U.K. Minister Urges Ban of Photoshopping and Skinny Models

Since Australia’s efforts to use healthy-looking models in media, more countries have taken similar steps to reform the image of the fashion model. Over the past couple months, Lynne Featherstone, U.K. equalities minister, has organized meetings with advertisers and magazines to discuss the media’s projected idea of body image. Featherstone believes that underweight models should be used in any form of media, including television. She also would like to see warnings on images that have been altered with Photoshop and other programs, so the public would understand that the images are not real. Featherstone is very concerned on the way that theses images are effecting young girls and women. Featherstone explains, “All women have felt that pressure of having to conform to an unrealistic stereotype, which plagues them their whole life. It is not just the immediate harm; it is something that lasts a lifetime.” However, Featherstone believes that “advertisers and magazine editors have a right to publish what they choose.” Yet, this should not compromise a girl or woman’s confidence in her body. Featherstone is not only concerned with the pressures on women, but also the pressures that men feel about being perfect.

Source(s):
NYTimes