i’ll take murderers for $500 please

by Diego Leiva

Published: April 20, 2008

The French Parliament has recently outlawed the promotional use of images of people who appear to be too thin. Business owners who employ anorexic-looking models may face up to 2 years in prison and fines that could reach $47,000 - because, in the words of the bill’s author, “It’s time for public action against this scourge!”

If resources weren’t scarce, then I would applaud the French government’s concern with the health of its citizens and support the resulting intervention – if resources weren’t scarce.

I am certain that if the media pummeled us with images of women in size 12 dresses the number of cases of anorexia would decline. To those who believe that images don’t influence behavior, I would ask them to explain the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on advertising during Super Bowl Sunday.

However, the question is not, will a government crackdown on pictures of skeleton-like women reduce the number of cases of eating disorders, but should the government get involved in the War on Eating Disorders? And the answer is – no.

At least not until the War on Rape is won, and definitely not until the War on Murder is won. Let’s not forget the War on Child Abuse, the War on Spousal Abuse and the War on the Abuse of the Elderly. Did I mention fraud? As in securities fraud, mortgage fraud, insurance fraud, identity theft, etc.

You see, anorexia can never be in the same league as the before mentioned crimes because it’s an affliction that is self-inflicted. One decides not to eat and then suffers the consequences. On the other hand, when was the last time someone forced themselves to get raped? That scenario doesn’t exist - and if it did it would be called consensual sex. Similarly, when was the last time someone said, “How can I invest my nest egg with an Enron-type company that will leave me penniless at age 65 and forced to work as a Wal-Mart greeter until I die?” Again, nobody does that.

Therefore, so long as conniving individuals can deprive the populous of life, liberty or property, it is the government’s responsibility to devote its resources to fighting them. Or could you honestly look your dead son in the eye and say, “Your murderer may get away but they nailed the editor of Elle.”

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