Unless you’re living under a rock, you know what a GLP-1 is.
I can’t be the only one that has noticed the resurgence of WICKED thin celebrities, or influencers on skinny tok. It seems like everywhere you go, there’s a reminder of what your body looks like.
Do we think this is a coincidence? I don’t.
For starters a GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists) is a class of medications originally used to treat type 2 diabetes, but has found a glamorous new home helping people struggling with their weight.
These medications mimic a naturally occurring hormone in the body that helps regulate blood sugar. They work by influencing your body’s signal for “fullness” which can reduce craving or stabilize your appetite.
Look, I’m not saying patients haven’t seen improvements when taking these medications, I understand that a GLP-1 can be helpful and offer benefits to some individuals. People with diabetes, metabolic conditions, or severe food related cravings have reported real improvements in their health and quality of life when taking these medications. But the way these drugs are being pushed could be fueling a negative wave of body pressure.
It seems like every day there’s a new company promoting these things: Ozempic, Hers, Ro, Mounjaro and Zepbound just to name a few. And they’re all accompanied by your favorite actress, comedian, or athlete. And it’s impacting our culture’s body image and mental health
And the publicity is constant.
During the superbowl last month, there were three different GLP-1 ads. I’m pretty sure I saw more commercials for weight loss injections than food delivery services. Which says a lot about our culture today.
At the same time these medications have been exploding in popularity, something else is happening too. Thin is the trend again.
It seems like our body culture is one big pendulum, swinging back and forth every few years to fit our culture’s agenda, and every so often we can see cultural movements towards thinness.
In the 1920s it was the “flappers” , in the 60s it was twiggy, and in the 90s heroin chic. These “trends” throughout the years are what helped us identify eating disorders and the damage food can have on a person’s mental health.
It just feels like another swing, just this time with new technology and familiar faces.
Therapists and researchers are already beginning to voice concerns about what this could mean for body image and mental health. There are already millions of Americans who are victims of eating disorders, which is one of the highest mortality rates of any mental health illness. That in itself should give us pause before we celebrate another cultural milestone that celebrates thinness again.
The pressure to be smaller does not just affect how people see their bodies. It can affect how people move in their everyday life. Some therapists say that people struggling with body image often physically make themselves smaller, curling inward or trying not to “take up space.” That pressure to shrink is not just about appearance. It can become about voice, confidence, and feeling like you deserve to exist comfortably in your own body.
At the same time, these medications do not exist in a vacuum.
They are in a culture that already pressures people into thinking they need to be smaller.
When weight loss drugs become more of a trend than a medical tool, it reinforces the body standards that have hurt people for years.
But at the end of the day, the bigger issue may not be the GLP-1s themselves.
It could be the culture around it.
We live in a world where appearance is constantly being monetized. Celebrities and industries make money off of the fact that we think our bodies should be a certain way. When we add a new drug to this system, it is not going to be purely a matter of medicine for very long. It is going to be part of the same system that is telling us that we need to be a certain size to be acceptable.
GLP 1 drugs may be very good drugs for people who need them. But when we talk about when they came out and how we’ve fallen back in love with thinness, it is difficult to say whether we’re really treating a health issue or if we’re creating a new version of the same old pressures on our bodies.
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Great post! I appreciate you acknowledging that some GLP-1 users use it for weight loss because they can’t on their own; it’s definitely important to note that.
This topic has definitely been on my mind recently, especially following the red carpet at this year’s Oscars. I definitely agree that thin is “back” and that GLP-1s pose some risks for the current culture surrounding body image.