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Everyday Ageism

Photoshop addiction

(38 Posts)
paddyanne Tue 10-Mar-20 11:20:27

Can I just add that its normal NOT to like yourself in photos.I photograph around 250 young people every few weeks ,without fail the first thing they say is I HATE MYSELF IN PHOTOS .One young woman told me she takes at least 50 selfies before she gets one that can look OK and look great AFTER sh's worked on it

Nata Tue 10-Mar-20 10:39:50

paddyanne yes, that's my biggest fear too! Image problems are hard to overcome and I don't want my GD's to have them. Apparently their addiction to photoshopping makes me feel like they already have them.

paddyanne Tue 10-Mar-20 10:24:49

I dont like it but I dont know if its harmful .I think its quite odd to always change your looks in photos,my DIL does it and sometimes its hard to recognise who she is in her images.
My fear about the young GD's is that they will become unhappy with their mirror image and be tempted to cosmetic surgery to "fix" the things they photoshop.Its sad to be unhappy with your self.I've had image problems all my life and I'm glad these apps weren't around when I was growing up.make up and diets were though and I've dieted all my life...never resorted to surgery

Marydoll Tue 10-Mar-20 10:18:26

Success, Nata! Look forward to seeing more of your posts! smile

Nata Tue 10-Mar-20 09:58:06

Marydoll their mother has been away for a long time, I'm not sure the her youngest daughter remembers her.

Their aunt is very caring and she says my granddaughters are like her own daughters to her (she doesn't have a family of her own). She came from the loving family and she is a very nice person herself. She doesn't see the photo situation as a problem either, so maybe it is just me being overprotective.

Nata Tue 10-Mar-20 09:54:33

Marydoll thanks!!! I've seen people doing it multiple times and the instruction says I should put @ before the poster's name but it never worked.

Marydoll Tue 10-Mar-20 09:51:15

Nata, their mum not being about, does put a different slant on things.

Just keep on being the loving and supportive gran you obviously are and I'm sure it will work out fine.

If you want to highlight a posters name, like most posters do when replying, put a * at the beginning and end of the name, without any spaces. Just in case you didn't know that trick.

Nata Tue 10-Mar-20 09:30:37

@FearlessSwiftie oh yeah, I agree with you! The models are everywhere and they are so pretty, no wonder the girls want to look as fab.

I didn't think about giving them some beauty advice but you are right, it would be more helpful! @Marydoll I also agree that I should't be a nagging gran nor do I want to become one.

@FearlessSwiftie I haven't mentioned their mother because she doen't live with the family and she have never been married to my son. I'm not sure whether my son contacts her sometimes because their breakup was a bitter story. The girls have their aunt, though, my son's step-sister. They communicate quite fine.

Nata Tue 10-Mar-20 09:24:04

@Marydoll thank you! I've been here for a while but I'm not much of a poster, I prefer reading mostly.

I know it may be just a phase for them but I'm afraid that in the age of Instagram and other not-so-healthy beauty standards it is not a good sign. Wrinkles at 14, could you imagine that?

I truly hope they won't stick to it for a long time, thank you for your support.

FearlessSwiftie Tue 10-Mar-20 09:21:22

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FearlessSwiftie Tue 10-Mar-20 09:18:54

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Marydoll Tue 10-Mar-20 08:47:08

Nata, I could be mistaken, but I haven't noticed you posting before , so welcome! You sound a very caring gran.

I don't mean to sound harsh and I understand where you are coming from, but in my opinion, you are overthinking this, times have changed dramatically from when our children were young.
I would tend to ignore it, there are worse things to worry about with teenagers. The more you go on about it, the more they will do it.
You obviously love your granddaughters, but take a step back and just enjoy their company, you don't want them to remember you as a nagging gran. They will soon tire of it. It's their parents role to deal with this if they think it is getting out of hand.

As a teacher, involved in IT, I found these things were a usually phase. Children discovered new technology and everyone was using it, They soon got bored and moved on to the next new App.

Try not to worry.

Nata Tue 10-Mar-20 08:31:21

My grandchildren (two teen girls of 14 and 16 y.o.) spend a lot of time on their social networks and constantly improve their profile pictures in order to look better. They even managed to find some wrinkles on their young faces and not they can't post or even send to me a picture without changing it somehow in Photoshop. I tried to explain them that there is nothing wrong with them and there is nothing wrong in getting older whatsoever but they wouldn't listen to me. Have you faced the same problem? My sonm their dad, thinks it is a "period" for them while I'm afraid it may led to huge problems with insecurity in the future (if not already).