The French take up the fight against Adipophobia

Hey Folks,

Far below is a recent news item reporting on France's is attempt to slow down the notion of "Emaciated Is Beautiful." Good luck.

The item reminded me of a 2006 Uke Man posting (directly below). I think it gives a little idea of what the French are up against. Perhaps they should team up with “Fatties United Conscientiously at Kentucky University.”

- Uke Man

In the May 18, 2006 Columbus Dispatch was an article, based on a Yale survey, titled “What would you give up to be thin?”

It seems that people would do almost ANYTHING to be thin, at least the ones surveyed by Yale (home of “Skull & Bones” [what could be thinner?].

Besides the severe and lengthy suffering integral to a myriad of fad and “serious” diets, the survey-ees reportedly were willing to trade decades of their lives for skinniness. They would trade an arm or a leg to avoid poundage. Some would rather be blind.

The article goes on: “Thirty per cent of respondents said they would rather be divorced than obese; 25 per cent said they would prefer not being able to have children; 15 per cent said they would rather be severely depressed. Slightly fewer said they would rather be an alcoholic (14 per cent).

But it wasn't simply personal sacrifices that people said they would be willing to make; 10 per cent said they would rather have an anorexic child than an obese one. Eight per cent said they would prefer their child to have learning disability.”

I was amazed !! It was hard to believe; so, I surfed the net for possible illumination. By chance, I came across (and have included below) an article from “The Adipose Quarterly,” the collegiate periodical of “Fatties United Conscientiously at Kentucky University” (FUC-KU), which I hope sheds some light on the matter.

- Uke Man


. . . The Follow-Up Survey

Fellow Phatties,

I’m sure you have been made aware of the recent Yale survey : “What would you give up to be thin?”

Well, the leadership here at FUC-KU have not been idle !! In fact, we have completed a follow-up survey of the same skinny people polled by Yale, using questions left off the original inquiry. The results are below.

The Majority of respondents claimed:

1. They would consider Zen gardening only if Buddha slimmed down.

2. Peter Paul Rubens is either a candy bar or Pee Wee Herman.

3. Tooth-whitening does NOT ameliorate obesity.

4. The new Pope should consider selective liposuction.

5. Money DOES ameliorate obesity.

6. John Belushi and Chris Farley weren't fat.

7. Renoir and R. Crumb don’t know “sexy.”

8. They would rather be uglier than fat.

9. Karen Carpenter was a Goddess.

10. They don't think the joke: “Want t’lose 10 lbs. of ugly fat? Cut off your head!!" is a funny rejoinder.

11. They loved Britney before she got fat.

12 Tom Cruise and Scientology rule !!

As you can see, the majority of respondents were extremely faithful to their mantra: “One can never be too thin or shallow.”

There were only a few departures from their solid front:

Seven out of ten would NOT give up their cell phones to avoid poundage. Nine out of ten would rather be fat than have Jay Leno’s chin!

Finally, in the “Comments” section, the most frequent entry was:
“Do these pants make my ass look big?”

. . .

Well, Phatties, that's it! Until the next issue of Adipose Quarterly, don’t take any shit from emaciated Yalies or other adipophobes.

Just give ‘em the “Fatties United Conscientiously – KU” cheer.



French Bill Takes Chic Out of Being Too Thin

By DOREEN CARVAJAL
April 16, 2008


PARIS — In the capital of high fashion and ultrathin models, conservative French legislators adopted a pioneering law on Tuesday aimed at stifling a proliferation of Web sites that promote eating disorders with “thinspiration” and starvation tips.


The bill, approved by the lower house of Parliament, faces a Senate vote. If passed, it would take aim at any means of mass communication — including magazines and Web sites — that promote eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia with punishments of up to three years in prison and more than $70,000 in fines.


The legislation was sponsored by Valérie Boyer, a conservative lawmaker from the Bouches-du-Rhône region in the south of France, and was also backed by the government’s health minister, Roselyne Bachelot. It is one of the strongest measures proposed since the 2006 death of a Brazilian model, Ana Carolina Reston, from anorexia.


“We have noticed,” Ms. Boyer said in an interview with The Associated Press, “that the sociocultural and media environment seems to favor the emergence of troubled nutritional behavior, and that is why I think it necessary to act.”


But the proposed law was criticized by the French Federation of Couture. Didier Grumbach, the federation president, told The Associated Press that it was impossible to legislate body weight. “Never will we accept in our profession that a judge decides if a young girl is skinny or not skinny,” he said. “That doesn’t exist in the world, and it will certainly not exist in France.”


With the proposed law, the French legislators are seeking to tame a murky world of some 400 sites extolling “ana” and “mia,” nicknames for anorexia and bulimia. Since 2000, such Web sites have multiplied in many languages, offering blunt tips on crash dieting, bingeing, vomiting and hiding weight loss from concerned parents.


The bill would make it illegal to “provoke a person to seek excessive weight loss by encouraging prolonged nutritional deprivation that would have the effect of exposing them to risk of death or endangering health.”


Critics from the French Socialist Party complained that the bill was vaguely worded and rushed through the lower house by the U.M.P., the conservative party of President Nicolas Sarkozy.


Eating disorder experts also expressed doubts about whether such a law would help victims or create even more demand for the sites by publicizing them.


“Ultimately, I think it’s a mistake to ban them because I think that you’re going to be hard pressed to demonstrate in a very clear way that these sites have a direct negative affect,” said Michael Levine, a psychology professor at Kenyon College in Ohio whose specialty is eating disorders and the mass media.


As written, the proposed French law does not make it clear who would be ultimately responsible for the content of such sites — the content creator or the Internet service hosting the site.


An aide to Ms. Boyer, the lawmaker, said the U.M.P. expected the proposed law to be amended to address those questions. He added that the idea was to focus on institutions that promote eating disorders, noting that “we cannot exclude fashion shows if there is a problem of health” or the death of a model.