Ianniello), such as perfectly shaped bodies or lustful curves. Although photoshopping major body …show more content…
Was it doubted that those who corrupt their own bodies conceal themselves? And if those who defile the living are as bad as they who defile the dead? And if the body does not do fully as much as the soul? And if the body were not the soul, what is the soul?; (Whitman, 5-8)
Although while not originally pertaining to concealing flaws upon a body, this quotation is now germane, as more “body electric” work processed digitally has become distinguishable (Whitman). As the majority of humanity remains oblivious to this practice, evidently, negative outcomes disperse throughout the world, all which stem from over-editing portraits. Simply, the Photoshopping of models is a practice with almost no perks and should be discontinued in the future. The act of Photoshopping models creates irony in itself by proving nobody is