I am so sick of Ozempic. Actually, no —I’m sick of the people who are outright lying about taking it. We’ve spent the last however many years embracing body positivity, calling out brands that don’t, destigmatizing descriptors like “plus-size”, and not using positive reinforcement to compliment unhealthy weight loss. But with fillers, filters, and FaceTune constantly prevailing, we now also have to deal with the meteoric rise of Ozempic, the drug created to help manage Type 2 diabetes that’s being used as the new miracle weight loss remedy.
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The Food and Drug Administration approved the semaglutide (under the brand name Wegovy) as a treatment for chronic obesity; the weekly injection quickly became a jab that made the seemingly impossible: making and keeping you thin —only, no one will admit that they’re on it. Its explosive entrance into the cultural mainstream has propagated a homogenised beauty standard that’s dominating my IG feed. We seem to have yo-yoed our progression, developing a manic dissonance in how we are approaching self-image. Once again, it feels like diet culture has won, and women have lost.
Last month, Kylie Jenner finally (!!!) made the long-awaited confession that she did, in fact, have a breast augmentation when she was just 19 years old. Yep, that’s right. For six long years her 400 million Instagram followers (many of which I assume to be young girls) have been led to believe that the makeup mogul was genetically #blessed with these incredibly voluptuous curves and teeny tiny waist. “One of the biggest misconceptions about me is that I was this insecure child and I got so much surgery…which is false. I’ve only gotten fillers,” she’s previously statemented. But these fabricated claims have really only done one thing: continue to perpetuate a totally unrealistic body standard.
Via @kyliejenner on Instagram
It’s terrifying, really, that level of deception from that caliber of celebrity who – whether you like it or not – has a gargantuan impact on how millions of young girls want their bodies to look. It’s ushered in a new hype: the who’s-on-it sleuth-ery of Ozempic and FaceApp, which I am totally guilty of. I now find myself zooming in on selfies, Poirot-ing for signs of distorted walls and airbrushed pores. But my question is thus: why lie?
I guess, depressingly, that the power of thin bodies and plumped features hasn’t waned. I hate the idea, pushed by both this weekly injection and celebrities creating damaging and unrealistic beauty ideals, that your best self is thinner and full of filler than your current self. It’s clear that the increasing use of things like Ozempic is a societal symptom, not the real problem—it merely holds a mirror to the chaos of cognitive dissonance about body positivity. And to be clear, I have absolutely no problem with women getting any type of work done. By all means, do what makes you feel confident and empowered. But if for nothing else then posterity, please, for the love of God, don’t lie about it.
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