*Laws Against Pro-Ana? C'est possible?*

In an LA times article written last spring by Geraldine Baum, the possibility of making pro-ana actions illegal was debated.

“Blogs, websites and ads that induce ‘excessive thinness’ could bring down fines and jail time on their makers if the Senate passes pending legislation. Judges would make the call….“Too thin” may soon be defined in France by judges who would be asked to enforce new legislation aimed at websites, blogs and fashion advertising that encourage eating disorders among girls.”

The bill was passed a few weeks later. Though it was heavily debated, the defining decision factor was the way in which the websites advise individuals on how to lie to their doctors, suggest the easiest foods to vomit, and encourage one another to torture themselves.

Some feel that this type of law is prejudice against a disease, I believe this is an entirely inaccurate claim. The idea behind the creation of this law is to discourage the PROMOTION and GLAMORIZATION of eating disorders and unobtainable images to the mass public. Unfortunately, I do not think this would pass so well in the US. One would think that these types of writings do not apply as freedom of speech or expression, yet they do. I never realized how fine a line it was between a making a death threat and asking for one until I began dealing with pro-ana sites. Furthermore, it is difficult to find substantial evidence that these websites are causing deaths. In an interview Baum conducts with Susan Scafidi, an expert in fashion law and professor at Fordham Law School, Scafidi points out the following dilemma:

“We do ban advertising of smoking in the U.S. and we take smoking into consideration for movie ratings,” she noted. “But we know there is a clear link between smoking and lung cancer. No one has yet established a connection between images in magazines and skinny girls.”

I just don’t know about that. After reading statistics on blogs about media's effects on society and the behind the scenes of it all, not to mention through my own research posted throughout my blog I find it rather hard to believe that this is true.