Even phone selfies accused of racial bias: Filters create feeling of 'ethnocentrism'

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Even phone selfies accused of racial bias: Filters create feeling of 'ethnocentrism'

CNN Chief Medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta cited a child psychologist arguing that phone "selfie" filters subtly alter the facial features of users so they appear less culturally diverse and more "Eurocentric." 

CNN Chief Medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta cited a child psychologist arguing that phone "selfie" filters subtly alter the facial features of users so they appear less culturally diverse and more "Eurocentric." 

The doctor told "CNN This Morning" hosts that he agreed with the assessment and believed such camera features may be promoting a sense of "ethnocentrism" that downplays the beauty of people from other cultures.

The Friday morning segment started with Gupta telling anchors Don Lemon and Kaitlan Collins about the psychological effects that filtered images and selfies on social media have on teenagers who are the largest demographic interacting with them online. 

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CNN's Sanjay Gupta explains how selfie filters give users a "Eurocentric" look. (Screenshot/CNN)

Speaking about the "selfie effect," which he cited from a Harvard study, Gupta claimed it is "this idea that we’re constantly looking it at these selfies of ourselves – people take a lot of selfies – and comparing them then to these really remarkable photoshopped filtered images that we see on social media quite a bit."

Explaining how it can affect people’s mental health, the medical correspondent said, "So there is this constant comparison that is happening between ourselves and between these, you know, basically unfathomable images, and it can lead to feelings, changes in the brain, people feeling inadequate, requiring more dopamine in order to get the same satisfaction from your own looks. It’s really interesting."

"We’re just so inundated with it," he added. 

Gupta then revealed a toxic racial element to the "selfie effect" that he covered in a recent episode of his podcast, "Chasing Life." The CNN segment cut to an audio clip of Gupta talking to a child psychologist, Professor Keneisha Sinclair-McBride, who spoke about selfies promoting a "Eurocentric" look.

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A group of people pose for an Instagram Selfie (iStock)

In the clip, she said, "A lot of the filters kind of have a very Eurocentric lens. So it would be great if they did not make people’s skin colors lighter or change the shape of their noses or change how big their eyes are, or do things that make them more towards a certain standard of beauty that may not be from the cultural background that they’re from, right?"

After airing the audio, Gupta told his hosts that Sinclair-McBride’s idea really resonated with him. He said, "That idea that these filters create this ethnocentrism, filters as a general rule will lighten the skin, will sort of change the dynamics of the face in a way to create this conformity, is what Professor Sinclair-McBride was saying."

He added, "I hadn’t really thought about it but as we looked at the filters, it’s true."

 "A lot of the filters kind of have a very Eurocentric lens," claimed Professor Keneisha Sinclair-McBride, a child psychologist. (iStock)

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Lemon noted that he has observed the same phenomenon. He exclaimed, "It is true, Sanjay! I’m so glad. I can’t wait to listen to this because I notice that these filters, I’m like, ‘Why are these sort of, European sort of projection of, you know, narrow nose or whatever, lighter eyes? That has always been frustrating for me."