France Anorexic Models: Very Thin Models Likely To Be Banned In The European Nation

In France, anorexic models have been the norm for quite some time now. The tide is slowly changing, and super skinny models are falling out of favor with the French fashion industry. The government of France is also involved, and laws are being discussed to ban ultra-thin fashion models.

According to the Associated Press via ABC News, France’s health minister supports a proposal to “criminalize” any advertising that features anorexic models in the country. The health ministry stated that about 40,000 people suffer from anorexia in France, and 90 percent are women.

If France legalizes this measure, the nation will follow suit with Israel and Spain. They were the first two nations to ban the use of unhealthy looking models who are too thin. Spain banned models from catwalks back in 2007 if their body mass to height ratio was below 18. Israel enforced their anorexic model law in 2013.

Olivia Veran, a socialist lawmaker and doctor, wants to create a health bill that makes hiring models suspected to have eating disorders illegal. This would require modeling agencies to show evidence that their models maintain a healthy body mass to height ratio.

Veran also wants the health bill to ban websites that promote anorexia and make it illegal to glorify “excessive thinness.” The penalty would be up to one year in prison and $10,575 in fines. Veran’s amendment to the health reform bill was expected to be presented Monday in the French Parliament’s lower house.

In 2010, French model Isabelle Caro died after battling anorexia. France 24 reports that Caro passed away at the age of 28. She was quite sick for a long time before her death. The anorexic model from France had battled her eating disorder since the age of 13.

She wrote a book in 2008 titled, The Little Girl Who Didn’t Want To Get Fat. Before her death, Cara also agreed to the publication of images showing her weighing an estimated 59 pounds for an Italian ad campaign in 2007 titled, “No Anorexia.” Caro’s pictures were also seen on various websites and blogs promoting ultra thin women with one using the tagline, “Dye young, Stay pretty.”

The shocking images of Isabelle Caro showed her backbone and skeletal features protruding. The photos were downright scary and terribly sad. Cara’s tragic end came after the death of a Brazilian model from anorexia at the age of 21. It is truly hard to imagine the suffering these young women experienced to achieve and maintain the body that eventually killed them both.

Caro was trying desperately to change her ways before her death. She spoke about the disadvantages of suffering from a debilitating eating disorder and was willing to recover. She opened up about the toll the quest for a model thin body takes on women in the fashion industry.

If France passes a law making it illegal to use anorexic models in the fashion industry, will that really have an impact on the fashion world as a whole?

[Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images]