That's absolutely horrible.

I don't usually get upset about discussions about body image and the like - mainly because I haven't got the energy - but I felt a deep stab of revulsion as soon as I read about this. It's just horrible.

The fact that the girls look gorgeous as they are - far better than *after* they were "slimmed"... I mean, what are they trying to say? That you're physically deformed if you're a normal weight?

Yeah. The one girl...the one in the woods...she looks like a beautiful girl. Maybe not supermodel quality, but so what? Different people have different views of beauty. This "slim-down" feature is catering to one of those views...a view that's already increasingly becoming the norm...and it really does disgust me. Women (and men, let's be fair) are image conscious enough as it is. Why bombard them further? Why tailor-make this stuff so that they feel worse about themselves?

It's a fucking disgrace.

I like how in that video it only shows the subject being 'slimmed' when the reality is you will be squashing the whole picture (see the stills of the woman in the woods, you can see the background is changed).

Loads of women change their own pictures in Photoshop. Not that there's anything really wrong with that (especially if you were sending it to a dating agency and actually expected to get someone...:) but this HP thing is a lot worse, because it's a simple option on the camera that way too many people would be tempted to use, and it would automatically make them think about their weight.

They haven't used 'overweight' (whatever that is) people in these examples because by the time they've been slimmed down to what people might consider not overweight (i.e. thin), the picture would look so stupidly compressed. It's a REALLY stupid feature, but you just KNOW there are people who will see it and instantly think 'I want it'. In that sense, HP know what they're doing. They know they can tap into that weight-obsessed mentality.

The way I see it, if everyone was thin how crap would that be? (and yes, if everyone was obese, how crap would that be?) The fact that everyone is different suits me down to the ground. I pity anyone who puts themselves, or has put themself through hell to slim down just to conform. The way it happens in the music and fashion industry is quite sickening, and then young girls look at them and think they have to do the same (and indeed, if they want to be in the industry they are TOLD they have to do the same). I didn't mean to go on.

Loads of women change their own pictures in Photoshop. Not that there's anything really wrong with that (especially if you were sending it to a dating agency and actually expected to get someone...:) but this HP thing is a lot worse, because it's a simple option on the camera that way too many people would be tempted to use, and it would automatically make them think about their weight.

That's exactly right. If a woman (or man) decides to do this stuff on their own, independently, then that's their decision and one they're arriving at personally. But to put it right on the camera is to tell everyone they could be using this...and doubtlessly it's going to make a lot of people feel bad about themselves.

A trek through the Uncanny Valley, anyone ?