How thin is too thin? As reported by the Los Angeles Times, France may soon decide just that. Judges would be asked to enforce new legislation aimed at websites and fashion advertising that they think encourage eating disorders (namely, anorexia). Whether or not this legislation will be instituted is up for a decision in coming weeks by the French Senate - it already passed the National Assembly last Tuesday. $47,000 fines and a 2-year prison term would be imposed on those who compromise health by encouraging girls through ads, products or diets to “excessive thinness.” The fine and prison sentencing would be greater if someone is put at risk of death or dies after following a restrictive eating regimen. Yikes!
The fashion media is reacting, of course. Michelle Fitoussi, French Elle columnist, said. “We have to be aware in all parts of society, not just in fashion, to stop girls from being on a very hard diet.” And French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier said in the newspaper Liberation, “You don’t solve that kind of problem with laws but with understanding.”
While I love fashion, it’s understandable that the French judicial system would want to prevent unhealthy body images. It’s estimated that as many as 40,000 people in France are anorexic. And in 2006 two models, one Uruguayan and one Brazilian, died after literally starving themselves to death. The same year, superskinny models were banned from Madrid’s week of designer runway shows. What do you girls think? Is the legislation silly, or worth it?
The fines seem a little steep, but it gets people’s attention, doesn’t it?