Members of the French Modeling Agencies, and the and the French Advertising Standards Authority met in Paris on Wednesday to charter a new promotion of "body
diversity.
Part of the meeting was in response to the death of Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston in November
2006, who died at the age of 21,
weighing in at less than 88 pounds for her 56-inch frame and the death of Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos who died of heart failure.
The charter outlines a series of guidelines but do not
impose restrictions.
Spain, for instance, has set a minimum body mass
index of 18 for catwalk models. This is equivalent to a minimum weight
of 123 pounds for a height of 5.74 feet.

Didier Grumbach, president of the French
Fashion Federation, said that the charter "will attack anything
that encourages excessive weight loss, but the idea is not to create
more rules." Monsiur Grumbach also added that France's laws for monitoring health have become increasingly protective: "Generally speaking [the charter] is a decision to be extremely careful
and fight [negative body image] in any way we can, but no more
legislation."

But Legal experts like Valerie Boyr, a deputy from France's UMP party, have a better idea in mind. Ms. Boyr on Wednesday called for new legislation that
would impose a $50,000 fine on anyone who promotes anorexia--through blogs, web sites, and other such propaganda--and put them in prison for 2 years.
"It's not just women absorbing the propaganda," a British Model Said. Men are also too thin.
Mark Evans, the head of the men's division at Models 1 agency
in London, admits that the fashion industry tends to go for "younger,
skinnier boys."
In France, despite current laws that require modeling agencies to both obtain a
government-issued license and special authorization for models aged
under 16, and promote medical check-ups, girls on the catwalks and in fashion
magazines have remained suspiciously thin.
The same day as the agreement was signed in France, a law was proposed
in the French parliament against "incitement to anorexia".

• by Rena Silverman