Warning: Models in this image may not be as thin as they appear
Today, I’m over at Gender Across Borders talking about the implications of the AMA’s decision to denounce retouching images of models. Here’s a little teaser:
This week, the American Medical Association denounced the use of digital manipulation and retouching on models and asked advertising agencies to consider imposing stricter guidelines for manipulating photos before they are sent to press. I, for one, say it’s about time. Apparently, this is an idea that has been floating around England and France for some time. For the past year or so, some lawmakers in Europe have been trying to get ad agencies and magazines to put warning labels on retouched images to alert the public that these images are fake, and that will hopefully help young people seeing these images to realize that an unattainable standard has been set regarding beauty. America is ready for such a change, especially in light of the relief and excitement many people seemed to feel after seeing models bare it all with no retouching a few years ago.
Though I was never diagnosed with an eating disorder, I struggled with my body image all throughout high school (and probably even earlier than that) and college. I went to the gym twice a day and enrolled myself in exercise courses at school, giving me three workouts a day on average. I ate two very simple meals a day, skipping lunch. I became a vegetarian to more easily avoid fast food and keep off that dreaded Freshman Fifteen. It wasn’t until I came home from undergrad one summer and my friends and family said, “Wow, Ashley. You look sick,” that I realized what I was doing to my body. Luckily for me, that simple statement was enough to shock me into rethinking my eating habits. But for many people, statements like that aren’t enough. Just check out these statistics on eating disorders in America from the South Carolina Department of Mental Health if you don’t believe me. Eating disorders are incredibly prevalent in America, and are on the rise in other countries. Photoshopped images such as the one above are cited for the rise in eating disorders and unhealthy attitudes about body weight and size, but, if we follow France and England’s proposal, is adding a label to the bottom of a picture really going to help?
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