Have you ever looked at a magazine and been awed by how flawless and beautiful everybody seemed, and then felt that you were less than adequate? Women are not the only ones that are made to feel like they should resemble Victoria’s Secret models. Advertisers and magazines target men with pictures of perfection just as often as they target women.

In this clip from the video, “Bigger, Faster, Stronger,” Chris Bell talks to photographers and discovers that images of men’s bodies are subjected to unbelievable manipulation just as often as their female counterparts. Take a look at what happens when Chris takes a “before” picture, and then an “after” picture. For his “after” picture, he gets his eyebrows plucked and his body shaved and spray tanned before taking his photo. The picture of his body is then further manipulated by using editing software.

Watching the graphic artist broaden Chris’ shoulders and enhance his abdomen to make him look “buff” makes it obvious that male perfection is something that can be virtually created with a few clicks of a mouse.

Magazines and ads show us perfect bodies, but wouldn’t it be great if some of those images included average looking, healthy bodies? Then maybe some people would get the message that they can be happy with their bodies just the way they are.

—Lina Chappelle, 16, Staff Writer

Can you imagine modeling your life after Seventeen magazine? That’s exactly what 18-year-old Jamie Keiles has decided to do. Over the course of the summer, Jamie has patterned her life on the advice of Seventeen, imitating their style tips and recommendations. Jamie’s blog, The Seventeen Magazine Project, offers a witty analysis of the magazine.

Her posts have analyzed the racial breakdown of models who appear in Seventeen (which surprisingly wasn’t that different from the racial breakdown of the country) as well as the content of the ads in the June/July issue (which were, not so surprisingly, 56 percent beauty ads).

Now, magazines like Seventeen are all well and good in their place—something light, fun and easy to read. But I think (even more so after reading Jamie’s blog!) that Seventeen speaks to girls as if we’re only interested in beauty and buying more stuff, but that isn’t what most girls want.

Jamie Keiles is proving that teenage girls are interested in more than just makeup and products. We’re invested in ideas and the world around us, as well. Maybe Seventeen will take a look at Jamie’s blog and expand their ideas about what girls want.

—Taylor McCabe, 16, Staff Writer

Sex sells. We see it everywhere, from billboards marketing the hottest brand-name jeans to commercials endorsing the latest electronics. But what about ads promoting anti-smoking messages?

Health officials in Southern Nevada are using sexually suggestive ads to encourage teens and young adults to adopt smoke-free lifestyles, according to a recent article from the Las Vegas Sun. One popular image shows four women dressed in bras and panties, playfully throwing cushions in a pillow fight, while another shows a couple locked in a sensuous embrace, lips brushing against each other. The pictures are accompanied by tag lines, like “Delicious Kisses,” “Plays Hard” and “Intoxicating Scent,” along with the message, “What’s your smoke-free instinct?”

This is all part of a new “counter-advertising” campaign to combat the marketing strategies used by top tobacco companies to promote smoking. Unlike most government-funded health programs, which tend to preach to teens about the evils of smoking, this one uses provocative images to show young adults that it’s cool—sexy even—not to smoke.

While this campaign has received millions of dollars in funding and support, it has also sparked controversy among parents, who fear that the sexual ads are sending the wrong message to teens. In a Las Vegas Sun online poll of 309 people, 71 percent believed that “any effort to fight smoking is a good thing,” while 29 percent believed that “using sex and drinking to fight smoking is wrong.” What do you think? Is using sex to sell anti-smoking messages the right way to promote healthy living?

—Cynthia Lam, 16, Staff Writer

If you’re a girl, you already know it, and if even if you’re a guy, you probably have a good sense of it: Having your period is not fun. Girls deal with their periods because they have to.

I don’t wear white or frolic through fields of flowers on my period. I’m guessing that most other girls don’t either, but that’s exactly what you see in commercials for tampons and pads. It’s these images that make these commercials so ridiculous.

Kotex’s commercials for their new line of tampons, pads and liners called U are great because they challenge the images of women on their periods dancing through a flock of butterflies. The commercials are totally hilarious. And while I may not have rushed out and bought these particular tampons, the commercials definitely caught my attention. And what more can you ask of a commercial?

-Taylor McCabe, 17, Staff Writer

What do the Olympics and safer sex have in common? Lots and lots of condoms.

Since 1992, condoms have been available at the Olympics to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. For the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 100,000 condoms were provided for all 10,500 athletes. That might seem like a lot. But a supply of 70,000 condoms during the 2000 Sydney Olympics ran out, and an extra 20,000 had to be ordered.

Making condoms available at the Olympics, means athletes can reduce the risk of an unplanned pregnancy or an STD. Abstinence is the only way to completely avoid pregnancy and STDs. But if you’re going to have sex—whether you’re an Olympian or not—you need to have safer sex.

Check out the Olympic spirit in these condom ads from China: