The Press Release Resource

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In August, the Liberal Democrats political party announced their new campaign to stop the airbrushing of models in publications aimed at teenagers under sixteen. This has been done in a bid to reduce the pressure put on teens to reach unrealistic forms of beauty.

Millions of teenagers, both male and female, suffer from eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Some people put this down to the influence that media images from magazines, film and TV and advertisements have on young people. For example, teenage girls see super-thin catwalk models and believe this is how they should look if they want to be accepted by others.

The Liberal Democrats are trying to prevent young people heading in this direction with their campaign to ban photo editing. One spokesperson for the party, Jo Swinson, explains.

“Today’s unrealistic idea of what is beautiful means that young girls are under more pressure now than they were even five years ago,” Jo says. “Airbrushing means that adverts contain completely unattainable images that no one can live up to in real life.”

The Lib Dems are also hoping to improve health and physical education in schools, directing children and teenagers towards a healthier lifestyle. They would also like to see changes in rules concerning photo retouching in advertisements aimed at adults as well.

However, comments on a recent article on The Times newspaper website show that people are doubtful of how successful the campaign will be. This opinion was especially true of people who suffer or have suffered from eating disorders.

It is horrible to think of how many people are affected by anorexia and bulimia, especially girls who are so desperate to look like catwalk models. The modelling industry is becoming much more inclusive and it’s not necessary to be stick-thin to find work, especially in the commercial sector.