By Rebecca Hains; cross-posted with permission

Yesterday, I spoke with CBC Radio about the Brave Girls Alliance’s #TruthInAds campaign, explaining why we’re asking advertisers to stop deceptively Photoshopping people’s bodies. The body alterations that are now routine in ads are contributing to a public health crisis—one disproportionately affecting children, teen girls, and women.

I also shared some advice from my book, The Princess Problem, for parents who are concerned about the body images their children are exposed to.

You can listen to our segment, “Ditching Photoshop,” here:

(Note: the interview begins at the 4:55 mark and may take a few seconds to load.)

The good news, is that one retailer, ModCloth, has agreed to take the #TruthInAds pledge, receiving widespread praise from media outlets such as Time and Today—setting a precedent we hope other advertisers like Dove will follow.

But because not all advertisers are willing to discontinue this practice, the Brave Girls Alliance also wants the FTC to develop a regulatory framework prohibiting advertisers from materially altering people’s bodies. We’ve made this request via the bi-partisan Truth in Advertising Act (TIAA), which we introduced in the U.S. Congress in 2014. Here are some examples of what we mean by “material alterations”:

Do you care about this issue and girls, too? You can support the #TruthInAds campaign in three ways:

1. Sign our petition asking the FTC to act on H.R. 4341
2. Sign our petition asking Dove to also sign the Truth In Advertising Heroes Pledge.
3. Share images and message from our Campaign Toolkit on your social media accounts.

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Rebecca Hains is a media studies professor at Salem State University. Her book, The Princess Problem: Guiding Our Girls Through the Princess-Obsessed Years, is now available from Amazon and other retailers.

Rebecca is on Facebook and Twitter. If you enjoyed this post, you may follow Rebecca’s blog by hitting the “follow blog” button at rebeccahains.com/blog.