France could potentially have a new law that would exclude ultra-thin models from the modeling industry.
Under a new law passed by the lower house of France’s Parliament Friday, April 4, models would be required to deliver bills of health that include their body mass index before they could be hired for a modeling job, People Style Watch reported. These models would have to maintain the weight for a few weeks and if casting directors hire underweight models they could be fined 75,000 euros, about $82,000, or imprisoned for up to six months.
President Francois Hollande’s government has included this law as part of its campaign against anorexia. The law would also include other measures to stop the spread of the eating disorder. Websites that promote anorexia could be punished with up to a year in prison and fined up to 100,000 euros. In addition, mandatory labeling would be required on all advertisements that use Photoshop to make models look thinner and failure to do so would result in a fine of 37,500 euros.
The New York Times reported that the lawmaker behind the bill said that models would have to have a BMI of at least 18, which is 121 pounds for a height of 5.7 feet.
The upper house of Parliament will vote on April 14 for final approval of the law. France’s stance against ultra-thin models could influence other countries given that Paris is one of the most important fashion capitals in the world.
While the French government has the right intentions, some have spoken against the passing of the law. In an open letter to the President of France posted on Huff Post Women, health and sexuality writer, radio personality and activist August McLaughlin revealed her personal struggle with anorexia and appreciation towards France for caring about eating disorders. However, she is concerned about the way France has chosen to determine models’ health.
“BMI is sadly inaccurate as a measure of health for many people, and I imagine many models will find ways to falsify their results,” McLaughlin said. “Many women with eating disorders, including models, partake in dangerous tactics to maintain a slimmer physique — yet aren’t underweight by BMI standards.”
An influential fashion journalist, Vanessa Friedman, Fashion Director and Chief Fashion Critic at The New York Times, also finds issues with the potential law. In her New York Times article posted online, she questions if the law will fulfill it’s purpose.
“Leaving aside the issue of the body mass index, and whether a single number can determine health in a wide variety of women and body types, it’s the assumption, widely articulated in the coverage of the proposed law, that fashion models promote excessive thinness in the general population, that seems to me a flawed premise,” Friedman said.
She counters that celebrities are more influential in terms of appearance, so it is possible that the law will not change the amount of eating disorders reported.
So what’s the verdict?
Well, while France is right to want to decrease the amount of people who suffer and die from anorexia, this is not the best way to accomplish this goal. The parts of the law that ban websites that promote anorexia and require the labeling of ads that use Photoshop are fine. The main issue is the use of BMI to determine if a model is healthy. Also, the law only requires that the model maintains the weight for a few weeks, again, not really ensuring that the model is actually healthy.
A better option would be to require modeling agencies to make their models have routine health check-ups, not just to ensure the model stays healthy, but to also help models that are dealing with the industry pressure that enforces the idea that only skinny women are beautiful. The fashion industry as a whole should promote the message that all women of all sizes are beautiful, and fashion designers should work harder to cast a wide-range of body types to model their clothing.
Image from: http://www.mapsofworld.com/flags/france-flag.html.