The French people may have voted in a new president this week, but behind the scenes of the long protracted political battle between Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron the current French government introduced a new law that will ban companies from using so called ‘skinny models’.
The new law which was overwhelmingly passed by the French paraliment will see modelling agencies and sole professionals being banned from publishing images of underweight women and men under the threat of a hefty fine or a short prison sentence.
After receiving large support from the French people and advocacy groups representing young men and women who have body image issues the French paraliment decided to enact the law that will come into effect from October 1st this year.
Speaking about the law change the French Minister of Affairs and Health, Marisol Touraine welcomed the decision saying: “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 behaviour.”
“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.”
“The objective is also to protect the health of a sector of the population particularly at risk – models.”
The new law will now see young women and men being weighed and measured by qualified doctors before any photoshoot can take place, the new law also states that if any individual or company is in breach of the law they could face the prospect of receiving a €75,000 fine or a six month prison sentence.