ABOUT D@%N TIME

A friend's beautiful child went through this, it nearly killed her. I also took care of a 30 year old at the nursing home who died due to anorexia. She had suffered with it for half her life. I applaud France and any other country that addresses this issue.

http://i.imgur.com/IFDSUGR.png

Thanks Patty.

I've seen it, and it ain't pretty.

While I agree that anorexia is a bad thing and skinny, animated clothes racks don't do a thing for me, y'all are missing the major trouble spot here.

Some politicians just passed a law about what people should look like! It's one thing if you're mentally ill quite another if you want to be thin.

No, a thousand time NO!

@ Expat, Well Said!

I think that the problem is really too complex to use the flip explanation that these models influence the mental image of young girls to lead them to literally starving themselves to death and the efforts of politicians to influence an industry.

What will be the reaction if the pendulum swings to the other extreme and models with robust rounded bodies are then blamed for young girls gaining weight to the point of obesity? We already see claims that a majority of humans in the industrialized countries are overweight and that this must change.

People come in all shapes and sizes and you cannot force them into an ideal mold of one size fits all.

No Expat, they passed a law that says you must meet a standard to work in a particular job. Its already done by businesses, try to get a job as a flight attendant or model if you are overweight. So fat girls need not apply but thin girls can have the job if they emaciate themselves, in modeling. It is exploitation and if the requirement was to smoke to be a model people would lose their minds. Somehow we have come to the pointy where 20 extra pounds is morbidly obese and young girls starving themselves to death is acceptable. After all, you can never be too rich or too thin right? (Also, they are already fixing their sights on fat people like they did on smokers.)

I see Expat's POV, and KDP is right, that one size does not fit all. However, France has done the right thing, IMO.

What might be easier to enforce and less controversial might be to tread, hard, on photoshopping.

I was never one for the twiggy look. Why one would starve themselves to look like they come from a place where people die of starvation from lack of food is beyond me. I always liked ladies with a bit of extra flesh to hold onto. Firm and a bit plumpish. Always went for what is in the head and the heart. As Dad said, try all the shapes, sizes, colors and flavors so the final choice is the right one.

In line with your sentiment Patty, the vast majority of fashion models already do use drugs to make themselves as thin as they generally need to be to get modeling gigs. Runway models in particular have for decades been abusing both pharmaceutical and illegal drugs to achieve their results. Prescription diuretics (typically without a valid prescription because it's hard to find a doctor who will write the script) to dehydrate, laxatives to bypass absorption of nutrients, stimulants (particularly amphetamines, either prescription or crystal meth) to increase metabolism and suppress appetite, opiates (heroin use is so common in many modeling circles that some models openly use) to suppress appetite, cigarettes (to satisfy oral cravings and suppress appetite), not to mention the bizarre relationship most have with food (anorexia and bulimia are essentially standard in the industry), and then Botox and surgery.

The ironic thing is that I think Expat may have a point. Legislation is not likely to change the problems. The prevalence of illegal drugs is strong testament to the fact that laws are not the best approach here. Culture is the problem and must be part of the solution.

And a nod to Phideaux: Eating disorders are becoming much more common in men, and steroid use in adolescent boys and young men is reaching epidemic levels.

Body dysmorphia is on the rise in both sexes and all around the globe.

I want some "pushin' cushion" .. I don't want to feel the carpet on the floor even if it is shaved off above.

I've always suspected that anorexic models are used to make heroin and cocaine addicts appear fashionable, acceptable, and employable. A second possible justification for the cult of thin is low female wages: it makes starving one's employees and unrealistic dress codes appear respectable.
Applause for Patty and for la belle France.

Thanks Angie!