It is the one topic that we never tire of writing, because it seems to be the only subject that however much we say it, we never feel we have truly been heard.
The gap between real diet culture and actual health is so huge, which seems odd in a period when we are equally obsessed with wellness.
For the longest time, western society has equated goodness and health to being thin. The fact that health can’t be measured by size and physicality doesn’t determine our inner workings seems irrelevant, Western culture has a near obsession with the notion that to be thin is to be happy and fulfilled and most definitely fine physically.
This idea is further supported through mainstream media, from film to music and most definitely fashion and this is now even more prevalent due to the explosion of social media. Where we have swapped out unobtainable super stars for ‘more relatable’ reality celebs. The pursuit of thiness is ironically at its strongest whilst we have a culture of wellness and an increase in visibility of diversity. And while we have come so far, there will always be those days when it feels like we haven’t made a dent.
One of the major side effects of sickness is weight loss, both from medication and as a pre cursor to being ill, that is when our weight unintentionally plummets. Now that seems obvious then that that is bad. And yet, we still value weight loss over health as we will often say that weight loss is a benefit to sickness.
Now we haven’t pulled this out of thing air, obviously, this is in response to a tweet today from Kim Kardashian praising her weight loss pre met gala as a side effect from a sickness bug. Calling it an ‘amazing diet’ on twitter. Something that was promptly picked up on by celeb gossip sites who hailed her ‘flu diet’ a success. Really world? A flu diet?
How can anyone champion suffering and sickness in 2017. How is it that the worse thing that can happen to a person still seems to be a few extra pounds.
With our upcoming issue being all about social media, this feels so timely. But when will we learn how powerful social media truly is and when will those holding all the cards truly understand their influencer status beyond #ad.
Never champion sickness as an aid to weight loss.