Save the models!
Okay, so the title is a lot of sarcasm, but I think it’s a great fit for this article:French Lawmakers Target Promotion of Extreme Thinness
While I am definitely all-for this law… this one part pissed me off:
Okay, I think that only a minority of individuals would claim that the media causes eating disorders. The biopsychosocial model has been around for quite awhile now.
I think that many people will agree that the media does influence eating disorders. Personally, I think that emaciated models / actresses are the problem… I don’t think that even eating disorder education is helpful. Not many people out there are pro-ignorance (it just sounds bad), but from my perspective, attention is attention. Positive or negative, you’re still giving people ideas. You’re making it more familiar, more acceptable. I’m all for mental-health parity and de-stigmatization… but not for making the disorder more casual.
Anyway, beyond the “media doesn’t cause eating disorders” bit, this quote still pisses me off because the law servers another purpose — saving models! By passing this law, you could potentially be putting a lot of girls’ careers in jeopardy. Get some help and gain a little weight, and you can keep modeling!
I do think that there should be set-in-stone criteria… not just some “you look to thin, you’re out” ruling from a judge. People with eating disorders need boundaries. REAL boundaries… otherwise there’s going to be a lot of “well she’s ALMOST healthy enough” and “well all of her labs are normal, her weight is not indicative of her health.” All of which is bullshit. In the models’ defense… I think that the BMI cutoff should be a little more lenient. Maybe they can be allowed to be a little underweight. I don’t think that’s unreasonable, because some people do just fall below the normal chart…
But I will be VERY excited to see semi-healthy models. I just think it’ll be interesting. And I actually think that it will bring MORE business to the modeling industry, because other people will be curious, too. (And people may actually look at the clothing — not just gawk at how thin the models are).
models, anorexia, bulimia, french model law, emaciated models, anorexic models
[...] Kent, L., Emerton, J., Bhadravathi, V., Weisblatt, E., Pasco, G., Willatt, L. R, McMahon, R., Yates,…Really interesting read I found today:I don’t think that even eating disorder education is helpful. Not many people out there are pro-ignorance (it just sounds bad), but from my perspective, attention is attention. Positive or negative, you’re still giving people ideas. … [...]
Hey girl, I love your blog and I like your thinking. I agree that it will be interesting to see what happens next with the fashion industry now that France has decided to step into the ring as (gasp!) the voice of reason. AT LAST. You’re also right about the fact that there needs to be a little bit of leniency around the BMI, but unless EVERYONE participates in the new healthy regime, won’t models be hovering just at that line in fear for their jobs? A lot of them are already going to crazy extremes to stay thin, and keeping within a few lbs of their healthy cutoff point will still spell anorexia for many, I’m sure. Meh.