Slashdot Mirror


Israel Passes Photoshop Law To Combat Anorexia

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.'"

2 of 488 comments (clear)

  1. Re:All part of Israel's new humanitarian plan by Mashiki · · Score: 1, Troll

    So if I build a nice tall fence around your city/town, you'd freely and with pleasure either tolerate it or move away without feeling even the slightest bit forced?

    That depends, are you sending women, children and men to try and blow up other other people in cafe's, bus stops, and shopping malls?

    The wall did it's job, when was the last time there was a suicide bombing by the palestinians. And in other cases where the palestinians were sniping at israeli civilians again it did it's job, and very well.

    --
    Om, nomnomnom...
  2. Re:All part of Israel's new humanitarian plan by cayenne8 · · Score: 0, Troll
    And besides...who wants to watch a bunch of fat chicks modelling clothes.

    I dunno how bad the obesity thing is in Israel vs the US, but over here...I don't think having girls (and guys) seeing non-obese models as something to try to emulate as being a bad thing.

    What normal guy wouldn't want to be getting some from a Victoria Secrets model?

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........