Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: Opinions

In Paris, France the French parliament's lower house adopted a groundbreaking bill regarding the portrayal of women in the media. This bill makes it illegal for anyone including fashion magazines, advertisers, and Web sites to publicly incite extreme thinness.

Fashion industry experts said that, if passed, the law would be the strongest of its kind anywhere. Leaders in French couture are opposed to the idea of legal boundaries on beauty standards. I however, am extremely delighted in this new step forward. This bill would give judges the power to imprison and fine offenders up to $47,000 if found guilty of "inciting others to deprive themselves of food" to an "excessive" degree.

There are many people who share my opinion. Conservative lawmaker Valery Boyer, author of the law, argued that encouraging anorexia or severe weight loss should be punishable in court. While, I do not wish a court case on anyone I agree with his enthusiasm. The media has too many life size Barbie dolls and not enough real people.

The predominant stereotypical white, big breasted, long haired representation of women forced down our throats by magazines, television commercials, and movies can be dangerous to both men and women. The barrage of messages about thinness, dieting and beauty tells "ordinary" women that they are always in need of adjustment and that the female body is an object to be perfected. Simultaneously these images are brainwashing men to believe that skinny is equal to beauty. It is a plain fact that the media images of female beauty are unattainable for all but a very small number of women. Yet men expect everyone to follow this fallacy. I would love to see actual normal sized women being shown instead of having this silent pressure to starve yourself just to look like what the media deems as sexy.

The American research group Anorexia Nervosa & Related Eating Disorders, Inc. says that one out of every four college-aged women uses unhealthy methods of weight control including fasting, skipping meals, excessive exercise, laxative abuse, and self-induced vomiting. I have a strong feeling that the media is mostly to blame.

I say that the united States should learn from the French and not only block media images of ultra thin women but also any image, show or news brief that contains the likeness of Brittany Spears, Paula Abdul, Lindsey Lohan, or Miley Cyrus. The only thing I hate more than seeing only skinny women depicted on television, movies, commercials, and the internet is seeing the same skinny people all over the television, movies, commercials, and internet. I say we just block all the white talentless (but well toned) brainless drones from our advertisements.

My hope is that someday people will put a halt to their interest in brainwashing others through media and advertisements and just let the people decide for themselves what "pretty" is. I hope that the media will put more importance on current political, social, and environmental issues than how often Brittany Spears crashes a new car. Let's follow France's lead and show other countries that we as Americans respect women and their natural bodies. But until then, les félicitations France!

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