The uproar over the released of the unretouched photos taken for fashion line Versace's latest campaign featuring Lady Gaga has increased scrutiny in publications who airbrushed photos of celebrities and models to somewhat unreal perfection. Enter the proposed bill by Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and California Congresswoman Lois Capps, of which the aim of the legislation is to remove unrealistic ads in the US. Yahoo! Shine said the federal bill, "Truth in Advertising Act of 2014," was actually the brainchild of a female-empowerment website founder and father-of-two Seth Matlins.
Matlins of the website Feel More Better, was reportedly inspired to lobby the proposed bill when British Parliament member Jo Swinson was able to successfully push to remove the airbrushed acs in the UK in 2011. Although the goals are socio-political in nature, the real reason for lobbying such bill is more personal.
Should the bill get passed, the bill hopes to urge federal agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to conduct a probe on how altered images impact young girls in particular and in the process, create a set of recommendations for advertisers to operate with a social consious.
Matlins told Yahoo! Shine, "To be clear, we aren't trying to ban airbrushing in general We're trying to generate a conversation - currently, 53 percent of girls are unhappy with their bodies and by the time they're 17, that number rises to 78 percent. By age 25, 91 percent of women are dissatisfied. That's a public health crisis, because while we know that some eating disorders have biological roots, the media is also a factor."
Yahoo! Shine said that the proposed bill does not address other aspects of airbrushing like making a sky bluer to smooth out clothing wrinkles or magazine covers, as they are currented protected under the First Amendment. Nonetheless, Matlins is positive that the bill would be the first of many to address anorexia, a worldwide health epidemic that has already affected girls as young as 8 year-olds.
