Warning labels can be seen in many places: on alcohol bottles, cigarette packs, foods containing genetically modified ingredients, and the list goes on. But… on airbrushed photographs? That may soon be a possibility in none other than France, the home of the world’s fashion capital.
French legislators recently proposed a law to Parliament requiring all digitally enhanced photos to be stamped with the truthful tag, “photograph retouched to modify the physical appearance of a person.” This crusade is led by parliamentarian Valérie Boyer who argues that “when writers take a news item and considerably embellish it, they are required to alert readers by calling the work fiction, a novel or a story based on dramatized facts. Why should it be any different for photographs?”
Certainly, the advertising and marketing industries are not happy with this. These industries rely on alluring images to attract consumers because after all, beauty sells—even if it is digitally enhanced beauty. We are more likely to try that brand of yogurt when the model advertising it appears fit and gorgeous than as an ordinary Joe or Jane with visible imperfections.
On the other side of this controversial battle, legislators are making the case that consumers are being manipulated and taken for a ride. While that is true, consumers are not mindless subjects of mass-media advertising either. They are naturally lured by the beautiful people, the shiny cars, and even the extra juicy hamburgers. Is it the corporations’ fault for using their technological resources to appeal to that demand?
Yet the reality remains that young and impressionable teens like yourself are constantly bombarded with false images of perfection that set an unrealistic standard for beauty. Everywhere you look, flawless people on glossy pages beckon you to strive to attain their figure and appearance. Your visual diet consists of svelte female models and muscular males with washboard abs—add in the deception of airbrushing even the tiniest of physical flaws, and a dangerous, artificial reality is created.
Some influenced teens are pushed into developing eating disorders and other complexes that can be harmful to their physical and mental health. Evidence of common eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia has flourished on the Internet in the form of “pro-ana” websites and blogs. Exchanges of “thinspiration” videos featured on these sites to inspire those struggling with the disorder to continue struggling are tragic and appalling. So is it really that far of a stretch to place “health warnings” on fake images?
The 50 legislators backing this proposal intend on taking consumer protection one step further by requiring not just advertisements, but even political posters to carry warnings of retouching when applicable. Does U.S President Obama being vilified as a socialist Joker ring a bell?
If passed, the cost of violating this law would be a cool $55,000.
What are YOUR thoughts on tagging airbrushed photos with a warning? Is it merely a Band-Aid solution to society’s deeper problems? Or could it help those struggling to get a grip on reality and real beauty? Could this spread to Canada? Should it?
We want to hear YOUR opinions! Send them in to forum@youthactionnetwork.org and YOUR next letter may get published in our next issue!
