How many times have you looked at a celebrity on the cover of a magazine and thought about how thin and perfect she looked? And how many times have you looked in the mirror and made some derogatory comment about your own appearance? Though it may seem that there is no connection between these two events, research is now suggesting that there might be.
Image editing softw
are like Photoshop is used by advertisers and editors to remove models’ blemishes and wrinkles, minimize waists and thighs, enhance cup sizes–the list goes on and on. It is even frequently used to compose one “perfect” face, often for a beauty ad, with portions from real photographs: lips from one woman, a nose from another. Did the girl in the mascara ad look too good to be true? Chances are, she was.
By the time we reach our teens and twenties, we know that most of the images we see in print or advertisements are unrealistic and digitally altered, but being constantly bombarded with images of literally unattainable perfection may be subconsciously affecting us. The New York Times reports that the American Medical Association believes that exposure to unrealistically altered images can lead to eating disorders, low self-esteem and other mental health issues. With this in mind, the AMA has said that they “discourage the altering of photographs in a manner that could promote unrealistic expectations of appropriate body image.”
With this in mind, some legislators are suggesting that photoshopped images should require a disclaimer, stating that the image has been altered. A new software tool has been developed that would rate, on a scale of 1 to 5, to what degree a picture was changed. For a sense of wha
t constitutes each rating, these photos have received, from left to right, a 1 to a 5. Dr. Farid, one of the developers, told the New York Times that he hopes the software will promote restraint. “Models, for example, might well say, ‘I don’t want to be a 5. I want to be a 1,’” he said.
If it works in this way, I believe the tool would be very valuable. However, young girls are the most susceptible to being affected by images, and they are likely to either disregard or not fully understand just how fake these images are. After all, even if we know a woman who is 5’10’’ can never realistically have a tiny waist and a D-cup, seeing someone with such a figure being placed on a pedestal and used to sell clothes, cars, beer, anything, sends the message that that is the figure to which we should aspire. The problem is not in the transparency of the advertiser’s methods, it is in the methods themselves. Until we, as a culture, learn to embrace and appreciate women with diverse and healthy body-types, we will continue to raise young girls who think that their worth comes from how they look, and how many zeros are on the tag of their jeans.