France Will Warn People When A Photo Is Retouched

[LittleSally]

In the news today! A new fashion topic is all people are talking about!

We all know plenty of photos are retouched, in fact, I'd wager ALL of them (on adverts) are. They make us expect perfection out of people who are, by definition, far from it.

Usually the retouching is made to make the person look thinner, leaner, with strangely unattainable proportions.

When a photo is retouched (to make the person look thinner), or a video, on some kind of an advert - people will be warned with the words meaning "edited photograph".

They believe this will help people with body image issues and those who desperately want to chase the photo-shopped image of a person they can never be, no matter how little they eat or how much they exercise.

This has a little something to do with body image portrayal in France in general. If you're overweight you are considered less employable (and easier to fire) than the skinny person and a lot of people 'believe' that fat people have a lower IQ. Shocking. I know!

With over 50,000 people suffering from anorexia in France, thinness is revered...

So my question here is: Is this advert warning supposed to promote a healthy body image or is it supposed to jump-start a whole new body image problem for a newer generation?

[raspberry0416]

This would have helped me a lot when I was a teen. I used to wonder how models could look so perfect in their photos and feel bad about my body in real life. Magazines should also show women who are not borderline underweight but rather a more normal weight. Like women who have some fat on their arms and thighs because that's normal.

[raspberry0416]

I also want to add that when you are a developing girl, and you don't really know what a woman's body looks like, it is easy to think that unrealistic proportions are what you are supposed to look like. This is very damaging.

[yulbsari]

Will this actually make a difference? Isn't the issue education and body image? Should we tell people that play video games that "this isn't real... it's just a game."

[LittleSally]

Unconsciously, as I'm sure you're aware, when you see an image of an actual person, be it photoshopped or not, it seems credible and real, and achievable that you could look like that, that that's something that a human can achieve... It doesn't really matter whether it's photoshopped or not...

[yulbsari]

This is my point about education and critical thinking. Your argument could also be applied to graphic video games. They look credible and real. Some attempt violent crimes as a result, but those who are sane and can distinguish fantasy from reality can make rational decisions about what they are looking at. We need to be addressing the core issue of why young girls look at these images... and construct their entire self-image and self-esteem around them. This is marketing driven. It is an image... not reality...

[LittleSally]

Not really... Games are games, people subconsciously don't receive the information that real people are photoshopped.
I understand your angle here, but people can't control their subconscious.

[yulbsari]

If people couldn't control their subconscious, people would never be able to quit smoking or using drugs. Movies are images with real people, right? Can we say that we need labels to say that "this is not real"? People wear different clothes (fashion statements) in movies. We would have to warn people in every medium that has real images.

[LittleSally]

Willpower and self-control has nothing to do with the subconscious...
The subconscious is called SUBconscious for a reason.

[yulbsari]

You completely underestimate the power of the human mind. It's like magic tricks. Once you understand the secret, it's not magic anymore. Psychological research shows clearly that habits and beliefs alter the subconscious mind. People don't overcome addictions and deep phobias using mere will power... that is not enough in most cases. The subconscious mind can certainly be altered.

[SirenDep]

It's better to have a visual reminder it's photoshopped or fake. I use to forget it, and sometimes wonder how can some women look so perfect in photos. But then they themselves talk about photoshop or the filters and tools they use, the editing, the 100s photos they take, the poses they rehearse, the time and money it took them to get ready etc

[Bandit74]

I think it's pointless.
The vast majority of pictures in advertising are edited so I don't see why anyone would need a disclaimer to tell them something they should have already known. Also even without all the editing, most models and celebrities are still noticeably better looking than the average person.

[ADFSDF1996]

Even though I don’t agree with a portion of their politics, I do think they are doing good by adding “warnings” to help people understand that a lot of the models are digitally edited so people won’t stress out about their bodies too much.

[Waffles731]

Plenty of French psychologists still take Freud seriously unlike most of the rest of the worlds psychologists meaning that the psychatrist medicine of France is rather outdated in many cases, so anyone with anorexia in france is already at a disadvantage when it cones to treatment options

[April10]

If they're going to warn the reader, then why post the picture in the first place? I mean there are plenty of people out there that have the bodies these companies are looking for that retouching isn't needed.

[anewgirl]

I don’t get too worried about photoshopped pictures, but I suppose letting people know the pic is fake might boost some people’s self esteem.

[ATuairiscean]

I definitely see your point here - Body image problems are caused by idealised photos not cured by the info shares on side of the pics - I would be in favour of banning retouching for commercial photos.

[i1T2daty]

I sent a letter to the NY Times telling them they should consider the word "faux-to" for such pics but never heard back from them

[alice55]

I don't think it would help at all, we all know that the pics are retouched. Personally even if I know the pics is retouched I'm still trying to look like it because it's what look the best.

[Jayson101]

Just remember that vogue used to be illustrations, so in a way a lot of these magazines are selling you illustrations anyway. In which case touching it up/ completely fabricating a new image, is sensible

[Dargil]

Just what the French need. More regulation and government.

[Zee15]

I like that a least they're trying to find solutions.

[Dale1982]

I actually like the left-hand picture more. Big hips and sweeping thighs is about as feminine as it gets

[lovelyhoneybones]

Who cares? It doesn't change the fact that it's photo shopped. Or that they're lying.

[DancingGirl]

I warn people on GaG when profile photos are retouched.

[BlueRaven89]

I think adding a warning is good but in all honesty you shouldn't be retouching photos to make people look prettier or skinny because all it does is discredit the person's beauty and makes others feel bad if they don't look like that

[genericname85]

i think we should just not retouch. that´s the better option^^

[macix670]

The PC police at it again. If you look at models for your self esteem then that's your problem. Stop catering to these idiots.

[DamnMan]

I think it's good that pics have warnings, so people don't kill themselves trying to look like photoshop

[clubby789]

Well how could this start a new body image problem?

[LittleSally]

People knowing it's fake and even more consciously trying to look like that.

[demonics]

People totally aren't getting surgery to look like Barbie, Ken and anime girls, y'know obvious caricatures.