The French parliament's lower house adopted a groundbreaking bill in April that would make it illegal for fashion magazines, advertisers and websites to promote or publicly incite extreme thinness. The National Assembly approved the bill in a series of votes, after the legislation won unanimous support from the ruling conservative UMP party. Extreme thinness is often the result of anorexia and is often wrought with unhealthy consequences. It is still uncertain if this bill will actually become a law -- but if it does, it will be one of the strongest measures against the promotion of ultra-thinness.This bill to make the promotion of extreme thinness goes to the Senate in the coming weeks. If passed in the Senate, it would allow judges to punish offenders with a fine of as much as €45,000, or more than $70,000, and three years of imprisonment.
The bill mainly targets Internet sites that explicitly encourage anorexia, offering tips on food deprivation and tricks to get ultra skinny. However, the bill does not explain how it will determine who is responsible for pushing anorexia.
Does the fashion industry care about the health of models?
The fashion industry is opposed to the idea of legal boundaries on beauty standards but the death of a Brazilian model in 2006 prompted efforts in the international fashion industry to address the consequences of using extremely thin models.Should the promotion of thinness be punishable in court?
Conservative lawmaker Valery Boyer, the author of the bill, argued that encouraging anorexia or super thinness should be punishable in court. Further, medical and mental health professionals who treat patients with eating disorders applaud the government’s efforts but warned that, at best, the link between anorexia and media images is hazy.Even though the French Health Ministry says most of the 30,000 to 40,000 people in France with anorexia are women, Boyer's bill applies to both male and female models. Anorexia does not affect only female models or only females in general. And, as evidenced in a recent study in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, the drive for thinness by both men and women is significantly increased when they perceive their peers are dieting or also striving to be thin.
Applied to the fashion industry, this suggests a vicious cycle of dieting and going to extremes to be as thin as possible. The inherent dangers in eating disorders seem to be insignificant to having that ultra thin frame that is desired on the catwalk.
Dying to be thin
According to the National Eating Disorders Association, anorexia is one of the most common psychiatric diagnoses in young women and up to 20 percent of individuals struggling with anorexia nervosa will die.Anorexia has one of the highest death rates of any mental health condition – and thinness is encouraged in the fashion industry, some sports and dance -- not to mention everywhere in the mainstream media! It will be interesting to see if France is successful in passing this law and the effect it will have in fashion couture as well as other thin-promoting agencies.
For more information on the dangers of eating disorders, check out these links:
Orthorexia: Is your healthy eating hazardous to your health?
Eating disorders: The truth, reality and lies
