Amy Van Deusen

Yesterday, France's National Assembly (the lower house of parliament) passed a new bill that would make it illegal for anyone to publicly support extreme thinness or anorexia.

If passed by the Senate (the upper house), it will give judges the right to punish fashion magazines, advertisers, websites, and others who "provoke a person to seek excessive weight loss by encouraging prolonged nutritional deprivation." The proposed penalties are harsh: Up to $71,000 and three years in prison if a victim dies due to an eating disorder.

The author of the bill, Valerie Boyer, has said that the main target of the legislation would be pro-ana websites that promote anorexia as a lifestyle choice, but that mainstream media would not be immune to prosecution.

There seem to be a few key questions unanswered by the bill: How will they link an anorexic victim to a specific website, image, etc.? And who exactly will be held accountable? The writer? The photo editor? The company who funds the website or magazine?

Until those questions are answered, it's hard for me to decide if this law goes way too far or is a step in the right direction. My initial reaction, though, is that if it gets rid of pro-ana sites, it could be a really good thing.

What do you think?
 

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