Mirror, Mirror Standards of Beauty, Body Image and the Media

What do you see when you look in the mirror? What affects your body image? Join body image advocate and media literacy educator Melanie Klein and Photoshop professional Roy A. Cui for an insightful and surprising look at the way the digitally altered images that flood our media landscape shape our standards of beauty and impact our body image. Klein examines the historical changes in the kinds of media messages we're currently exposed to as well as the difference in sheer volume-and why these changes matter. The conversation includes a critical look at the advertising industry, the social construction of beauty standards and how the reflection in the mirror is impacted by our cultural environment. Cui peels back the curtain on beauty and reveals the carefully crafted illusion created by marketing forces through a live demonstration on how a print image is retouched. Together, Klein and Cui provide the education, insight and experience to understand and challenge mainstream images of beauty that have been carefully manipulated and impact our self-esteem and sense of value.
Recorded live on March 6, 2014.