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France May Regulate Photoshopped Photos

by Amar Toor on September 25, 2009 at 02:18 PM

In France, where the premium on beauty and image is high as can be, a newly proposed law may be the first hint of a movement against the unabashed vanity which has become its trademark.

French lawmakers, concerned about the adverse effects that images of digitally-enhanced celebrities may have on the country's collective body image issues, have introduced a law that would require airbrushed photos to carry a disclaimer revealing their inauthenticity. The Telegraph reports that the legislation, if passed, would cover photos in newspapers, magazines, political campaigns, and even art photography. The tag accompanying any altered picture would read, "Retouched photograph aimed at changing a person's physical appearance."

The law, buoyed by the support of over 50 politicians, comes on the heels of French politician Valérie Boyer's report that examined the major effect of the media's unrealistic imagery on the prevalence of eating disorders among the young. Boyer and her peers acknowledge that the media determines what's in vogue, and hope to inject a bit of transparency into celluloid, demonstrating to viewers that the images they see may not be the real deal.

This prospective law is an encouraging, and a more substantive initiative than, for example, the weight minimum instilled for runway models in Milan -- who enjoy significantly less exposure than their actor or musician counterparts. The potential psychological benefits it could have on young girls are by far the biggest advantage of the proposal, but let's face it, was airbrushing really ever that great for anyone's self-image? Regardless of age or gender, no one likes to be made to feel hopelessly "less than", especially next to some waif of a cover girl with clownishly freakish, manipulated proportions.

Most of all, though, we really can't wait to hear President and gym rat Nicolas Sarkozy "weigh" in, himself no stranger to dalliances in digital delusion. [From: DailyMail.co.uk, via Mashable]

Tags: france, photography, photoshop, top

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