Inciting skinniness? France is on thin ice

People tend to view France as culturally superior, cowardly or just plain silly. I think of them as all three at once, which is why I love the country so much.

Say what you will about the country, you have to admit that its latest move is a bold one. The French government is trying to pass a bill that would punish any means of mass communication that promotes eating disorders.

It's the least they could do, really. These are the people who have popularized cheese, chocolate, wine ... and high-fashion models who could not possibly consume any of those.

The law is really targeting Web sites that give tips on how to be dangerously thin. There are pages devoted to "my friend ana" (anorexia) and "mia" (bulimia), with such extreme advice as how to eat just an apple a day. Under the new law, if you're found guilty of "inciting others to deprive themselves of food," you can be jailed or fined up to $71,000.

How do they incite? I didn't attempt to translate the French sites, although I do know that "pomme" is "apple." America has plenty of its own "thinspirational" Web sites, anyway. I visited one that insisted it was meant only to deter people from eating when they're not hungry. Then, it went on to contradict that with catchy sayings such as:

• • Your Stomach Isn't Grumbling . . . It's Applauding!

• • Skip Dinner . . . Be Thinner.

• • Thin Is a Skill.

• • Do or Do Not. There Is No Try.

OK, that last tidbit is a quote from Yoda, and it's good to remember that no matter what weight you are. But, in general, the mind-set is disturbing -- and makes me feel fat.

The French law means well, but the problem is: How do you define "extreme thinness"? The president of the French Federation of Couture opposes the bill, saying, "Never will we accept in our profession that a judge decides if a young girl is skinny or not skinny."

In Madrid, undernourished models are banned from the runways. In Milan, they are required to provide a medical certificate.

In Britain, the Telegraph newspaper is all over the shrinkage trend. It reports that magazines are retouching photos of models to look less gaunt than they really are. It seems like just yesterday that Kate Winslet was kicking up a fuss about her thighs being slimmed for the cover of GQ, but now a spokesman for Conde Nast confirms that if a model shows up for a shoot underweight, they manipulate the image to look "a little bit fuller."

Women are suffering from "drunkorexia": They're skipping meals, instead spending their allotted daily calories on cocktails.

These are all very privileged problems to have, when you consider that much of the world is starving involuntarily. But that doesn't make it a less-real problem, even for people with all the advantages. Donatella Versace's daughter Allegra -- heiress to Gianni's fortune -- has struggled with anorexia, and Olivia Newton-John's daughter revealed to People magazine last week that she is recovered from it.

At the other end of the spectrum, Americans are still overeating with gusto. Sixty-seven percent of men are considered overweight, while 62 percent of women are.

It's hard to say which is worse -- the epidemic of young women obsessed with not eating, or the majority of the country, which is mindlessly eating too much. As the "thinspirations" author puts it, "Watch other people eat!! You don't need that food. They are feeding their fat bodies and they're getting fatter!!! You can see them growing!!! How repulsive!"

I hate to say it, but she kind of has a point.

If there's a middle ground, I'm not aware of it. How many people can honestly say they have no issues with food?