Actually It Is Okay to Call Out Celebrities for Being Too Thin
Being skinny and having an eating disorder are two completely different things and that means they have completely different social protection.
TW: eating disorders
Celebrities are getting way too fucking skinny, and I am tired of them getting defensive about it.
“Don’t talk about women’s bodies” is meant for healthy people and private figures. Public figures who are exhibiting mental disorders = not the same fucking thing.
There needs to be a very clear social distinction that yes, there are authentically skinny people and that skinny presents in different ways. But there are also people who have EATING DISORDERS. They are not skinny, they are emaciated. That is a critically important distinction, and this distinction needs to be noted in the public discourse surrounding celebrities and bodies.
Skinny people are not oppressed. But the one little argument we actually could stand on is that some people are naturally quite skinny yet face accusations of having an eating disorder when they’re actually healthy. That idea got traction in the feminist discourse of body positivity and, as a result, it became taboo to talk about anyone’s skinniness, regardless of how they got there. The “mind your business” attitude that was meant to protect women of all sizes from having to justify their natural bodies got co-opted by people to shield themselves from valid criticism.
“Skinny by nature” and “skinny by force of eating disorder” are two completely different ball games. Skinny by nature should be left alone. Skinny by eating disorder needs to be addressed - not just as a risk to the person but also as a risk to the public. Let’s not forget that people die from anorexia, like Karen Carpenter. It is genuinely serious that emaciated thin is back, and it needs a social intervention.
Every celebrity is on Ozempic or a counterpart by a different name. Some have managed to get to a healthy place and stay there, others are taking it too damn far. We are seeing celebrities get to sickenly thin places, but this taboo on “commenting on women’s bodies” seems to keep shushing people on the topic. People of all sizes are speaking up about the alarming trend of celebrity thiness: Kelly Osbourn, Ariana Grande, Meghan Trainor, etc. And they keep getting shut down by people, and the celebrities themselves, saying, “don’t comment on women’s bodies”. As a feminist, I say that it is entirely okay to call out something that gets dangerous. The effects of malnourishment are severe and severely compromise physical and cognitive function. And again: people can die from it. It’s dangerous for the celebrity, and it’s dangerous to the public for emaciation to be normalized.
Like it or not, but celebrities drive culture. Whatever is popular among them becomes popular across the Western world and media. If being emaciated becomes the norm, it’s going to cause a ripple effect where everyday people resort to unhealthy habits to make themselves thin. It also contributes to a dangerous threshold of a beauty standard, and many people already struggle with self-esteem as it is. We’ve been here already with the toxic beauty standards of the early 2000s, and we saw the prominence of eating disorders rise with it.
Kelly Osbourn appeared in public looking emaciated. People spoke up to express concern, and they were promptly attacked by her. But Kelly, sweetie, the way you look is unacceptable. While losing your father is hard, it does not absolve the plain fact that you are unhealthy.
Ariana Grande is another one. She is way too thin, and as one of the most followed people on Instagram and a constant fixture in celebrity news, it sends a disturbing message that being emaciated is okay. That is not her natural, healthy body; she’s been in the public eye for a long time, so we know what she’s supposed to look like.
Meghan Trainor is another one. She has lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time. Obviously, more aggravating in her case, given that her rise to fame was based on a song about body positivity and accepting herself as a “bigger” girl. She’s also a figure that’s very prevalent on TikTok, meaning she has a lot of eyes on her. Further damage is that she tells people her weight loss is from fitness. Please. Skinny from fitness looks very different from skinny by Ozempic.
Something else that I think nicely emphasizes my point is the photo I used for this post. I didn’t even have to post their bodies; just from their faces and collar bones, you can tell they are too thin. That’s how emaciated they are. But we’re assholes for saying something?
A society that stands to suffer harm from someone has a right to speak up. Constantly projecting an unhealthy image and promoting unrealistic body standards is dangerous. And the fact that people are weaponizing feminism to promote a sick and harmful standard of body image is fucked up. We have seen this before with the rise of EDs in the early 2000s, so we cannot plead ignorance here. We have to learn from history and call this shit out now.