France will likely see the departure of extremely thin fashion models as the country's lawmakers are seriously deliberating the imposition of the ban against unhealthy or malnourished people gracing the runway, magazine covers, and other media platform, according to Business Insider. Should this bill be passed, modeling agencies and fashion houses that would hire and feature the said ultra thin models may face jail time in addition to the monetary penalties meted against them. The agents of the said models will be punished as well.
"It's important for fashion models to say that they need to eat well and take care of their health, especially for young women who look to the models as an aesthetic ideal," explained Marisol Touraine, the health minister of France in an interview with BFM TV on Monday.
In accordance with the parliamentary amendment, the model agencies will be required to make available a valid medical certificate for every model under their care and supervision. The certificate should prove that the BMI of the model falls under a healthy level. Failure to do so will cause the executives of the concerned agencies to face imprisonment of up to six months as well as to pay a fine of 75,000 euro, or roughly US$80,000.
"It is intolerable that we can make the apology of malnutrition and that we can commercially exploit people who are in situations that endanger their health," asserted Olivier Veran, a socialist MP. He further pointed out that "between 30,000 and 40,000" people in France suffer from anorexia presumably due to the unrealistic images portrayed by the fashion industry.
"In 90 percent of the cases, these are adolescents. The image that the fashion industry gives -- which is that women have to be pathologically thin to be beautiful and appear on the catwalk -- has a very strong social impact," Veran stated.
However, Gerald Marie, an executive in a modeling agency in Paris, said that the public and the lawmakers should know the difference between anorexia and natural thinness. "There is anorexia and there are girls who are thin, very thin, naturally and you can make them eat all day and they would stay thin," he explained, referring to the amended version of the bill that aims to prohibit platforms "condoning anorexia" as well as to declare those who "glamorize excessive thinness" as criminals. Hence, the fashion mogul pleaded that "we shouldn't mix things up" in terms of allocating punishments following the probably approval of this bill.
