Israel Passes Photoshop Law To Combat Anorexia 488
Hugh Pickens writes "The Atlantic reports that the Israeli parliament has passed legislation that prohibits fashion media and advertising with models who fall below the World Health Organization's standard for malnutrition banning underweight models as determined by Body Mass Index. The new law also stipulates that any ad which uses airbrushing, computer editing, or any other form of Photoshop editing to create a slimmer model must clearly state that fact. Advertising campaigns created outside of Israel must comply with the legislation's standards in order to appear in Israel. 'I realized that only legislation can change the situation,' says Rachel Adato, an Israeli parliament member with a background in medicine. 'There was no time to educate so many people, and the change had be forced on the industry. There was no time to waste, so many girls were dieting to death.' The measure has been controversial within Israel for raising the question of where free speech bumps up against the fashion industry's responsibility — and its possible harm — to its customers' psychological well-being. Donald Downs, a professor at the University of Wisconsin and an expert on the First Amendment, says that it would be very tough to pass something like Israel's law in the US Congress. 'In the US, it would be hard to justify this type of law on either legal or normative policy grounds,' says Downs. 'The Israeli law is paternalistic in that it prohibits something because of the effect it might have on others in the longer term.'"
Long term health damage... like smoking? (Score:5, Informative)
'The Israeli law is paternalistic in that it prohibits something because of the effect it might have on others in the longer term.'
Isn't this the reason we have warnings on boxes of cigarettes?
Hmmm (Score:5, Informative)
I can't readily find any data just for Israel, but I find the law's author's assertion that "We also know that the first cause of death in the age group of 15-24 is anorexia" to be highly suspect. In the US, 46% of deaths ages 15-24 are accidents (33% motor vehicles), then there's homicide, suicide, cancer & other illnesses. Anorexia is nowhere near the top as a cause of death. Israelis have cars and murders and cancer just like Americans (ok, probably less cars & murders, but still); I find it hard to believe that their stats are terribly different.
The article itself says that mortality rates are 4% for anorexia, which is bad, but surely all the 10% with eating disorders she cites don't have anorexia?
Re:Too late. (Score:5, Informative)
...mmmm....no, I think he does. One can be an anti-Semite, or one can be anti-Semitic, and they mean the same thing, essentially. It's commonly misspelled "Semetic", though, so maybe you're thinking of that.
Or you're thinking of the Semites, a Biblical term referring to the descendants of one of Noah's sons. Or you're thinking of the ethnic umbrella group, which refers to anyone who speaks a Semitic language, which is pretty much the entire Arabian peninsula since Arabic and Hebrew are the two most common. Amharic is in there, too, as well as a bunch of others. So, yes, in that sense it is ironic to say that someone criticizing the Israelis for their treatment of Palestinians is an anti-Semite.
However, in English, the term has been overwhelmingly used to refer to discrimination against Jews, so if you have a gripe with that, take it up with the late 19th century. Whether the claim of antisemitism is valid or not is another issue, but his use of the word is correct.
Re:All part of Israel's new humanitarian plan (Score:5, Informative)
Someone who is actually fit, with more muscle and lean body mass, can actually show up as unhealthy when using BMI with the way we measure it.....
Re:What about OBESE models? (Score:2, Informative)
Yes. I, at least, am aware that weight increases as the cube of height, not the square. Consequently, BMI tends to give numbers that are too high for tall people, and too low for short people. As an extreme example, many professional basketball players would be considered "obese" based on their BMI numbers, but "normal weight" based on body-fat percentage.
(Actually, because of changing body shape, it's around the 2.7th power for humans, but 3 is a better approximation to that than 2.)
Re:All part of Israel's new humanitarian plan (Score:4, Informative)
Pseudoscience, you mean. Circumcision is not connected with cancer prevention [circumstitions.com] at all. On the other hand, this is a procedure that destroys half the penile skin [circumstitions.com] (it is double-layered, keep in mind), and more precisely its most erotically sensitive bits [circumstitions.com], so it's no surprise that it is clearly linked to erectile dysfunction [menshealth.com]. Oh, how about over a hundred baby deaths [circumstitions.com], every year, in the USA alone, or life-lasting psychological effects [cirp.org]?
As a mutilated man, I'd fully support a return to Hadrian's law: a total ban, under penalty of death. Stern, but fair!
Re:Hmmm (Score:4, Informative)
The mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate associated with all causes of death for females 15-24 years old.
Source: http://www.anad.org/get-information/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/ [anad.org]
Citation: American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 152 (7), July 1995, p. 1073-1074, Sullivan, Patrick F.
Re:The real question is who finds this attractive? (Score:2, Informative)
A size 6 back then is not the same thing as a size 6 today.
Re:Too late. (Score:2, Informative)
None of these other countries claim to be, or are held up as (A) democracies on a par with the US or the nations of Europe (B) Important allies whose interests are the same as the interests of Europe and the US.
Re:Why 1st ammendment? (Score:5, Informative)