- Outlawing "Extreme Thinness"
- April 2008
The French Government are planning to outlaw “extreme thinness”
Western culture is often accused of bombarding and eventually indoctrinating women with unrealistic and dangerous images of beauty. Many of the ultra slim models have been accused of depicting images that are not only unhealthy but also impossible for normal women to attain. After many years, during which there has been no legislative action, the French government has decided to enter into the debate; their action may have far reaching consequences.
The lower house of the French Parliament has recently adopted a ground breaking bill. In the first instance, the bill is aimed at combating the proliferation of pro-anorexia websites. However, it will also affect any form of media e.g. magazines by making it illegal to publicly incite (publish images of) "extreme thinness.".
The bill received unanimous support in the National Assembly where it was passed, but is yet to pass through the Senate. Unsurprisingly, French couture are overtly resistant to legal restrictions and regulations on the current standards of beauty. Despite their differences, progress was made when the fashion industry signed up to the governments charter aimed at promoting a healthier body image. The desire to publicise healthier body images is widespread e.g. last year extremely thin models were banned from Spanish catwalks
The movement against extreme thinness became mainstream following the death of 21 year old Brazilian catwalk model Ana Carolina Reston who sadly died of anorexia in 2006. When she died Ana who was 5ft 8in weighed a minuscule 88 pounds.
If the law passes the Senate, anyone found guilty of promoting “excess thinness” could be fined up to £25,000 and could serve a two year prison term. A guilty verdict in a case were someone died could result in a £30,000 fine and 3 years in prison.
Dissenter Didier Grumbach, president of the French Federation of Couture strongly disagrees with the proposed bill, stating that a judge does not have the knowledge to determine if a young girl is just thin or too thin. There is also the added complication that it is very difficult, if not impossible to prove that an aspect of the media caused an individual to become anorexia or to develop an eating disorder.
Irrespective of the fact that i) this is all happening across the channel and ii) the law may not pass the Senate, the precedence will go far and wide. Could a similar law setting the legal standards of beauty, be introduced here in the UK, in Europe or in other counties across the world? What would be the result?
At best, young girls and women across the country would no longer feel the need to starve themselves in order to achieve the unhealthy images portrayed by models and the celebrity world. At worst, it could open the floodgates to a number of government led legislations e.g. the introduction of laws against the media portraying people who are obese, the banning smoking and drinking on television etc….
Noble intentions aside, careful consideration would be required when introducing the legislation and determining how it would be policed; the latter being particularly problematic given the global nature of the internet.
The French bill is certainly a fascinating turn of events, it is something that mybodybeautiful will be following closely with interest.