France sets standard for body image

France, arguably the fashion center of the world, is currently confronting a heavily weighted topic: the glamorization of too-thin women. The French Parliament is considering a piece of legislation that would set minimum weight standards for models, namely women and girls.

This legislation is part of a comprehensive health law currently being debated in the National Assembly. Supporters of the bill say that this new law is “necessary to combat the persistence of anorexia, from which 30,000 to 40,000 people in France suffer.” This proposed bill would use body mass index standards created by the World Health Organization to determine whether a model is healthy enough to work. Businesses that hire models whose weights fall below the healthy standard would be fined about $83,000 and could serve up to six months in prison, a tactic all countries should adopt.

According to the WHO, women with BMIs of less than 18.5 are considered underweight. A body mass index less than 18.5, however, does not necessarily mean that someone has an eating disorder; though many people are considered underweight by health professionals, they maintain a healthy balance of diet and exercise. The National Union of Modeling Agencies in France issued a statement saying it was following a voluntary charter that “discourages the use of anorexic models” that was approved by the government in 2008. A similar piece of legislation that is before Parliament today failed to pass in 2008 because of heavy criticism from the fashion industry, and thus the charter between the government and the NUMA was created. While the NUMA does not support the bill because it claims, “appropriate minimum weight standards for models had yet to be determined,” the organization fails to take into account the overall problem that most models are underweight. In fact, many in the fashion industry note that several of the top models today would likely weigh less than the WHO’s healthy BMI of 18.5.

France and other countries need to pass such crucial legislation and create standards for the media in terms of women’s appearance. While famous international designers such as Karl Lagerfeld deny working with anorexic models, just glancing through photos from Paris’ Fashion Week reveals frail-looking women with sunken cheeks and hollow body frames. Countries must follow the lead of such nations such as Israel, which passed a landmark bill in 2012 that requires models to produce a recent medical report at every shoot within the country demonstrating that they meet the WHO’s BMI standards. In Israel, this groundbreaking piece of legislation is a step in the right direction. Though the effectiveness of this bill is unknown, it was created to help lower the rate of anorexia in the overall population, which occurs in about 2 percent of girls between 14 and 18.

According to critics, legislation that tells models how much they need to weigh only focuses on weight and not the overall health of the individual, noting that some models are naturally thin. Weight, however, often has a direct correlation to health, and many medical complications arise from eating disorders. The government must address this issue of underweight models, as the fashion industry has failed to do anything to combat the issue besides promise to use healthy models, though this is rarely enforced. Nevertheless, the health of models is hardly a new topic, as the death in 2010 of a French model fueled calls for steps to address anorexia. The model and actress Isabelle Caro weighed just 55 pounds at one point in her career.

In addition, the bill in Israel included a clause that speaks not only to the weight of models, but to the way women are portrayed in advertisements as well. Israel’s legislation noted that advertisements “published for the Israeli market must have a clearly written notice disclosing if its models were made to look thinner by digital manipulation.” A quick Google search regarding recent Photoshop controversies within the United States produces an absurdly large amount of results. For example, huge companies such as Ralph Lauren, Target and Calvin Klein underwent public scrutiny when it was discovered that male and female models’ bodies were digitally altered to make them appear thinner. Supporters of the Israeli bill noted that “unrealistic body images in the media are believed to shape eating habits, especially among young people,” and the United States is unfortunately no stranger to eating disorders. In fact, according to the Renfrew Center Foundation for Eating Disorders, up to 4.2 percent of women in the U.S. have suffered from anorexia in their lifetime.

The body type portrayed in media that is perpetuated by underweight models and Photoshop, namely that of a thin, tall woman, is possessed naturally by only 5 percent of American females. But because of the use of unhealthy models and digital alterations, 69 [percent] of girls in 5th-12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape. Moreover, about half of all girls in 5th-12th grade reported that they wanted to lose weight to look more like the models in magazine pictures.

While the legislation in France and Israel only mention the ban on underweight female models to reduce the rate of anorexia and other eating disorders, men are also affected. In fact, an estimated 10 to 15 percent of people who suffer from anorexia are male, yet men are often left out of the discussion of the way the media impacts one’s identity. Overall, France and other countries must pass legislation that bans the use of unhealthy and underweight models, while also limiting the use of digital alteration in advertisements and the media, as these have vast negative affects on women and men.