The French Protest "Perfection"

The French are known for their fashion, their wine and their attitude. However, they are also becoming known for progressive action against the perpetuation of negative body images in magazines, on the runway and online.

Jesse Epstein directs a op-ed piece for the New York Times this week about Sex, Lies and Photoshop where she reports on a bill introduce last month by the National Assembly of France, which would make it a crime for anyone, from pro-anorexia Web sites to advertisers to editors, to publicly incite "excessive thinness" or extreme dieting. Newsweek also covered the story here.

In the video piece, Epstein cites a University of Missouri study that reported how looking at women's magazine for 1 -3 minutes has a negative impact on a women's self esteem. We all know that it takes a lot longer to read a fashion magazine - so think about the overall impact of that, it's huge.

Epstein also says in the piece, "Whatever is being advertised to us, will never actually make anyone perfect because perfect beauty can only be achieved with an airbrush." And then asks the provocative question, "If not even the models themselves can live up to their own image, what does this mean?"

I'd like to see more of this action coming from government as a means to thwart dangerous and unrealistic body image ideals that infiltrates our society. While I understand that fashion is often seen as art (and I certainly enjoy a lovely pair of stilettos from time to time) it is the size of the canvas for which that art is displayed that continues to concern me.

Make sure to watch the New York Times video and check out Jesse's other clips here.