Victoria Beckham Bans Skinny Models (Except Herself)

Much has been made of the link between the skinny (often too skinny) models we see in campaigns, on the runways, in magazines, and eatings disorders. The logic goes that women are presented with unrealistically skinny models and feel pressured to look like them. But never before have government policies been enforced to prevent too-skinny models (or models that have been digitally altered to be too thin) from being used. In a landmark decision, Israel passed a law on Monday that bans the use of underweight models in local ads and publications. It marks the first attempt by any government to tackle the fashion industry's connection to the growing rate of eating disorders, the AP is reporting. The new law will require that models produce a medical report, dating back no longer than three months, at each shoot to prove they are not malnourished by World Health Organization standards. By those standards, models with a body mass index of less than 18.5 will be considered malnourished and will be prevented from working. What's more, any advertisement published for the Israeli market will have to clearly disclose if the model used was digitally altered to appear thinner.