After the controversy around the health record deemed “sexist” of Bouches-du-Rhône, the departmental council decided to withdraw them and to reissue others. Cost of the operation: € 33,000.
We already knew the stereotype of girls in pink and boys in blue. This was without counting on the new visuals of the 2015 health notebooks published by the Departmental Council of Bouches-du-Rhône, and almost immediately withdrawn. On the cover photo chosen by the previous executive, we see in the foreground a little boy who measures his height and happy to show that he will still grow. In the background, a little girl, head down, estimates her waist measurement with a seamstress tape and looks worried about gaining weight.
The controversy began on April 16 on social networks, where avenues are rising to denounce the sexism of the photo. Marie Donzel, Breton business leader and known for her feminist commitment, reacts on the France Televisions blog.
@olivierveran During this time, in the hospitals of the 13th, very nice new health cards are distributed. pic.twitter.com/9LadDcFPET
– Lawra (@LawraProut) April 16, 2015
The message was quickly relayed on Twitter where a petition was launched to request the withdrawal of these health cards.
9 out of 10 people with anorexia nervosa are girls, rejection of overweight children: sign the petition! https://t.co/c3k578ryc5
– SOS Psychophobia (@SOSPsychophobie) April 18, 2015
A false note in a climate where the fight against anorexia has been displayed as a government commitment. “The visual chosen to illustrate the last edition and validated by the previous executive appears inappropriate with regard to public health issues, particularly related to the fight against anorexia for young girls”, recognizes the departmental council. “This is why Martine Vassal, new President, has decided to withdraw all copies of the health record. A new document with another visual will be published as soon as possible, ”concludes the regional body.
Aware of the public health issues undermined by the health record, Martine Vassal has decided to have it reissued http://t.co/iWTNN7NQhf
– CD13 (@ le_cd13) April 20, 2015
“The cost of each book is one euro, as we publish around 33,000 copies each year, the cost of this reissue is 33,000 euros,” indicates a spokesperson for the Departmental Council.
“We can consider in a hyper feminist spirit, that the little girl who measures her height is something that could translate a kind of discrimination between man and woman but this is not at all the case”, explains Michel Amiel , former vice-president of Bouches-du-Rhône, delegate for child protection. Words to which reacted the association Osez le feminisme which offers its help in the development of the next health notebooks.
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