Israeli law aims to make ultrathin models obsolete
JERUSALEM (AP) - When Margaux Stelman began modeling a few months ago, she always had her sister Aline in mind.
Aline was an ex-model who died three years ago after a long battle with anorexia, a common affliction of models trying to look thinner and thinner - and girls trying to look like them.
Now, thanks to a new Israeli law that prohibits the employment of underweight fashion models, Stelman says she feels protected from the traditional pressures of an industry notorious for encouraging extremes in thinness. The law sets weight minimums with the aim of discouraging anorexia and bulimia, eating disorders that affect mostly young women, who go on extreme diets and are unable to eat normally.
"This disease is something that's very close to me," the 21-year-old university student from Belgium said at a recent photo shoot, the country's first since the law took effect last week. "Doing the exact opposite, showing girls that (they) can be healthy and be a model anyway, it's really something I want to show."
The Israeli law, passed by parliament last year, is the first of its kind. The United States and England have guidelines, but their fashion industry is self-regulated. Other governments have taken steps to prevent "size zero" medical problems but have shied away from legislation.
Israel, like other countries, is obsessed by models. International supermodel Bar Refaeli is considered a national hero. Refaeli, an Israeli who has graced the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, among others, is not unnaturally thin.
The new law requires models to produce a medical report no older than three months at every shoot for the Israeli market, stating that they are not malnourished by World Health Organization standards. The U.N. agency relies on the body mass index, calculated by factors of weight and height. WHO says a body mass index below 18.5 indicates malnutrition. According to that standard, a woman 1.72 meters tall (5-feet-8) should weigh no less than 54 kilograms (119 pounds).
Critics say the body mass index is flawed and cannot be applied equally to everyone. For example, many professional athletes fall outside the health boundaries set by the scale, because of their height or muscle mass.
Stelman is 1.7 meters tall (5-foot-7) and says she weighs around 60 kilograms (132 pounds) - but she isn't quite sure.
"I never weigh myself. I don't care. I don't even have a scale," she said. "Weight is just a number. As long as I feel good and healthy - that's all that matters."
One of the main supporters of the new legislation is Adi Barkan, one of Israel's top model agents.
In 30 years of work, he says he has seen young women become skinnier and sicker while struggling to fit the shrinking mold of what the industry considers attractive.
He said Europe's fashion has started shifting back. "They understand that something has to change," said Barkan, noting the rampant use of Photoshop, the popular picture editing computer program, to make models look even skinnier.
The Israeli law requires that any advertisement published for the Israeli market must clearly disclose whether the models' appearance was altered by digital manipulation.
Israeli designer Keren Saban said she prefers models who display her clothes to be "someone who looks like a woman."
"A woman's look is not something you need to be ashamed of, just the contrary," said Saban. "That is what an item should look like when we sell clothes to women."
Aline was an ex-model who died three years ago after a long battle with anorexia, a common affliction of models trying to look thinner and thinner - and girls trying to look like them.
Now, thanks to a new Israeli law that prohibits the employment of underweight fashion models, Stelman says she feels protected from the traditional pressures of an industry notorious for encouraging extremes in thinness. The law sets weight minimums with the aim of discouraging anorexia and bulimia, eating disorders that affect mostly young women, who go on extreme diets and are unable to eat normally.
"This disease is something that's very close to me," the 21-year-old university student from Belgium said at a recent photo shoot, the country's first since the law took effect last week. "Doing the exact opposite, showing girls that (they) can be healthy and be a model anyway, it's really something I want to show."
The Israeli law, passed by parliament last year, is the first of its kind. The United States and England have guidelines, but their fashion industry is self-regulated. Other governments have taken steps to prevent "size zero" medical problems but have shied away from legislation.
Israel, like other countries, is obsessed by models. International supermodel Bar Refaeli is considered a national hero. Refaeli, an Israeli who has graced the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, among others, is not unnaturally thin.
The new law requires models to produce a medical report no older than three months at every shoot for the Israeli market, stating that they are not malnourished by World Health Organization standards. The U.N. agency relies on the body mass index, calculated by factors of weight and height. WHO says a body mass index below 18.5 indicates malnutrition. According to that standard, a woman 1.72 meters tall (5-feet-8) should weigh no less than 54 kilograms (119 pounds).
Critics say the body mass index is flawed and cannot be applied equally to everyone. For example, many professional athletes fall outside the health boundaries set by the scale, because of their height or muscle mass.
Stelman is 1.7 meters tall (5-foot-7) and says she weighs around 60 kilograms (132 pounds) - but she isn't quite sure.
"I never weigh myself. I don't care. I don't even have a scale," she said. "Weight is just a number. As long as I feel good and healthy - that's all that matters."
One of the main supporters of the new legislation is Adi Barkan, one of Israel's top model agents.
In 30 years of work, he says he has seen young women become skinnier and sicker while struggling to fit the shrinking mold of what the industry considers attractive.
He said Europe's fashion has started shifting back. "They understand that something has to change," said Barkan, noting the rampant use of Photoshop, the popular picture editing computer program, to make models look even skinnier.
The Israeli law requires that any advertisement published for the Israeli market must clearly disclose whether the models' appearance was altered by digital manipulation.
Israeli designer Keren Saban said she prefers models who display her clothes to be "someone who looks like a woman."
"A woman's look is not something you need to be ashamed of, just the contrary," said Saban. "That is what an item should look like when we sell clothes to women."
I think this is a good thing. I wish we would do that here. Too many young girls (and grown women as well!) see these models in the magazines and feel inferior if they don't look just like them - which has been shown to lead to eating disorders and other low self esteem issues.
Oy vey
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 @deadcandance we are also the only animals that live to eat instead of eating to live. legislation is not needed, people need to vote with their money and not buy products advertised by unhealthy skinny models.
 @Keysontheright Problems with this above notion of thinking Key is the fact young children who do not have their parents to tell them what healthy nutrition should be is the bigger issue. Honestly, on the flip side of that people these days who are overweight they are ostracized,...of course the movement of pushing the beautiful the way you are mess is also a serious problem - cause I am sorry you can be height weight proportional but if you cannot tell me being below six feet tall and weighing over 200+ lbs as a male is pretty ... not to mention a woman as sorry their frames are different than mens bulk so they also should not be pushing much past 140 .... the two girls above are a jaw droppers with those eyes! ... but I don't see the disclaimer that the picture is 'unaltered' when my wife see's the magazines in the store and thinks her putting on a extra 3-4 lbs like she does every winter is 'terrible' plus I remind her and have shown her what photoshop can do and to pretty much assume EVERY magazine on that shelf is 'tailored' | ofcourse she may think that is just a husbands bias but I intend when we have children that they grow up knowing the 'market manipulation' those companies they do