Question for the reader.
This is not an essay, but a question. I adapted it from a Twitter thread. Is there a word to describe "reality-distorting visual media"? Some visual media isn't sexual per se but still has the intention of making people think of things in a way that doesn't accord with reality. I'm thinking of, for example, Instagram accounts that inspire people to eat less than their bodies require in order to function normally ("thinspo"). Another example would be conspiracy theory media which deliberately edits photos or falsifies screenshots or edits photos of what happened at events in order to promote an idea, which the creator does in fact want to promote (not as a joke.) Pornographic media and fashion advertisements which heavily digitally alter photographs of bodies would also fall under this category; as well as the weird rule-34 derived cartoons in "cal-arts style." I have thought for a while that the purpose of a caricature or cartoon is to strip