Content Warning: weight loss, body image issues, disordered eating habits
For years — centuries, even — women’s bodies have been treated as trends. So it is no surprise that we see the tides shifting once again. And due to the rise of microtrends promoted by influencers on social media sites like TikTok, we see these tides shifting quicker than ever before. This can be seen through the shift from the “BBL era” to a once again thin standard.
A Brazilian butt lift is a fat transfer procedure that augments the size and shape of the buttocks without implants. What many call the BBL era, which emphasized the beauty standard for women to have big butts and hips yet maintain a trim waist, is largely thought to have been popularized by celebrities like the Kardashians in the mid-2010s. As a result, BBL surgery rose to prominence. The origins of this trend are quite contentious, considering many Black women who naturally have the body shape this surgery tries to achieve were previously ridiculed, especially during the 1990s and early 2000s when thin was “in.” Even celebrities who are considered the pinnacle of beauty were expected to fit into this Eurocentric beauty standard. In a 2021 interview with the fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar, Beyoncé remarks that the body shaming she received was the inspiration for her 2002 hit song “Bootylicious.”
2002 was not that long ago. In the early 2000s, thin was very much “in,” as it had been for the prior few decades. Thinness was just disguised in different packaging. Considering the BBL era was such a divergence from previous decades of beauty standards, it is crazy to think there was a time when the traditional beauty standard was reversed. This perception of beauty can be seen in the Renaissance period paintings of Peter Paul Rubens. At the time, food insecurity and disease were prevalent amongst the general population, so being full-figured became a sign of wealth, prosperity and, thus, beauty.
The American perception of “traditional beauty” shifted in the 1920s. The term “calorie,” which was primarily used in academic circles before, became an everyday word due to the U.S. Food Administration during World War I. During World War I, going over your ration or necessary calories was seen as putting the war effort in jeopardy, due to the constant messaging from the Food Administration. Thus, calories became part of everyday American life, and staying within your recommended calorie count became a sign of patriotism. Calorie counting became more than a way of conserving food for the war effort: it was also used to maintain the new ideal body — a slender body. Due to rationing during the war, most people were now thinner, and the new “traditional beauty standard” reflected that. This was seen in the androgynous flapper appearance that rose in prominence in the 1920s and subsequent trends that have followed since then, all of which heavily contrast with the BBL, which focuses on dramatic curviness. The 1960s mod subculture was characterized by an ultra-slender androgynous look (as seen through popular models like Twiggy), the 1980s aerobics craze emphasized thin but toned bodies, the 1990s saw the rise of “heroin chic,” which idealized ultra-slender, sickly figures and again the early 2000s saw the long and lean look return once again. The BBL era was a short break from traditional beauty ideals that have been upheld for decades. However, it was just as harmful as the standards of the past because it still produced an unattainable standard for women to have the “perfect” shape through dangerous cosmetic procedures. Being bigger is no longer synonymous with wealth or prosperity. In the new age of the calorie, the BBL was bound to be temporary because one trend that highlights thickness and curviness cannot change decades of thinness culture. This return to thinness can be seen in the increasing number of medical procedures that emphasize thinness as desirable — Ozempic and buccal fat removal, for example.
Ozepmic is a medication used to treat type 2 diabetes, but in recent trends, to help with weight loss. Many people are being prescribed this medication for weight loss “off-label,” an unapproved use of an approved drug. In early January, due to its rise in popularity as a “weight-loss drug,” there was even a shortage of this drug that affected many diabetic patients’ access to it.
Ozempic has faced pushback due to its rise as a “weight loss drug.” Yet celebrities like the Kardashians, Mindy Kaling and many more have been rumored to have been using this drug to decrease their appetite. Elon Musk is one of the few public figures to publicly state that he used the drug for weight loss and endorse it. Chelsea Handler on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast revealed she was on Ozempic and didn’t even know it. Handler stated that “(My) anti-aging doctor just hands it out to anybody.” Now everyday people, not just celebrities and influencers, are trying Ozempic and posting “before and after” on TikTok. This is more concerning, not just because it’s reminiscent of so much of the weight loss culture of the 1990s and 2000s, with people taking weight loss drugs like Fen-Phen, Redux and general laxatives — which in some cases had disastrous effects on people’s health.
Buccal fat removal represents another fad in the recent cult of thinness. Buccal fat removal is a strictly cosmetic procedure — not at all medically necessary — entailing the removal of a small amount of buccal fat-pad tissue from each side of your cheeks to reduce the appearance of cheek puffiness and to give a more chiseled look. Lea Michele, Amelia Hamlin and Sophie Turner are just some of the celebrities who have been suspected of getting this procedure done, though very few celebrities have confirmed they have had the procedure. This procedure was originally meant for people who already had really full cheeks and were just simply reducing them a bit. But now, many of the celebrities rumored to have gotten the procedure already had thin faces, so they end up getting a more dramatic, model-esque result. The look this procedure achieves symbolizes things we’ve seen before, specifically heroin chic in the 1990s, which was very focused on a gaunt, sickly appearance. Because these features are associated with high fashion, they help to perpetuate the idea of a gaunt physique as the ultimate symbol of beauty, as these are the women for whom fashion is created. As a result, everyday women frequently feel pressured to achieve this unattainable look and, because surgery isn’t affordable for many people due to the cost, many people will resort to extreme weight loss to achieve the same result. However, today many women are more knowledgeable about media literacy and are tired of these beauty standards that are constantly being pushed on them.
The recent trend of this procedure once again glorifies and perpetuates thinness. Full faces are evidently more fleshy and round, while gaunt faces are usually more angular and bony. Since the 1990s’ “heroin chic,” the gaunt face has been associated with beauty and more particularly high fashion. Yes, there are women with round faces that are praised for their beauty like Florence Pugh, yet at the same time, these women are still not regarded as “complying” with beauty standards — they are an exception to a rule for what “beauty” means. The pushback to the glorification of thinness is wholly justified, categorizing women and their bodies is dehumanizing and should be called out. However, things get a bit dicey as the conversation around this has spread. One large factor people have been using to push back on this procedure is its effects on aging. A common response to this surgery by surgeons and everyday people alike has been, “Well, they look good now, but in 10 years they are going to look old.” In many ways, it implies that these female celebrities and women as a whole owe society youthfulness. Though thinness as the standard has somewhat fluctuated over time, youthfulness has been prevalent for decades and has never been questioned. A lot of the pushback the surgery has received is very superficial. While people are trying to deter others from getting this procedure to fit the standard of looking “snatched” and model-esque, they are still enforcing the standard of being youthful on other women. These famous women are not being criticized for breaking from the beauty standard, but for the possibility of not meeting the standard in the future due to aging. Choosing to judge these individual famous women for getting a particular procedure done regardless of whether or not they’ve had it won’t really help to break the view of women’s bodies as trends; it is necessary to critique the industries that perpetuate these insecurities within women.
The criticisms of societal pressures for women to fit the mold of what is considered “beautiful” at any time are understandable. Many fail to realize, however, that these celebrities and models are just as affected by these beauty standards as any other woman. In many ways, they are more pushed to do so, considering they are constantly subjected to the eyes of the public, where thousands of people can comment on their appearance. As someone who previously suffered from anorexia for eight years, the use of Ozempic and buccal fat removal feels as though it is perpetuating disordered eating habits, not just for those in the public eye but also for everyday people. Ozempic and buccal fat removal haven’t risen to the status of trends like the BBL, but I think they can, which is why we should be worried. We can only stop the perpetuation of thinness as the standard if we stop glorifying it, and though it is hard, it is a necessary step if we want to stop seeing women’s bodies constantly being scrutinized — celebrities and everyday women alike.
Daily Arts Writer K. Rodriguez Garcia can be reached at karodrig@umich.edu.