This isn't a long post, just an example of photo manipulation. I used Picnik.com, which anyone can access and the tools are easy to use. No professional work and look at this:

Ignore my hair and eye make-up, it's a mess!
So what have I done?
Whitened my teeth.
Blemish fixed my dark under eye circles.
Airbrushed my skin.
If I can do that, think of how much manipulation can be done to media texts!
No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted.
x