The issue of how far airbrushing in women’s magazines can go, before having dramatic consequences on impressionable teens reading them, has been up for debate for many months now, as we also reported. Until now, though, the issue was only discussed on a “what if” level, but that is bound to change, as academics from the UK, US, and Australia are urging the Advertising Standards Authority to take concrete action, the Daily Mail informs.
That airbrushed images of women who come very close to perfection have a negative impact on a regular woman’s self-esteem is no longer a matter of pure speculation. However, academics are now saying that these digitally altered images are responsible for more than just a decrease in one’s self-confidence, as they can also be tracked back to eating disorders in girls as young as 10, depression, and feelings of incredibly low self-esteem.
“More than 40 of the world’s leading experts on body image issues today call for a ban on touching up photos in advertising for the under 16s. […] In a letter to the Advertising Standards Authority, the academics from Britain, America and Australia say that the ‘clear majority of adolescent girls’ have problems with ‘depression, stress, guilt, shame, in… (read more)
