tHE rETURN OF HEROIN CHIC

It’s no secret that body types have become “trends” Even though the idea of body types becoming trends is completely ridiculous, our society still abides by idolizing certain body types. The body positivity movement had us in the right direction but the 90s trend of “Heroin Chic” is back with a vengeance. Heroin Chic is defined as: “an extremely thin physique paired with pale skin, dark undereye circles, and often disheveled hair and clothing.” The look idolizes anorexia. According to the National Eating Disorder Association, 28.8 million Americans will experience an eating disorder within their lifetime. As time has gone on I’ve continued to watch my favorite celebrities and influencers change their bodies to fit the new fad body type. I’ve watched the Kardashians trade in their BBLs for a stick-thin physic, eventually, most celebrities have started to look the same. I think about the millions of people dealing with an eating disorder now, because yes, men have eating disorders too, and I wonder how the return of heroin chic is impacting them. I read a piece by the New York Times called “Should Patients Be Allowed to Die From Anorexia” which has also been referred to as “Letting Naomi Die” for one of my classes last semester. This piece single-handedly changed the way I viewed eating disorders. The piece discusses palliative care for an anorexia patient named Naomi, this discussion sparked controversy but as the piece shared Naomi’s harrowing journey with anorexia, as a reader I was able to understand why she wanted palliative care, she wanted to stop her suffering, and after years of trying it wasn’t worth it to her anymore. I think of Naomi’s story and how the trend of “Heroin Chic” might motivate a patient not to seek treatment and instead go for palliative care.

This week in class we discussed Mikki Kendalls Hood Feminism “Black Girls Don’t Have Eating Disorders.” Although Heroin Chic is returning, some people could be starving themselves and never get to the point of looking sick, and with looking sick becoming a trend it’s less likely to be noticed as something of concern. Mikki Kendall shares how eating disorders are in the black community. It is significantly harder for those in the black community to receive help for an eating disorder. Eating disorders in the black community are often not recognized, some eating disorder patients don’t even realize they have an eating disorder because we have one stereotype for what an eating disorder looks like: a white, cis-gendered girl, with anorexia. There are other eating disorders such as bulimia or binge eating, and the glamorization of anorexia in beauty trends takes away from people struggling with different forms of disordered eating. Now that Heroin chic is back I fear we won’t recognize eating disorders at all. When it’s a trend people assume you look good, that healthy is skinny. The return of Heroin Chic is just another form of oppression monopolizing off of female insecurities, and insecurities that only exist because growing up as a girl the media continually screams in your face that you aren’t good enough. If we want to change the world for ourselves and our daughters we have to challenge these oppressive trends and stereotypes. We need to talk about all forms of disordered eating, not just anorexia, and we need to provide accessible help to all communities. The cycle will just repeat itself and each day we allow the cycle to repeat we let true feminism die.