Against Pro-ana Sites

The National Assembly -- the lower house of the French parliament -- has unanimously passed a bill that makes publicly inciting extreme thinness illegal whether in magazines, advertisements or on websites. The bill was proposed by Valérie Boyer who belongs to the ruling conservative UMP party and under it, those who incite others to deprive themselves of food to an excessive degree can be fined up to 30,000 euros or, if the person dies, sentenced to up to three years in prison.
The bill will go to the Senate within a few weeks.

It remains to be seen if the bill will actually help curb anorexia nervosa should it become law.

Sources:
[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/15/france.fashion
[2] http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-france-fashion-anorexia,1,7093355.story
[3] http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article3715030.ece

Not a Post Feminist World

I just came across a link on Quizlaw.com in which the author points out that we aren't really living in a post-feminist world.

"I’m used to seeing ugly misogyny in the gossip world, but aside from the usual right-wing nutjobs, I’m not as accustomed to seeing it as much in politics. However, New York Magazine ran a fascinating piece over the weekend on Hillary Clinton and the way her candidacy has brought the sexist douchebags out of the woodwork..."

Following the link which spoke about the gossip world, I reached an article which speculates about whether Ellen Page is gay -- the evidence: she apparently hasn't shaved her armpits in some film. (And, incidentally, if you're like me and have no idea who Ellen Page is, wikipedia has an article about her.)

It reminded me of an amazing post I read a few days ago about the politics of body hair by Anji in which she says:

"The hair on our heads must be our ‘crowning glory’; the rest of our bodies must be as bald as a newborn. Much of this can be attributed to the fetishisation of youth. Like glossy hair, bright eyes and unlined skin, hairlessness gives the body the appearance and feel of a young girl’s, or what I once saw described on the website of a hair removal product as a ‘prepubescent appeal’. It is curious that in a society where paedophilia is so reviled and such a huge problem, it is thought of as harmless and ordinary that men live out their paraphilic fantasies by requiring that the women they are exposed to look as young as possible.

... A woman, taught throughout her life that beauty through youth is her ultimate goal and that upon ageing her beauty dies, may feel compelled to remove every trace of adulthood within her control - and hair removal is so easy, so readily available, and she is so socialised to believe it is normal, that she reaches for the razor."

Anji's post doesn't really talk about being perceived as homosexual because of not removing body hair but I think it is interesting that to be considered a heterosexual woman one has to look a certain way. In fact to be considered a woman at all, one has to conform to various norms.

One woman discovered that the hard way: Khadijah Farmer was thrown out of a ladies' restroom Caliente Cab Company after New York's gay pride parade last June because the bouncer thought that she was a man and refused to look at her identification.

Anji's post: shutupsitdown.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/the-politics-of-body-hair/