French politicians are taking on media images and hoping to mandate “warning labels” similar to those of cigarette packages, the UK’s Telegraph reports.

This is a particularly interesting idea to me since I am embarking on a large research project about the power of media images of the body and current trends in image manipulation. Personally, I LOVED to see this more “average” sized woman (Lizzi Miller) in the pages of Glamour magazine’s September issue. Many others did as well, apparently, as shown by the 1044 comments on editor-in-chief Cindi Leive’s blog post about the photo.

Check out Miller herself (along with Matt Lauer talking about “tummies” here)

(Size 12-14 Lizzi Miller from glamour.com)

But photos of women this size are few and far between in the media, particularly in fashion and beauty magazines, who more typically use models that look more like this:

(photo from The Sydney Morning Herald)

As much as this debate seems to be raging in America, it is an even more heated across the pond. If you’re interested in learning about the model size debate on the catwalk, check out this recent news story.

Many fashion designers and fashion media leaders claim that using thin models and airbrushing photos creates an aspirational concept for readers to strive towards. Plus, it’s art, they say. But psychologists and mental health experts counter that these images may influence young girls to believe that being thin is the only way they will be pretty and accepted.

• How do you feel about warning labels on all retouched images in the media?
• Is it unfair to require what photographers consider their art to be riddled with labels about the behind-the-scenes technology to create the photo?
• Is a picture powerful enough to influence readers and their actions?

I’d love to hear your input!