Jameela Jamil’s mother models in anti-airbrushing photo shoot for dating app

'The body should be celebrated for its natural beauty, whatever its age or the scars it may carry'

Jameela Jamil’s mother stars in an anti-airbrushing photo shoot for an over 50s dating app following her daughter’s comments that she wants to ban Photoshop.

In December, the Good Place actor called airbrushing a “crime” against women and “anti-feminist”.

She later apologised to fans that might have felt pressured to be thin after seeing old airbrushed images of her in magazines.

“I was given a whiter face, a little English nose and perfect skinny thighs. It makes me feel gross,” she recently told Red magazine.

Now, her mother Shireen Jamil appears in untouched campaign images for dating app Lumen, which aims to “celebrate the beauty of growing older naturally”.

The 63-year-old is grateful to “empower others, especially women of a similar age, and victims of domestic abuse”.

The Londoner was a victim of domestic abuse and campaigned to have Shireen’s Law passed in 2015, which ended the previous six-month time limit on the reporting of domestic abuse.

Jamil admitted that the prospect of modelling for Lumen was “immensely challenging”, especially as she has not modelled for more than 40 years and has a number of scars from years of domestic abuse.

However, she hoped the photographs will “help to inspire confidence in other older people, of all genders, whose sense of self-worth has, for whatever reason, been dented”.

Shireen Jamil models for anti-airbrushing photo shoot for dating app Lumen (Courtesy of Lumen)

“I believe in ageing gracefully rather than trying to hold back time,” she added.

“In the words of Keats, ‘a thing of beauty is a joy forever, its loveliness increases’.”

Earlier this month, Jameela Jamil spoke about the dangers of promoting unrealistic body ideals after sharing pictures of a recent Avon campaign on Twitter, which she criticised for shaming women over cellulite.

The campaign was for a new line of lotions, which promised to “reduce cellulite, firm skin, and soften stretch marks” because, as Avon stated, “dimples are cute on your face (not on your thighs)”.

In response, the broadcaster-turned-actor wrote on Twitter: “And yet EVERYONE has dimples on their thighs, I do, you do, and the clowns at Avon certainly do.

“Stop shaming women about age, gravity and cellulite. They’re inevitable, completely normal things.

“To make us fear them and try to ‘fix’ them, is to literally set us up for failure.”

Avon has since responded publicly to the actor, and announced it would be removing the ad’s message from all future marketing materials.

Speaking of her daughter’s ongoing efforts to speak out against airbrushing and champion beauty in all its forms, Shireen Jamil says: “’I’m immensely proud of my daughter’s achievements and her campaigning to ban Photoshop and embrace one’s true self by pushing back on ageism and sexism.

“The body should be celebrated for its natural beauty, whatever its age the scars it may carry.”