Since the attempted underwear bombing of an airplane there has been plenty of reporting regarding using full body scans at airports. These scans are meant to discover people hiding anything that could be used as a bomb or weapon. Fully clothed passengers are scanned and their fairly visible bodies are seen on a computer screen. Yes, our tummy rolls, love handles and butts of various sizes will all be displayed to the screener.
There is the possibility that this could deter terrorists with a poor self body image. The thought that even if they got past security, a near naked photo of their privates would be splashed on every television screen in the world could be too much even for a terrorist. Unless, of course Al Qaeda converts Paris Hilton.
Although, I really suspect this is all tied in to healthcare. As a nation, we hide lots of ‘extra’ stuff under our clothing, but at the same time we are quite vain. We might be more apt to eat better and exercise more if we feel that our clothing is no longer going to hide those extra pounds. Maybe we could even turn this into a reality show. Guess who looks really good in their clothes, but horrible in the scan? Or, we could just focus on celebrity scans, they travel a lot.
