Now Israel Bans Twiggies!

By John B. Monteiro
Bellevision Media Network

27 March 2012:

 

Jack Spat could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean,
And so between the two of them
They licked the platter.

- English nursery rhyme.

 

According to a Reuter report from Jerusalem dated March 20, 2012 JERUSALEM Israeli lawmakers have banned underweight models from catwalks and commercials, a measure they hope will reduce eating disorders and promote a healthy body image. The law, passed  on March 19, says women and men cannot be hired for modeling jobs unless a doctor stipulates they are not underweight, with a body mass index (BMI) -- a measure expressing a ratio of weight to height -- of no less than 18.5. The law also bans the use of a person who "appears underweight" and says advertisers must explicitly state if graphic manipulation was done to make a model look thinner in a photo. Israel is the latest among several countries that have imposes such a ban and a bit of background on the subject is in order.

 

Zai, zai, barik barik chedwa maka zai (I want thin girl as bride) is the opening line of an old popular Konkani song, sung to the accompaniment of spiritual liquids.

 

People the world over have been after the fat for a long time. Look at the jokes and jibes about the fat persons. According to an American proverb, “A fat man is not good in war. He can neither fight nor run away”. Another statement of American origin is: “Everybody loves a fat man until he sits down in a bus”. Life magazine, now defunct, said: “When a fat person steps on a scale, he always experiences a sinking feeling”. John Ruskin said: “From the day in which she weighs 140, the chief excitement of a woman’s life consists in spotting women who are fatter than she is”.

 

These verbal battering of the fat has given rise to a slimming industry which is galloping by the days. Gyms of various types are doing roaring business, offering the fat the setting to sweat out their unsightly burden. Weight and waist control programmes and diets have mass following, with the promoters laughing their way to the banks.

 

On the other hand, as the slimming mania continues to attract adherents in droves, the fashion industry now targets the twiggies. Twiggy, by the way, was a model in the 1960s, who ruled the catwalks, ramps and fashion shoots. Like cinema actors change their names in favour of catchy ones, fashion model also change their names in favour of ramp names. Twiggy’s assumed name reflected her physical structure – she was like a beanstalk. Her success attracted many imitators to shed their pounds on the altar of modeling success. Lean and thin became in. But the pendulum swung to the extreme, prompting a reaction. Under the new regime, spread to Spain in 2010, instead of casting thin models for the ramp, they are dubbed outcasts and kept out of the catwalks and photo-shoots for commercial advertising.

 

Before Israel, Spain had been at the forefront of this move. It started with Madrid fashion shows in 2010. Fashion shows that took place since then at various other centres like London, Los Angeles, Paris, Milan, Rio, Mumbai and Delhi debated the subject but were not enthusiastic about shutting out the thin from fashion shows.

 

In June 2010 Australia banned skinny models from catwalks and magazines. Under a major overhaul of the fashion industry, diets for rapid weight loss and cosmetic surgery advertisements were to be phased out of magazines.  Fashion designers were asked not to hire models with dangerously low body mass. Youth minister Kate Ellis said she wanted to stop the glamourisation of unhealthy thin women, which has been blamed for kids suffering eating disorders. The Australian government committed $500,000 to develop new educational programmes.  Ellis unveiled a new body-image tick of approval, similar to the Heart Foundation’s healthy food tick, to be awarded to magazines, modeling agencies and labels. They are required to disclose when images have been retouched and refrain from enhancing photographs.

 

Coming back to Israel, Rachel Adato, one of the lawmakers who pushed the bill, said she hoped the law would protect youth from pursuing unattainable ideals of beauty. "Beautiful is not underweight, beautiful should not be anorexic," she said. The fashion industry’s use of wafer-thin models on runways and in magazines has for years sparked heated debate. Critics said the practice promotes an unhealthy body image among women, which contributes to anorexia and other eating disorders. Designers and agencies have often been criticized for putting relentless pressure on their models to stay unhealthily thin. After two anorexic Latin American models died in 2006, countries including Italy  banned underweight models from the catwalk.

 

Writing on the subject, Mail Online (London) noted that the move is the first attempt by  a government to use legislation  to take on a fashion industry that has been accused of abetting eating disorders by glamorising extreme thinness.  The law is being closely watched by MPs in Britain and the United States, which have guidelines for designers and advertisers but no hard and fast rules.

 

The changes which will not apply to foreign publications sold in Israel, requires models to produce a medical report, dating back no more than three months, at every shoot that will be used on the Israeli market, stating that they are not malnourished by World Health Organisation standards. WHO says a body-mass index below 18.5 is indicative of malnutrition.That would means models such as Kate Moss with a BMI of around 17 and Naomi Campell with a BMI of around 16.5, would be considered too thin.The law could also become a model for other countries grappling with the spread of anorexia and bulimia, particularly among young women.

 

The law’s supporters said they hoped it would encourage the use of healthy models in local advertising and heighten awareness of digital tricks that transform already thin women into illusory waifs.

 

The law was championed by one of Israel’s top model agents, Adi Barkan, who said in 30 years of work, he saw young women become skinnier and sicker while struggling to fit the shrinking mold of what the industry considered attractive.’They look like dead girls,’ he said.

 

Critics said the legislation should have focused on health, not weight, arguing that many models were naturally very thin.’The health of the model ... should be evaluated. Our weight can change hour to hour,’ said David Herzog, a professor of psychiatry and leading US expert on eating disorders.

 

Don’t these moves amount to hostile discrimination? There is a saying that some are born great, some become great and some have greatness thrust on them. Can a model help it if thinness is in her genes? Should she be penalised for what she inherited, if she has other attributes of a model? The argument about a fashion model being role models is hollow. So, why penalise models for being thin? It is a functional requirement of the fashion industry and has nothing to do with projecting themselves as role model of physical dimensions. On the other hand, obesity has emerged as one of the greatest concerns of the medical world. The twiggies of the fashion world may shame many obese persons to shed their fat and lead healthy lives.

 

The subject is open to many views. What is yours?

 

John B. Monteiro, author and journalist, is editor of his website www.welcometoreason.com (Interactive Cerebral Challenger) with provision for instant response. Try responding!