In an effort to shun eating disorders, especially among young women, French government officials recently passed a law requiring all photos that have been retouched or altered in any way be labeled as such. The law will go into effect October 1st, where the label “photographie retouchée”, meaning “retouched photograph” must be on all photos that have been retouched or manipulated. In addition, another law went into effect immediately that requires working models over the age of 16 to have a current medical certificate that states they are in good health.
The recent actions come as a response to the increasing trend among young women, who aspire to look a certain way as they struggle with self-esteem, opening the door for anorexia, depression and other health ailments to set in. “Exposing young people to normative and unrealistic bodies leads to sense of self-depreciation and poor self-esteem that can impact health-related behavior,” expressed France’s Minister of Social Affairs and Health in a statement on the new law. “The two texts published today in the Journal Officiel aim to act on body image in society, so as to avoid the promotion of beauty ideals that are inaccessible and to prevent anorexia in young people.”
This crucial law has finally gone into effect after the issue of unrealistic beauty images came to surface amongst lawmakers eight years ago.
Do you think this law is effective? Is it one that you think other countries should implement?
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