French MPs back ban on skinny catwalk models

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

French MPs back ban on skinny catwalk models

French MPs have approved a law to ban the use of fashion models deemed to be excessively thin.

Under the law, models will have to show they have a Body Mass Index (BMI) above a certain level.

Modelling agents that break the rules face fines and six months in jail.

The lower house of parliament also passed a separate measure making it illegal to condone anorexia, a move targeting internet sites that encourage dangerous weight loss.

Up to an estimated 40,000 people suffer from anorexia in France, nine out of 10 of them women and girls.

Unnatural thinness

The new law on fashion models, part of a wider Health Bill, won a majority vote in the National Assembly lower house of parliament on Friday and must now be approved by the Senate.

"Anyone whose body mass index... is below a certain level will not be able to work as a catwalk model," it said.

The move would allow agencies to be "severely punished" if they forced models to undergo excessive weight loss, endangering their health, Olivier Veran, the Socialist MP who proposed the bill, told French news channel BFMTV.

He has said there would be regular checks to enforce the rule.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32174364

Edited April 6, 2015 by Penguin_ie

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

I don't know who told these girls to starve themselves, but it's unhealthy when I can see your heart beating. Just saying...

[Teddy B 17,251]

Hey Marv, it just hit 60 degrees here yesterday for the first time this year. Aren't you kickin yourself for not movin here?

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Hey Marv, it just hit 60 degrees here yesterday for the first time this year. Aren't you kickin yourself for not movin here?

Oh yes T. Every time I get up and run along the beach watching the waves come in and out I say to myself, "self, I should have moved to RI!"

[Teddy B 17,251]

Oh yes T. Every time I get up and run along the beach watching the waves come in and out I say to myself, "self, I should have moved to RI!"

To steal a line from an old retired dude I know: If you had chosen RI over HI, I would've had to cut you.

[Merrytooth 5,748]

Oh yes T. Every time I get up and run along the beach watching the waves come in and out I say to myself, "self, I should have moved to RI!"

Are you going to take part in Kona IRONMAN race?

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

To steal a line from an old retired dude I know: If you had chosen RI over HI, I would've had to cut you.

Are you going to take part in Kona IRONMAN race?

Heck no! Maybe if I train up to it. I'm just at 4 miles a day right now. The weather makes it easier, but I still have to crawl before I can walk...

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

I don't know who told these girls to starve themselves, but it's unhealthy when I can see your heart beating. Just saying...

Gotta say, it's not default unhealthy when people can see your heart beating. I'm a size 4-6 depending on the cut, up from a size 0-2 two years ago (when I had a dog and was getting enough exercise--I'll probably be back down to a 0-2 once I move to the US and am walking a dog again). I eat like a horse. I seriously eat about double what my wife does. I work in a kitchen and eat a tonne.

You can see my heart beat through my chest, even through a loose shirt. It's just the shape I am. I'm not saying that starving yourself isn't bad--it's really messed up that the fashion industry has created a need for people to do that through insisting that all models have to be the same shape and size--but it's also worth keeping in mind that not every skinny person is unhealthy. At peak condition, I'm a size 0-2. When I'm out of shape, I'm a 4-6. If you think skinny's automatically unhealthy, you should have seen me when I was training for nordic skiing with my high school varsity team--I couldn't find pants that would stay up, but I was in the best shape of my LIFE.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Gotta say, it's not default unhealthy when people can see your heart beating. I'm a size 4-6 depending on the cut, up from a size 0-2 two years ago (when I had a dog and was getting enough exercise--I'll probably be back down to a 0-2 once I move to the US and am walking a dog again). I eat like a horse. I seriously eat about double what my wife does. I work in a kitchen and eat a tonne.

You can see my heart beat through my chest, even through a loose shirt. It's just the shape I am. I'm not saying that starving yourself isn't bad--it's really messed up that the fashion industry has created a need for people to do that through insisting that all models have to be the same shape and size--but it's also worth keeping in mind that not every skinny person is unhealthy. At peak condition, I'm a size 0-2. When I'm out of shape, I'm a 4-6. If you think skinny's automatically unhealthy, you should have seen me when I was training for nordic skiing with my high school varsity team--I couldn't find pants that would stay up, but I was in the best shape of my LIFE.

Sorry about that NAT, I mean those people who starve themselves to fit that appearance. If you're naturally small, my comment wasn't aimed at you.

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

Gotta say, it's not default unhealthy when people can see your heart beating. I'm a size 4-6 depending on the cut, up from a size 0-2 two years ago (when I had a dog and was getting enough exercise--I'll probably be back down to a 0-2 once I move to the US and am walking a dog again). I eat like a horse. I seriously eat about double what my wife does. I work in a kitchen and eat a tonne.

You can see my heart beat through my chest, even through a loose shirt. It's just the shape I am. I'm not saying that starving yourself isn't bad--it's really messed up that the fashion industry has created a need for people to do that through insisting that all models have to be the same shape and size--but it's also worth keeping in mind that not every skinny person is unhealthy. At peak condition, I'm a size 0-2. When I'm out of shape, I'm a 4-6. If you think skinny's automatically unhealthy, you should have seen me when I was training for nordic skiing with my high school varsity team--I couldn't find pants that would stay up, but I was in the best shape of my LIFE.

I was going to post that while working to reduce anorexia is absolutely a noble sentiment, that BMI is kind of a cruddy tool to determine who is healthy and who isn't. My mom's like you -- she's absolutely tiny, always has been. But she has been healthier at size 0-2 than when she was a 4-6, when we were kids and she had less time to take great care of herself. On the other hand, when I'm a size 6 I feel and look much better than when I'm smaller than that. Weight and BMI isn't the be-all/end-all for healthiness.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

I was going to post that while working to reduce anorexia is absolutely a noble sentiment, that BMI is kind of a cruddy tool to determine who is healthy and who isn't. My mom's like you -- she's absolutely tiny, always has been. But she has been healthier at size 0-2 than when she was a 4-6, when we were kids and she had less time to take great care of herself. On the other hand, when I'm a size 6 I feel and look much better than when I'm smaller than that. Weight and BMI isn't the be-all/end-all for healthiness.

I second that motion. Seen more than a few careers ruined in the military due to BMI measurements. By their account, most folks serving are overweight, even if you're muscular.

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

I was going to post that while working to reduce anorexia is absolutely a noble sentiment, that BMI is kind of a cruddy tool to determine who is healthy and who isn't. My mom's like you -- she's absolutely tiny, always has been. But she has been healthier at size 0-2 than when she was a 4-6, when we were kids and she had less time to take great care of herself. On the other hand, when I'm a size 6 I feel and look much better than when I'm smaller than that. Weight and BMI isn't the be-all/end-all for healthiness.

Exactly. There are so many things to take into account and honestly BMI is one of the cruddiest measures of health. Everyone has a metabolic rate that's their own and will, at ideal fitness, be a different size and shape. I happen to be incredibly twiggy. My younger sister, however, was a size 6-8 by the time she was thirteen--while playing soccer, being on a swim team and competing at figure skating. She was probably closer to a 8-10 by the time her high school rugby team dominated in the regionals. Girl bulks up, like most of my family. I'm the genetic fluke.

Health should be based on the capabilities of the models. Can they walk and run easily without getting winded? For models who can't walk, modify that--can they propel their wheelchairs if they're capable, for example? Let's see campaigns for healthy models, not ones for models of a specific size. Let's see a campaign for models to pass a fitness test of some kind--with the ability to bow out for documented health issues that preclude exercise or that would inhibit their movement--rather than saying 'you must be this big or bigger to play.'

The problem with the fashion industry has always been that they go for a uniform size that every model has to achieve. This will just make the industry pick a different uniform size, which means some girls will be binge eating to get bigger while others starve themselves to get smaller. It doesn't change a thing.

[Rattlehead 69]

BMI is junk science and I have a hard time taking anyone seriously who refers to it with any level of gravity. If it's your primary metric for anything health related, you're intellectually lazy. According to BMI standards, Cal Ripken Jr was obese when he was playing for the Orioles.

[GandD 5,966]

Agreed about the bmi. Body fat analysis is your best bet.

Edited April 6, 2015 by GandD

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

Agreed about the bmi. Body fat analysis is your best bet.

And even that is so-so. There are marathon runners who are in incredible shape by every medical test--stress tests, etc--who are also obese.