Britain is continuing its battle against Photoshop. Liberal Democrats are in an uproar over recent Oil of Olay ads featuring Twiggy with glowing, almost perfect skin. Amazing for a woman of her age. But then photos of the model shopping at Marks & Spencer surfaced, and she looked — dare we say it — her own age, with actual wrinkles and jowls, making the image in the ad seem downright silly. Lawmakers are getting their brows furrowed worrying over what effect this could have on young girls. Jo Swinson, the MP for East Dunbartonshire, told the Telegraph:Today's unrealistic idea of what is beautiful means that young girls are under more pressure now than they were even five years ago. Airbrushing mean that adverts contain completely unattainable images that no one can live up to in real life.
This, of course, isn't the first time the U.K. has gone after Photoshopped images. Last year, the British Fashion Council wanted magazines to state which images had been altered after several high-profile covers were shown to be heavily manipulated, including one of Princess Eugenie.
On top of the ban, the party is asking that plastic-surgery ads be required to carry success rates (though we're not sure what the success rate of breast augmentation is, exactly). Plus, schools will be required to have P.E. classes that girls want, like yoga. So what say you? Does Jessica Alba being made thinner in an ad or having wrinkles erased make you feel bad, or do you realize these are altered? Is there another way to get the message across to young girls without banning Photoshop?
(http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2009/08/britain_wants_to_ban_airbrushi.html, emphasis mine)
Doesn't make me feel bad, but I tend to find that I am infinitely more analytical than most people, so that could be the reason.
ReplyDeleteI really like the Dove campaigns for real beauty (or whatever it's called?) where they show real women. I also like shows like "What Not to Wear" that show women how to dress their bodies and look and feel beautiful how they are - and not always be trying to be something or somebody they aren't.
How to get the message across? Be a good example. Be confident and happy with who you are. Demand better from the media and advertisers. Teach boys and men to respect and love women for who they are and how they look, instead of constantly comparing them to women in Hollywood and the media.
I'm a big proponent of free speech, so I'm definitely not a fan of what GB is trying to do. Like it or not, a celebrity, company, product, etc. has the right to present themselves however they want to (in America, at least). If we, as consumers, don't like how they are presenting themselves, then we have the opportunity to voice our disapproval by choosing not to buy their product or service.