Shifts in beauty trends, diet culture and social media influence are intensifying pressures on women’s bodies and self-image.
Body image and beauty standards for women have long shifted like fashion trends—one year in, the next out, often cycling every decade. In recent years, however, Americans have witnessed a notable change: a move away from body positivity, and the resurfacing of ultra-thin ideals, sometimes described as “heroin chic.” Social media posts by celebrities, influencers and everyday users alike increasingly mention dissolving their BBLs and turning to drugs such as Ozempic to lose weight.
This trend in beauty standards has emerged alongside a broader political shift. Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has experienced a rise in conservative extremism, with groups like the Proud Boys and ICE impersonators using intimidation and violence to achieve political aims. Between 2013 and 2021, domestic terrorism cases in the U.S. rose by 357 percent—a surge criminologist Gary LaFree links to Trump’s 2016 election and the ensuing period of polarization and ideological conflict, according to research with the Global Terrorism Database.
In the past year, Ozempic, initially developed for diabetes management, has become a popular weight-loss tool among celebrities and upper-class circles.
“You can spend $1,000 a month and be thin,” says Dr. Caroline Heldman, Ph.D., author, journalist, executive director of the Representation Project, and political science professor at Occidental College.
Heldman warns that women are sacrificing their health to fit an increasingly narrow standard of beauty. Despite its widespread use, Ozempic’s efficacy for weight loss remains under-studied.
The issue is also intersectional: Beauty standards today are not only classist but racist. “About 300 years ago, we started to see the rise of white, thin purity as a way to differentiate white women from Black women with voluptuous bodies,” Heldman says.
Research from the University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food, Policy and Health shows that people with larger bodies, particularly women, are often perceived as lazy or unintelligent—a narrative dating back to colonial times. European Enlightenment thinkers reinforced this, defining “excessive consumption as an obstacle to higher thought,” and linking fatness to Blackness and slavery, according to a summary of Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings.
Heldman emphasizes that thin supremacy is intertwined with white supremacy, and today’s diet industry perpetuates this racialized ideal: Fatness continues to be associated with inferiority. “Our whole culture puts all of this pressure on women to be thin and beautiful and is presenting standards that are so unobtainable that [they] have to spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars to get there through fillers, plastic surgery and Ozempic.”
The body positivity movement, which began gaining traction in the 2010s, traces its roots to Black feminist and fat justice movements. Over time, however, it has been criticized for being whitewashed.
Still, the movement initially led fashion and beauty industries to feature more average-sized and plus-sized women: In the spring/summer 2020 runway season, 86 plus-sized models walked in major city shows—almost double the number from the previous year. Even chain-store mannequins reflected more diverse body types.
But with today’s nostalgia-driven return of Y2K aesthetics and 2000s trends, comes low-waisted jeans and the glorification of “heroin chic” bodies, both online and in celebrity culture. Historically, substances like heroin, cigarettes and cocaine were used to suppress appetite; today, drugs like Ozempic have taken their place.
“This is a response to the rising power of women and part of the DEI backlash,” Heldman says.
As diversity initiatives face pushback, white conservative ideals are gaining prominence. “Tradwives”—women embracing a modernized version of stay-at-home motherhood—are gaining visibility on platforms like TikTok.
Contrary to appearances, tradwives remain a small, mostly religious and white Republican group, long existing in the U.S., says Heldman. As of 2024, about 37 percent of Republican women, who make up only 26 percent of U.S. women, are returning to traditional gender roles, according to the Institute for Family Studies.
But social media and Trump’s public promotion of conservative values have given these women a platform to market tradwifery as glamorous and attainable, encouraging followers to invest in plastic surgery and other beauty modifications to meet these ideals.
“It’s the reemergence of overt patriarchy in a way that we haven’t seen since the 1950s,” Heldman says. “For the very first time in half a century, we’re seeing a very sharp reversal.… Young men are actually more sexist than their fathers.”
Far-right male influencers, including Andrew Tate, further promote these regressive gender norms, urging women to structure their lives around serving male partners.
Heldman attributes this shift in part to the “manosphere,” a digital ecosystem promoting misogyny and normalizing sexualized violence against women. While Trump did not create this subculture, he has harnessed its influence to bolster his political power, notably through tactics such as the birther movement.
“[Trump] is just tapping into this profound fear of a shifting social order amongst that one third of Americans who very tightly hold onto these bigoted beliefs. So he’s just tapping into what’s already there, and the manosphere made it much easier for him,” Heldman says.
The resulting pressure on women to conform to narrowly defined beauty and behavior standards has serious consequences. Psychological distress from fatphobia and societal pressures contributes to eating disorders, which are the deadliest mental illnesses. Women are disproportionately affected, with rates about double those of men. According to research, a woman dies from an eating disorder every 52 minutes, with causes ranging from starvation and organ failure to suicide.
Eating disorders also impair cognitive function, negatively impacting academic and professional performance. Studies show untreated disorders correlate with lower GPAs among college students.
I’ve experienced the dark side of eating disorders. I suffered from anorexia, as did my close friend, who had to be hospitalized for several months. Her heart slowed and she had to be put on an eating tube. We were 12 years old, pushed to near death by our fear of being considered “fat” or “ugly.”
Diet culture, deeply embedded in patriarchal norms, pressures women to prioritize appearance over achievement. Naomi Wolf calls it a form of “political sedation” in The Beauty Myth, keeping women distracted and divided, undermining social and political resistance.
“Companies try to make money off of women’s body hatred, shame and dissatisfaction, much of which they create, regardless of who’s in office,” Heldman notes.
The beauty industry, a global market exceeding $400 billion, profits from these pressures, and efforts to regulate it have been minimal under both Republican and Democratic administrations. Choice feminism has further complicated matters by normalizing toxic beauty standards as a matter of personal choice.
“… Capitalists colonize feminism,” Heldman says. “Anytime you had a critique about beauty culture, the patriarchy and capitalism, people … would pop out of the woodwork and say, ‘No, that’s just a woman’s choice.’”
Heldman challenges the notion that extreme dieting, cosmetic procedures or risky drug use is truly a matter of choice, framing it instead as a survival strategy within a patriarchal system. She urges women to reject the beauty industry’s narrative.
“The beauty industry is a game, and it’s rigged against women; it’s premised on a set of lies that encourage unhealthy lifestyles,” Heldman says. “The sooner that we can move away from that paradigm and mindset and start evaluating our value based upon our own values. … The happier and more fulfilled we will be. Step out of the game.”
Great Job Sarah Arencibia & the Team @ Ms. Magazine Source link for sharing this story.
