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CBC Canada has a report on a law under consideration in France's lower house that would require models to meet a minimum body mass index standard.
The link between high fashion, body image and eating disorders on French catwalks may lead to a ban on super-skinny models.
Style-conscious France, with its fashion and luxury industries worth tens of billions of dollars, would join Italy, Spain and Israel, which all adopted laws against too-thin models on catwalks or in advertising campaigns in early 2013.
Under the proposed legislation, any model who wants to work has to have a body mass index (a type of height to weight ratio) of at least 18 and would be subject to regular weight checks.
The law would enforce fines of up to $79,000 [US] for any breaches, with up to six months in jail for any staff involved, French Socialist Party legislator Olivier Veran, who wrote the amendments, told newspaper Le Parisien.
The bill's amendments also propose penalties for anything made public that could be seen as encouraging extreme thinness, notably pro-anorexia websites that glorify unhealthy lifestyles and forums that encourage eating disorders.
Body Mass Index (BMI) is is a measure of relative size based on the mass and height of an individual.
c0lo's random thoughts:
- On one side: governments regulating the BMI... (large soda ban)... hmm?
- On the other side: how is this different from laws against public indecency, laws which are well-knitted into the fabric of westernized societies?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 09 2015, @02:03AM
Gulp gulp gulp. 3.78 extra kilos per gallon. Dont think so? There is money on the line.
(Score: 2) by jcross on Thursday April 09 2015, @02:41AM
I believe it. Basically the reverse of what wrestlers do, right?
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday April 09 2015, @08:08AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by jcross on Thursday April 09 2015, @02:00PM
Right, I believe the OP was suggesting something similar, i.e. models getting extra hydrated before their official BMI measurement and then taking a diuretic or something to pee it all out.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 09 2015, @05:13AM
Disturbing. But probably accurate.
Poor ladies. :(
(Score: 4, Funny) by sjames on Thursday April 09 2015, @07:07AM
Hecklers in the audience doing the potty dance and holding up pictures of water falls.
They might have to install floor drains.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 09 2015, @01:35PM
Gulp gulp gulp. 3.78 extra kilos per gallon. Dont think so? There is money on the line.
Assuming that's true, does it matter? This may not be a perfect solution, but does that mean it is a bad idea?
Let's say that they do drink 2 gallons of water just prior to weighing... Then raise the BMI index they need hit by whatever amount needed to add those extra 7.5 kilos. Or only raise it by 3.8 kilos and let some people game the system.
If models are still somewhat malnourished still it beats them being absurdly malnourished and eliminates the most extreme cases.
As a side note, why did you mix metric with the US Customary/British imperial system?
(Score: 4, Informative) by Zinho on Thursday April 09 2015, @02:54PM
Let's say that they do drink 2 gallons of water just prior to weighing...
I think if they tried that it would take their bulimia to a new level. Have you ever attempted to drink even one gallon in a short period? Median human stomach capacity is about a quart or a liter, you're not going to fit 8 times that into an anorexic fashion model.
I've heard reports about the results of people trying rapid drinking, ranging from involuntary projectile vomiting* to hallucinations, unconsciousness, coma, brain herniation, and death [nih.gov]. If the models do try hyper-hydration in an attempt to fake BMI, expect a rise in hospitalizations for Hyponatremia [wikipedia.org] among models.
*I had some friends who used the "Gallon Challenge" with milk as a hazing prank. Curdling due to stomach acids pretty much guaranteed that no-one finished the gallon before spewing. I missed out on the experience due to being warned in advance, and I don't regret it a bit. Pay it forward.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 1) by triklyn on Thursday April 09 2015, @05:07PM
it was fun, think i had milk coming out of my nose, and many pretty colors, from the froot loops/candy i had before attempting.
we were a right mess, 3-4 guys did it in my hall.
the spewing wasn't terrible, if i remember, the following days were horrendous though... lactose intolerance... milk...
i hadn't even realized i was that lactose intolerant until then.