Digital Masks and Vanity

I find it very interesting how people are always amazed when a girl posts a profile picture on facebook where she's totally overexposed. You've probably seen the ones I mean. Close-up of the face and shoulders, no shirt, head tilted to one side, a little bit of lipstick, and glowing white skin.

Sure it makes these girls look hotter than usual. It's because the color levels are so off that all the detail is gone, and all that's left is shiny-white skin.

This is the reason women in magazines look so good. It's the reason models and actresses look better on the screen than in real life. And it's the same reason nobody wants to see pornography in high definition. If you photoshop, airbrush, or expose out all those lines and bumps and crevices just about anybody can look amazingly hot. And with a bit of clever cropping, you can remove all those body parts you don't want anybody else to see.

But the truth is, as humans we're basicall all pretty ugly on the surface. The real beauty lies underneath. So what I don't get is why these people that do this to their photos see the need to misrepresent themselves?

I suppose it's because, male and female alike, we all secrectly want to look like supermodels. But few of us actually do.