Extreme Thinness
Last Blog! Extreme Thinness
(picture from cnn.com)
Read the following: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/15/anorexia.france.ap/index.html?eref=edition_europe.
France is now making it illegal to incite extreme thinness. Do you agree or disagree? Do you think thinness / anorexia, etc. is prevalent in your country? What factors might contribute to it?
posted by Raison d'Etre @ 6:29 PM
13 Comments:
At 8:22 PM,
Anonymous said…
Bien sûr, c’est très triste de voir une femme qui est évidemment, très trop maigre, qui est obsessive avec son poids, ou qui n’est pas dans bonne santé parce qu’elle ne mange pas assez. Bien sûr, c’est triste que les femmes, et aussi les petites filles, regardent les photos des mannequins dans les magazines et elles pensent, je dois être comme ça, je ne suis pas jolie, je ne suis pas assez bonne. Oui, c’est triste, mais ce n’est pas la responsabilité des autres d’assurer votre confiance. Les images et les spectacles de la passerelle ne vous forcent pas de ne pas manger ou de vomir votre nourriture. En fait, ces choses ne vous forcent de faire rien.
I think that, sadly, eating disorders are very prevalent here in the United States. While many people have the eating disorder of obesity, many others are so obsessed with their appearance that they do become anorexic, bulimic. Yes, a lot of people lose the confidence that keeps them healthy from always seeing ultra-thin models and celebrities in the media, but that is no excuse. I feel like a lot of eating disorders are results of laziness. Obese people (that don’t have diseases causing their obesity) are too lazy to get up and go to the gym, so they do nothing, and anorexic or bulimic people are too lazy to do the same, so they too do nothing – but in a very different way. Either way, the laziness and the blame-game are causing a lot of people to become incredibly ill, and sometimes even die, and it needs to stop. Preventing the fashion industry from employing super skinny girls is not the way to end the problem.
Side note: I am not the best person to give an opinion on this, because I, for some unknown reason, have no sympathy for or comprehension of people who contract eating disorders.
At 6:40 PM,
Anonymous said…
J'ai lu un article au sujet une annonce italienne avec une femme anorexique nue qui essaye à propager la conscience de ce problème. L'annonce est un peu effrayante. L'article a dit que la femme ne pense pas qu'elle a un problème. C'est triste que quelques personnes préfèrent d'être tellement maigre. C'est très dangereux. J'ai une amie qui était/est anorexique. Mais, elle est une non-conformiste et la mode n'etait pas la raison pour ton anorexie mentale. Elle a peur d'être obèse comme le reste des personnes aux Etats-Unis parce qu'elle aime la nutrition. Mais, elle ne realise pas que l'anorexie mentale est aseez mal pour sa santé que l'obésité.
There are a lot of people who are unfortunately anorexic or obese. Those who are obese are simpy lazy. When people get bored, they have a tendency to just eat or sleep. They forget how much fun it is to play sports, etc. and just focus on how sore they would be if they went to a gym, thus getting no exercise at all. And unhealthy food is so much easier to carry around or faster to obtain. Most people just want to grab food and go in this new fast paced world. Yet I think anorexia can stem from any number of reasons and is something to be taken seriously. Many realize that obesity is a problem and then reach violently against it and becoming to thin, or they feel the pressure of modern fashion. And people are great at creating reasons/excuses for becoming unhealthy. People have to realize that models without makeup and lights look scary. Anorexia is just as ugly as obesity. And though I care about my friend and do all I can to encourage her to be healthy, in the end, it's just stupid or lazy to become that way and those people have only themselves to blame.
At 7:43 AM,
Anonymous said…
Je pense que l’anorexie, la boulimie, et l’obésité sont très répandues aux Etats-Unis au cause de la culture, et pas au cause du média. Donc, une loi qui interdit l’utilisation des mannequins qui sont trop maigres ne réglera le problème avec des désordre alimentaires; en fait si on les interdit, plus de gens voudront l’avoir. C’est plus important de se concentrer sur la culture, et les raisons que les gens, particulièrement les jeunes filles, choisissent d’être trop maigres et ainis, très malades. Si les pays veulent aider les personnes avec des désordres alimentaires, et bien régler l’obésité et amérliorer l’image corporelle, on doit changer les conditions de la vie et la culture.
I know it’s hard for people to be sympathetic to people with eating disorders, which seems to include a large group of people, but I think lately country’s governments have been missing the point about the problem. Eating disorders are part psychology, part stress, part culture, and part selfishness, so getting rid of too thin models in fashion will not people from having eating disorders, as media and fashion are only one of many ‘causes’ of eating disorders. Personally, I think that the media isn’t even the biggest cause of eating disorders- the effects of our culture is normally what drives people to resort to bingeing or starving themselves, which is both selfish reasoning, but isn’t entirely their fault either. Eating disorders will only stop when people learn to relax more, and have someone to confide in when they feel stressed and lost, which are two things our culture doesn’t openly accept. Culture tells us to work as hard as we can and not rely on anyone else, no matter what, and until that thinking changes, people will be weak enough to submit to eating disorders.
At 1:02 PM,
Anonymous said…
Je ne suis pas d’accord avec cette loi. Je pense que ce n’est pas la responsabilité du gouvernement pour régler la taille et le poids des gens. Le rôle du gouvernement est pour préserver la paix et pour protéger la liberté des citoyens—et en fait, cette loi révoque la liberté des gens. Oui, il n’est pas bon pour être maigre comme la photo, mais c’est le choix des gens.
Specifically, in civil law, I think it is the government’s responsibility to intervene only in matters where one person is infringing upon another person’s liberty. In this situation, the person is harming themselves, and if it’s their choice to do so, then the government should not intervene. Once the government starts regulating how people treat themselves we’ll end up with a big brother government that will be taking away more and more liberties from the people.
I don't believe that being skinny is good, just that it's not the government's role to regulate people's body weight or mass-to-height ratios. Furthermore, even if such a law were created, I seriously doubt that it would cure these people of anorexia, it would just put them out of a job...
At 1:18 PM,
Anonymous said…
Je ne crois pas qu’une loi peut résoudre les problèmes comme l’anorexie. Oui, c’est vrai qu’il y a peut-être un lien parmi les mannequins trop maigres et l’anorexie en jeunes filles, mais, franchement, c’est un problème plus compliqué que tout ça. C’est un problème à propos de la psychologie, de la famille, et, surtout de la retenue.
While I think the legislators behind this law have their hearts in the right place, I don’t think it will help that much. For one thing, models that are already anorexic are going to take a lot more than a law to change their eating habits. If it were as simple as just eating more, there wouldn’t be nearly as many people with eating disorders. Thus, these models are just likely to lose their jobs, not have the problem solved. To help solve eating disorder problems, more psychological action needs to be taken than simply vaguely outlawing extreme thinness in the media.
At 6:18 PM,
Anonymous said…
Il semble que la France croie que les mannequins trop maigres sont la cause des problèmes d’anorexie dans les pays. Mais si elle ordonne une loi, ça ne peut faire qu’une chose – dire que les mannequins trop maigres ne sont pas acceptables. Ça veut dire que les mannequins qui ont les corps minces mais pas trop fins sont idéals. Rien ne passera pour corriger le problème d’anorexie parce que les femmes continueront à regarder les mannequins qui on les beaux vêtements avec le maquillage parfait et le corps modèle.
At least France recognizes that extreme thinness is not acceptable and that it should not be the ideal for women. With the world’s modernization and globalization, bodies are changing and people are not sure what to make of them. The modeling industry should step forward and promote a healthy image because the spotlight is upon models and the entertainment sector.
At 6:59 PM,
Anonymous said…
Bien sûr, le monde occidental obsède trop avec l’image du corps. Il y a tant de désordres alimentaires qui menacent la société. Beaucoup de publicité focalise surtout sur les filles et l’anorexie et la boulimie. C’est ridicule, l’idée du corps parfait qui les medias et la mode paraissent promouvoir. Mais je crois aussi que c’est un problème culturel qu’on ne peut pas régler seulement avec les lois qui limitent l’industrie. I’m sure that laws will help, but society will most likely still hold on to these ridiculous standards of beauty. I guess that it is a step in the right direction, though, and no one can really argue against that. I definitely think that it is ridiculous for people to be « opposed to the idea of legal boundaries on beauty standards.” I think that somehow society should place emphasis on being in shape, not just thin; they are totally different things.
At 9:17 PM,
Anonymous said…
Je pense que l'anorexie est très répandu aux États-Unis. Espècialement des mannequins - les stylistes font les vêtements plus petites parce qu'ils voudront un style plus specifique sur la piste. Aussi, les mannequins comme Kate Moss sont très minces, et des gens pensent qu'elles sont les modèles pour le mode.
While I think that eating disorders are definitely a problem, and are unnecessarily glamorized in the fashion industry, the government has no place in regulating people's body weight. If that happens, there's no limit to what the government can decide - what you can eat for your meals, what kind of car you can drive, what you wear, how many kids you have - anything! If people want to starve themselves for the sake of "fashion", then that is their own problem. No one else, ESPECIALLY the government, has the right to interfere with people's personal choices, especially when the only ones that they are affecting are themselves.
At 10:53 PM,
Anonymous said…
Je suis d’accord, c’est vrai que l’obésité devient un problème, mais aussi les autres désordres alimentaire. Je pense anorexie est trop répandu, plus de en la passé. C’est parce que les medias utilisent les femmes très très fluet, ensuite le deux des filles et des garçons voyant ca et pense c’est quoi des autres pense est joli. But the media aren’t the only problem, young people also have more stress in their lives than past generations. There is more pressure from parents to be “perfect,” which contributes to a negative self-image, but also with increased stress, girls, and some guys start to limit their food consumption because they feel that’s one of the few things they have control over, since anorexia has to do with a feeling of chaos for a lot of patients.
At 5:56 AM,
Anonymous said…
I think that the extrem thinness represents a big society's problem. And especially a psychologic problem in girls. So, it's very important that the government votes a law. Our society have a particular picture of the beauty : the leanness. Every stars are slim, and it's very important for lot of girls to look like them ! I think it's not very beautiful to see all manequins like that, without shape. In my opinion, it's more womanish to see beautiful womens with breast, and beautiful legs !
Je pense que l'anorexie est un réel problème chez les jeunes filles surtout. En effet, celles - ci décident de se nourrir extrêmement peu, ce qui conduit à des malaises, et mêmes des hospitalisations. Le problème est que le corps s'habitue à ne plus recevoir de nourriture, et donc il est très difficile après de remanger. L'anorexie s'oppose à l'obésité, qui je pense un aussi un grave problème. Je pense que comme tout les pays industrialisés, la France est concernée par ce problème. C'est pourquoi, il est important d'apprendre aux jeunes l'importance de bien se nourrir, tout au long de sa vie pour éviter ce genre de dérive, qui peuvent malheureusement être parfois fatale s!
At 1:10 PM,
Anonymous said…
I agree with the law which is making illegal thinness. I really do think that’s not an answer faced with anorexia problem, but it could seriously help. We have to limit eating disorders. Otherwise, our society will be changed into a “society of appearances”. In France, we don’t have enough help for young girls (for example) as we should have. There are too many people in a bad situation because of anorexia and extreme thinness, but we can’t stop it. I just can’t imagine that we have to set boundaries for models. Perhaps we have to adapt the new law in accordance with the situations. I think that we have to take care better of a young girl than of a model, because a model uses to have people close to her. So maybe we have to be more exacting with young girls than with models.
Honnêtement, je ne sais pas trop si l’anorexie est très répandue en France. Je ne connais personne d’anorexique et je dois bien avouer que j’ai un petit peu de mal à comprendre cette maladie. Toujours est-il qu’elle est vraiment là et qu’elle touche beaucoup de personnes tout de même. Je pense que le fait de voir des femmes ou hommes très minces dans les films peut contribuer à ce qu’il y ait de plus en plus de personnes anorexiques en France. Les gens anorexiques ont du mal à manger plus même si elles sont aidées par des proches.
At 5:02 PM,
Anonymous said…
That is not only because I'm a lazy person but pretty much because I'm not very sensitive to this subject. That is certainly due to the fact that I don't no anyone that suffer from this kind of disease. However I'm totally against the current trend of the body cult. I mean that many commercials on tv or ads show us some fictitious standards that we won't be able to reach anyday, and it has necessarily an impact on everyone and not anyone is able to keep a critical mind especially teens. That's the way I see this disease as a result of some inacessible standards shown by ads.
Il est vrai que l'exemple de ce mannequin morte afin d'avoir des mensurations en adéquation avec le monde de la mode a de quoi faire frémir, mais je pense que ce problème est aussi le reflet de notre société actuelle qui devient de plus en plus individualiste voire nombriliste et ou l'esprit de compétition prévaut sur beaucoups d'autres valeurs plus importantes à mon goût. Pour moi c'est ce même esprit de compétition qui amène à developper par exemple un culte du corps parfait. L'anorexie étant le paroxysme de cette dérive.
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