As someone who was born in 1989 (like Taylor Swift!), I remember terrible magazine advice that I now realize was diet culture, like “don’t eat bagels because they’re equal to six slices of white bread,” and “don’t wear certain styles if you’re ‘pear’ or ‘apple’- shaped.” Any ’90s or 2000s kid sadly heard that kind of stuff all the time, and TikTok user @alexlight_ldn is shedding light on it.
Alex posted a memorable, smart, and all-around sad TikTok about celebrities being body shamed in the 1990s and 2000s and reminded us of the persistent diet culture that we were part of. And just like movies we watched as children, we have never forgotten the comments we heard, either in our personal lives or in the media.
Alex included several clips in her TikTok, from Nicole Richie being told she was “fuller” and “thicker” so she wouldn’t be cast in projects, to Simon Cowell telling a girl “you look like a shop girl.” Victoria Beckham was even weighed during an interview, which is too gross to even think about. Howard Stern was incredibly mean to Anna Nicole Smith, and called her “heavy.” Tyra Banks told America’s Next Top Model contestant Keenyah Hill that she needed to eat a burger without a bun (no thank you!), and Janice Dickinson said she should hide her “gut” (too many problematic things to name). America’s Next Top Model doesn’t have the best reputation, but this is still shocking to remember.
As Alex wrote in her caption, “we witnessed all of this and believed it was normal… that it was just part and parcel of being a woman.”
We were all affected by the issues addressed in Alex’s TikTok, and several people commented that they can’t believe what we all experienced. TikTok user @Helloitskristen said “You can see the immediate change in Nicoel Richie’s eyes” and @chatterboxkitten reminded us of the horrible reality show The Swan, in which women got extensive cosmetic surgery makeovers when there was absolutely nothing wrong with them. Some people shared their own upsetting stories, such as @tiffanysing1 explaining that at 15, her mom said she should “lose the love handles.” While we hear about “almond moms” these days, we might have all been told to eat a certain way in order to “maintain our figure.”
Of course, eating disorders are still very much a problem and according to NEDA, 28.8 million people living in the U.S. could have one throughout their life, which is awful to hear. And there’s no doubt that there is still body shaming in the media today. But at least the intuitive eating movement has become more mainstream recently, and we know that diet culture is wrong and dangerous. Every time we think about this TikTok, let’s eat some carbs in celebration of the progress we have made.
