When skinny becomes sick, healthy needs to become an act of rebellion

Photo by Sandra Seitamaa on Unsplash

From the beginnings of time elites of the society (royals, aristocracy, and later celebrities) were pursuing things that were inaccessible to common, every-day folks.

When regular people were starving and scraping to put anything into a pot over fire, it was en vogue to be overweight or obese – excessive roundness of the bellies indicated access to excess of food and with that – status.

When commons were farming outside, and got whipped by the sun on the daily basis, the aristocracy was casually strolling thru the parks covering their hands with gloves and their faces with lacey-umbrellas to stay chalk-pale and untouched by sunrays.

When corporate workers in the second half of 20^th century were stuck in cubicles under fluorescent lightbulbs it was en vogue to show a bit of sun tan. The real sun tan was of course most desired – showing ability to afford time off and lavish vacation (time and money, baby!) when everybody else was stuck working their butts off from dawn to dusk. In a pinch a tanning salon could work, but the idea, again, was to reach for what was not easily accessible for masses.

The same was happening with weight and body image: generations of women were dieting in an attempt to pursue skinny look: advertised for many; promoted by selected few gracing covers of the magazines.
But let’s not fool ourselves: models, actresses, fitness celebrities (remember TV aerobic shows?) were merely faces and bodies selling and promoting this “inspirational carrot”. They were there to sell a dream, and drive sales of everything from diet shakes to fitness books and leg warmers.
Buy this diet program and maybe you will end up being as skinny as so and so.
Buy these leg warmers and maybe you will end up being as trendy as so and so.
Billions of dollars were spent; countless pounds were lost – at least temporarily, and God only knows how many women were permanently damaged in the process.

Body positivity movement came around in the 21^st century, and “big and beautiful” was celebrated. The raise of boldly obese celebrities who were proud of their look joined hands with HAES (Healthy At Every Size) dietitians who also gained some traction and visibility, and voices raising alarm over normalization of obesity – which still may come with very real health risks, no matter how we talk about it – were shushed away.

As the lines were blurred and seemingly – for a very short moment – skinny, curvaceous and obese were celebrated, all at the same time – I thought that maybe we had a chance to break away from the chains of super skinny and give women who are not built to be size 2 some breathing space.
I also thought that maybe, just maybe, on the other side of the spectrum, we would be able to heal conversations about obesity – and talk about it as a serious medical issue needing attention, without shaming and belittling women in the process.
And – oh, wouldn’t that be amazing? – maybe we would witness the pendulum stopping somewhere between super skinny and morbidly obese to make room for just healthy --- honoring realistic women’s sizes, with all the nuances and with respect for changes that women’s bodies go during a life-span, and weight fluctuations that frequently accompany these changes.

We had a real opportunity to reclaim some level of sanity, when it came to weight and body image, and instead we entered an uncharted territory of not talking about it at all. Under the disguise of “giving women freedom to just be” and “not criticizing any women’s body” and allowing women “to express who they want to be” we were and are expected to keep our mouths shut, even if our fellow-women are doing something that is unhealthy and absolutely damaging to their health and bodies. How did we, women, ended up buying it as a good thing? What kind of twisted logic made us see that as a “supportive” thing?

And then GLP-1s spilled all over the developed world.  We entered true Wild West of medicine, and suddenly what was achievable only for celebrities and influencers – namely skinny look, became available for masses as well. With time these meds got cheaper, and skinny jabs became easier to access.

I am not sure what the next “inspirational carrot” is going to be, but the “skinny” offered to us today has raised its’ ugliest head yet. What we see in Hollywood and among celebrities today, is so skinny that it makes “heroin chic” from 90s look almost-healthy. What we see today is so sick, so emaciated, that it is hard to overlook clinical markers for a full blown malnutrition diagnosis, and – most likely – an eating disorder hiding in the shadows.
It is as if skinny from the 90s lashed out with a furious desire for a revenge, after seeing that bit of progress that was made towards body-inclusivity.
And thanks goodness many women out there are not buying it.
Maybe the “skinny agenda” finally went too far.

From YouTube to IG, women are breaking the chains of silence and start pointing that this trend is “scary”, “unhealthy” and “disturbing”. Many try to walk that thin line between pointing specific celebrities without criticizing them directly, but the message is getting louder.  
It is still difficult and delicate, but we should talk.
Actually, we should scream bloody murder when our fellow women end up hurting themselves to meet absurd and obscene entertainment expectations.
We should rally against young girls internalizing disturbingly skinny looks after looking up to their role models. Maybe somebody will push back and say it isn’t my business, but the reality is that – if nothing changes – in 15 years these young girls of today will end up in my office with a diagnosis of eating disorder. So sorry – it is my business.
Maybe we should make it clear that we recognize entertainment’s funny mirrors, and we are ready to break some glass.
Maybe when we collectively reject it, they will stop pushing it down out throats.

And here is one more thing, much more important than looks: we, women are living in strange times. Our rights are challenged and we may need to protest, rally and unite again and again in order to demand changes to better ourselves. These fights will take a lot of stamina, and at the very least we need to be strong enough to be able to hold up a piece of cardboard with a protest slogan on it.