Photo Manipulation: A Mental Health Problem

Sydney Fine

sf675318@ohio.edu 

 

 

Photo Manipulation: What is it?

Have you ever noticed an advertisement that featured a model or celebrity with perfect hair, brilliantly white teeth, and poreless skin? Don't feel bad if you don't look as perfect. That photo has probably been manipulated with retouching and/or photoshop. 

Picture source: Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Photos are manipulated regularly in advertisements, social media posts, and even in news articles. However, I am most concerned with the manipulation of women's bodies and skin that can make young girls and women feel poorly about themselves.

"So many aspects can contribute to reduced self-esteem and body dissatisfaction, including comparisons with peers, celebrities, and social media influencers, most of who post carefully posed, selected, and filtered photos," said Jennifer Henry, the director of counseling center at Maryville University. "The aspect of using filters and photoshop to alter images in order to project an 'idealized' image."

Studies have shown that exposure to manipulated images can induce lower body image, especially among teenage girls who were more prone to social comparisons. In addition, a recent study in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that negative body image is both a symptom and risk fact for the development of eating disorders.

What Can Be Done?

Labeling images that have been altered in advertisements and news articles can help increase transparency. Advertisers can also stop airbrushing their photos of women.

Several companies have found success implementing these policies. In 2018, CVS Pharmacy announced their Beauty Unaltered campaign. Their beauty ads are no longer photoshopped, and they have started marking product images in their stores that have been unaltered.

Olay Skincare made the "Olay Skin Promise" to be the first mass skin care brand in the US that stops skin retouching in advertisements in 2021.

American Eagle's Aerie brand also decided to only feature models that have bot been airbrushed or retouched in their advertisements. After launching this #AerieReal campaign in 2014, their sales grew by 20%. Consumers want more transparency and honesty in advertising, and they will reward companies that value that as well.

The more accustomed we are as a society to seeing images of unretouched, real women in the media, the more comfortable people will be posting their own unretouched social media photos. This can help the mental health crisis that many young girls and women face when comparing themselves to idealized images.