Apr 15, 2008 09:23 AM
Devorah Lauter
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PARIS – French lawmakers have adopted a groundbreaking bill that would make it illegal for anyone – including fashion magazines, advertisers and websites – to promote extreme thinness.

Under the proposed law, judges would have the power to imprison and fine offenders up to $47,000 if found guilty of inciting others to deprive themselves of food to an "excessive" degree.

The National Assembly approved the bill in a series of votes Tuesday. It goes to the Senate in the coming weeks.

The bill is the latest and strongest of measures proposed after the 2006 anorexia-linked death of a Brazilian model prompted efforts throughout the international fashion industry to address the repercussions of using ultra-thin models.

French lawmakers and fashion industry members signed a nonbinding charter last week on promoting healthier body images. Spain in 2007 banned ultra-thin models from catwalks.

But Conservative Valery Boyer says such measures did not go far enough.

Her bill has mainly brought focus to pro-anorexic websites that give advice on how to eat an apple a day – and nothing else.

But Boyer insisted in her speech to lawmakers Tuesday that the legislation was much broader and could, in theory, be used against many facets of the fashion industry.

Judges could also sanction those responsible for a magazine photo of a model whose "excessive thinness ... altered her health," she said.

Boyer said she was focusing on women's health, though the bill applies to models of both sexes. The French Health Ministry says most of the 30,000 to 40,000 people with anorexia in France are women.

Didier Grumbach, president of the influential French Federation of Couture, said he was not aware how broad the proposed legislation was, and made no secret of his strong disapproval of such a sweeping measure.

"Never will we accept in our profession that a judge decides if a young girl is skinny or not skinny," he said. "That doesn't exist in the world, and it will certainly not exist in France."

Marleen S. Williams, a psychology professor at Brigham Young University in Utah who researches the media's effect on anorexic women, said it was nearly impossible to prove that the media causes eating disorders.

Williams said studies show fewer eating disorders in "cultures that value full-bodied women." Yet with the new French legal initiative, she fears, "you're putting your finger in one hole in the dike, but there are other holes, and it's much more complex than that."

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Associated Press writer Emmanuel Georges-Picot in Paris contributed to this report.

08:44ET 15-04-08

http://www.thestar.com/Ne...cle/414632

i can definitely see the good as much as the bad in all of this...
tricky.

On the whole this has to be a good thing.

Hmm

This is insane.


Some women are just very very thin.


What they need to do is promote diversity in fashion.



I for once would love to see a butch, muscular daddy bear type rocking Versace down the runway--but ban the skinny twinky models too? That's not the way to do it.

Imago said:

that's the bad thing i can see in it all
i have friends that are just naturally skinny (and almost look ill, but eat more than i do)

its a step, but not completely in the right direction, diversity i think is where it's at..

sammij said:

yup!

For once, why can't women walkin down the catwalk have ass for days and tits that actually bounce!

Or men bulge with muscles and actuall have 'HAIR' on their bodies?


But the idea that you would ban folks that are just naturally skinny is crazy. Some outfits look better on skinny folks. Some look better on curvy folks.

diversity is what the fashion industry is lacking.

Imago said:

in a huge way and with a quickness

Imago said:

i guess then the right idea would be to ban shows or fashion events that *only* display thin women?
it sucks to even suggest it - but implementing a quota of sorts?
that's probably the wrong idea sent out again... but all i can say is i'm glad somewhere in the world is publicizing their concern... i just don't think the action was well meditated.

Speaking of anorexic. wtf happened to Jenna Jameson?





[Edited 4/15/08 20:56pm]

Damn

Imago said:

Edit:

I realised this is all a waste of time. I don't give a shit about the fashion industry or its models, only that young girls don't keep getting screwed up images forced upon them at every turn that can ultimately end up damaging their health. Ban all models.

.
[Edited 4/15/08 21:03pm]

couldn't they just have doctors scrutinizing the health of models similar to the way athletes get their health monitored?

Anxiety said:

That's a decent idea.

foxyflawedhands said:

he's onto something.

sammij said:

Yeah that makes more sense

Ocean said:

Drug tests, physicals and free anger management.

foxyflawedhands said:

The fashion industry is extremely influential in the way women view their own bodies and what they chose to do with this, I totally agree.

I mean, when you have renowned feminists who die after complications from plastic surgery, it's pretty clear just how powerful self-esteem issues can be and how the industry exasterbates that.


Models are too skinny, too young, and too 'perfect'--no doubt.

But banning them is insane in my eyes when you can just promote more diversity on the runway.

And it's far more pervasive than the fashion industry. Turn on CNN, FOX or MSNBC and try to find a female anchor that looks like Michael Jackon's last wife, and you will not find one. not one.

And then, even though T.V. shows are getting a bit better at it, why is it that the good looking ones get to be the good guys, and the ugly ones always have sick, twisted, evil souls?

Imago said:

Nah, that's just the actors themselves betraying how bitter they are that they're ugly and not getting the best roles.

Imago said:

simply put: we've got a lot of work to do.

sammij said:

Yes!


There's a reason why JustErin is always drunk and lonely. She thinks she HAS to pursue Paul Walker only, when there are a legion of eligible roodbois out there.

Imago said:

yeah, but everyone knows that the villain roles are more fun to play than the hero roles.

Anxiety said:

If you don't get to make out with Angelina Jolie or Will Smith in the movie, then it ain't no fun---and the villains NEVER get ass.

Imago said:

First off, I am not always drunk and lonely and second can someone please tell me what the fuck happened to Jenna Jameson?

Anxiety said:

What I want to know is, in those teen girl movies, say where a commoner falls in love with a Prince and has to go through all these culture shocks and resistance from certain corners, why is it that there's always the evil, scheming girl, probably an aristocrat who wants the Prince for herself and you'd know she was the evil scheming one even with the sound off and only looking at her face? It's not the clothes, the speech, make-up or even expression. A freeze frame of her smiling normally would still betray that she's the evil, scheming bitch. Do they cast for it, an evil scheming bitch face???

foxyflawedhands said:

believe me, bitch face is a rare talent.

Anxiety said:

Anxiety said:

I wonder how they feel about it, when they're alone, looking in the mirror. I mean, people saying 'yeah, you couldn't really do the nice girl heroine, but you'd be perfect for bitchy cheerleader or scheming uncle's bratty daughter'. I mean, it's as good as saying 'you basically look evil. It'll be easy for people to hate you'.

.
[Edited 4/15/08 21:35pm]

Silly, and as Imago said, insane.

First, I'm not sure how they plan to enforce this. The possible applications for this law seem extremely broad and vague: what about films, music vidoes, TV ads, online user-generated content, ballet, women's gymnastics, the list goes on. If you look, you can find skinny girls everywhere. Maybe I should stop walking around central Moscow's fashionable neighborhoods, because given that 99.9% of girls there are super thin - you know, just in case I get the wrong message and start cutting down on my food.
This is going down the path towards more bans in our lives.

You don't teach responsibility by banning things. You acquire it by learning how to see and cope with the good&bad stuff in your life/surroundings, and developing your own standards, and eventually personality/identity - regardless of what goes on outside.

Such a ban is patronizing, as it regards people as kids, who can't [and maybe shouldn't? - keep them unempowered] make their own decisions, take responsibilty for their life.

Plus, what about freedom of expression for these media and fashion professionals? Editors and artists in the fashion industry and elsewhere can't be made responsible for people's dietary behavior and choices.

You can't make people/others responsible for your own actions and reactions.
If my boyfriend tells me he wants to break up, and I can't take it/cope with it and decide to jump out of the window and kill myself - can I really blame my boyfriend for my own exaggerated reaction?

This law is not going to solve the problem of anorexia. The key is to teach kids/people to develop strong enough personalities so as not to be influenced by the fads and trends around us - but rather, develop our own viewpoint.