According to a news report in the Daily Telegraph, the French are proposing to make it a criminal offence to encourage excessive thinness or anorexia, such as (I presume) in the YouTube video I found and discussed in my previous post.
This is a move to tackle the growing problem of anorexia in France, and the news report says the proposal would punish "incitement to excessive thinness" in magazines, on websites and in other media. Valerié Boyer, a Right-wing UMP senator, said she felt compelled to draw up the Bill after being shocked by an advertising campaign featuring an anorexic French woman last year.
I would suggest this is a positive step, having been shocked myself by the '40 reasons not to eat' video that I highlighted previously.
We cannot blame or judge anyone for their eating disorder and illness, but to incite others to join them - regardless of how ill that person is - is unacceptable. As well, there really should be more accountability in the media and in popular culture for the impact it has on promoting images of thinness, and in using clearly anorexic or unnaturally thin models (as well as photoshop), as images of 'beauty' or what is considered desirable.
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