The Good Place star Jameela Jamil has blasted the use of airbrushing in the publishing and beauty industries, labelling it a “disgusting tool” that should be banned.
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The actor, who has been a leading voice for body positivity and acceptance, has in the past called out celebrities for promoting “nonsense ‘detox’ teas” and appetite suppressant products.
Now as one of this year’s BBC 100 Women, Jamil has penned an op-ed explaining how harmful digital editing can be – especially on the mental health of young women.
“I would like to put airbrushing in the bin. I want it gone. I want it out of here,” she writes.
“I think it’s a disgusting tool that has been weaponised, predominantly against women, and is responsible for so many more problems than we realise because we are blinded by the media, our culture and our society.”
I suffered from eating disorders as a teenager and so I know how damaging ‘perfect’ images in magazines can be.
https://twitter.com/jameelajamil/status/1069341788815704066
The actor goes on to discuss how unethical the practice of digital editing is – “it’s a lie to the consumer” – and harmful to the young girls and women looking at the pictures being sold to them. It has the power to make the consumer draw toxic comparisons – “It’s a message from the editor to me that I am not good enough as I am.”
In comparison, Jamil writes that “we shoot men in high definition on magazine covers. But for them, the inevitable lines of age are a sign of distinction and rugged attractiveness.”
https://twitter.com/jameelajamil/status/1069340917398716416
In another tweet, the actor shared she wasn’t banning Photoshop on herself to be “some sort of martyr for women”.
“I’m doing it for MY mental health, so I don’t set myself up for a fall when I look in the mirror.”
https://twitter.com/jameelajamil/status/1069345823589363712
Jamil is the creator of Instagram account @i_weigh, a platform dedicated to looking “beyond the flesh on our bones.”
Upon celebrating over 200,000 followers, Jamil wrote “Tag each other and help us get so loud that the media has no CHOICE but to listen to us, to stop erasing us, and to stop shaming us out of our right to self love.”
You can read her full BBC op-ed, HERE.
