France to Ban Ultrathin Models in Advertisements
France is working to ban ultrathin models in advertisements. (Photo: Trunk Archive/Yasu & Junko)
Advertising with ultrathin models may soon become a punishable crime in France. As reported by the Associated Press on Monday, France’s health minister, Marisol Touraine, plans to support the country’s efforts to ban advertising agencies from using models who have an underweight BMI. Olivier Véran, a socialist policy maker, has proposed two amendments to the bill: 1) modeling agencies will be banned from working with girls who are at risk of health issues and 2) advertisements that glorify being ultrathin and websites that promote anorexic behavior will become criminal offenses. The offense would be punishable by up to one year in prison and 10,000 euros in fines.
"When you are a model, you must eat and take care of your health," Touraine told the press on Monday. “This is an important message to young girls, girls who see in these models an aesthetic ideal. This is a good way to proceed.” France is not the first country to have cracked down on the super skinny “ideal.” Spain and Israel have passed similar policies, but the influence and power of Paris as a fashion capital will hopefully provide the impetus for change in other countries, too.
The Spring 2009 Prada show caused controversy for having models with protruding ribs, but this was neither the first nor only show to have incited backlash against too-thin models. (Photo: Getty)
In 2007, Vogue and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) announced its health initiative to promote healthy body image, and 19 international editions of the June 2012 issue of Vogue dedicated their issues to health and wellness. Even before this initiative took over 19 countries, the British Fashion Council was conducting investigations of health and labor in the London modeling industry, which was published in September 2007 in the journal Fashioning a Healthy Future: The Model Health Inquiry. Recent studies by the British Fashion Council have shown that models are not only malnourished, but are also encouraged to starve themselves. The Model Health Inquiry also noted that over 25% of the models polled felt “very heavy” or “quite heavy” pressure to maintain an unhealthy weight, and that many of these models were from Eastern Europe and felt pressure to stay thin in order to support their families back home.
Models depend on their looks for a paycheck, and extreme expectations can lead to eating disorders or low self-esteem. These issues have become a controversial, career-killing topic that many models are afraid to speak out about for fear of being blacklisted from the industry. While a few model activists like Sara Ziff are fighting for models’ rights and welfare through organizations like the Model Alliance, the collective efforts of the French government may make greater strides than any individual or private corporation’s efforts could.
Update: As of Friday, April 3, France has pass the bill to ban work by any underweight model: “The activity of model is banned for any person whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is lower than levels proposed by health authorities and decreed by the ministers of health and labor." This bill requires models to have an authorized certificate for a healthy BMI (at least 18) in order to work. Convicted agencies that violate the legislation face up to six months imprisonment and a 75,000 Euro fine. This bill is paired with another bill that bans “thinspiration” from websites (a lofty goal considering how hard it is to regulate the internet). Convicted website owners face up to one year in prison and a 100,000 euro fine. As noted by Reuters, an estimated 30,000-40,000 people (many of them teenagers) in France suffer from anorexia. By starting with agencies (which exert influence over models) and websites (which exert influence over teenagers) the French government is hoping to change unhealthy ideals of beauty.
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Plus-Size Model Tess Holliday Encourages Women to #EffYourBeautyStandards
