HEALTH

There's no shortage of messages and images out there that promote unrealistic and unhealthy body standards, especially for women. If you've ever had runway aspirations or looked in a magazine then you've probably noticed the rail thin models that represent an image that is downright unattainable.

The modeling industry has stirred much controversy as we grow more aware of the disturbing trend of eating disorders among models trying to reach the ideal weight and body type that their work demands.  Many point the blame at the industry for the rise of teenagers with eating disorders as well. It wasn't too long ago that modeling scouts approached a 16-year-old anorexic teenager at a music festival and commented on her "perfect body type" and "bone structure." 

While all the blame can't be placed on an entire industry, they do have the influence and the responsibility to begin to change the tides. France has taken up the challenge. The country recently banned "unhealthily thin" models, targeting the unrealistic body standards that the industry flaunts.

The new law requires models to provide doctor's note stating that they are within a healthy weight and BMI, based on the World Health Organization's definition of *underweight.* In addition, France is requiring that any image of a model that has been digitally altered must be marked with a label stating such.  France's minister of social health and affairs, Marisol Touraine, stated this "Exposing young people to normative and unrealistic images of bodies leads to a sense of self-depreciation and poor self-esteem that can impact health-related behavior...These two texts aim to act on body image in society to avoid the promotion of inaccessible beauty ideals and to prevent anorexia in young people."

While France has taken control of the issues within it's own country's modelling industry, individual fashion lines have taken steps on their own. LVMH (Louis Vuitton, Moet, and Hennessey) and Kering recently announced  that they will stop usuing excessively thin models on their catwalks and plus size models like Ashley Graham have appeared on the covers of noted fashion magazines such as Vogue, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar and Elle. She was even featured in Sport's Illustrated, making her their first plus-size model to grace the magazine's cover.

While these are all steps in the right direction, the fight to raise awareness and destroy harmful body standards has to continue if any real progress is going to be made.

How do you feel about France's new model law? Let us know in the comments. 

Photo credit: The Gloss.

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by Cydnii Jones | 10/22/2017