Spain curbs advertising for plastic surgery and slimming products

For the last six years the Spanish government has been very proactive in the debate surrounding overly thin models. Indeed, Madrid is the only city to have banned zero sized models on their catwalks during fashion week.

The Spanish government has now gone one step further and passed a law which bans all adverts of cosmetic surgery, slimming products, and beauty products before the watershed of 10pm.

The law basically does not allow adverts that encourage over emphasis on body image and that have a negative impact on self worth. The original proposal included a ban on adverts for low calorie food but this was rejected.

The aim of this ban is to reduce the amount of teenagers affected by mental issues such as anorexia and bulimia.  However, Spanish series on the TV also affect teenagers as they portray young skinny women who teenagers aspire too. In Spain, success and good looks are firmly linked and as a result Spain produces the most amount of aesthetic surgeries in Europe. This has become known as “cult of the body”

However, Spain has been pioneers in stopping the promotion of thin bodies. Spain has done a deal with clothing outlets to stop the smallest dummies being used as models in the shop windows.

Julie Bindel, a feminist campaigner from the UK, was interviewed by the BBC alongside Liz Dale, one of the directors of the Harley Medical Group, in regard to the new Spanish Law and what is happening in the UK. Julie believes such advertising should be banned altogether. A recent survey in the UK found that a half of all Britons in the UK would consider plastic surgery. This is an increase on ten years ago. People’s attitude towards plastic surgery has changed in that it is now the norm. Plastic surgery now generates one billion pounds and has doubled in the last four years.

It is vulnerable and insecure women who are most effected by the hard advertising of cosmetic surgery adverts and slimming products and it is these women that need protecting.

Listen to the full interview:

What do you think? Do you think the UK should follow Spain’s initiative and implement a similar law to ban adverts for slimming products, cosmetic surgery, and other beauty products?

Source: [bbc.co.uk]