False Appearances: Tackling appearance-retouching apps online
Athlete and Public Health student, Lara Philippart, has launched a campaign to force advertisers to declare when their images of people are digitally enhanced.
You can sign the petition here: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/576724
Lara Philippart launched the petition in April 2021
I’m currently studying a Master’s in Public Health at Swansea University, and chose to do my dissertation topic on appearance-retouching applications (e.g., FaceTune).
I’ve never had experience with these apps myself, but growing up I have significantly struggled with body image, which I still battle with on a daily basis. Whilst researching for my dissertation, I realised the growth in appearance-retouching application use among younger generations.
I’ve had countless conversations with people about body image concerns, and it’s clear that admitting to these struggles is still relatively taboo, which is surprising given its prevalence within today’s society.
People as young as 12 are using dietary restraint to conform to these media standards, which are highly inaccurate portrayals. I am 24 and still struggle to navigate the unrepresentative beauty portrayals plastered across social media, so I really can’t imagine what it must be like for younger, more influential adolescents, to be consistently exposed to these unattainable beauty idealisms.
The endless pursuit of physical perfection needs to be stopped. With my petition calling for adverts to state when a person's features have been enhanced or distorted, I feel it is a starting point to achieve this.
With advertisements made to declare photo manipulation, this could allow media users to be more conscious when consuming these arguably detrimental, false portrayals on social media. These portrayals are being used as social comparison targets by many, eliciting negative effects on self-esteem, self-worth and have ultimately sparked disordered eating concerns.
By creating a more transparent online environment, this could reduce the constant social comparisons made by consumers, triggering feelings of guilt, inadequacy and worthlessness. Additionally, this transparency may influence ‘everyday’ users to declare photo manipulation.
Not only could this have significant implications for mental health, but also put a stop to this fitness-obsessed, diet-fixated, perfectionistic world that we live in today.
Therefore, I feel it is essential that images in the media declare when photo manipulation has occurred, especially where body and facial features have been distorted.
