The Skinny Class
I just watched this video from The Financial Diet regarding the discourse surrounding the absolutely skeletal celebrities we've been seeing on the red carpets lately. OP Chelsea's point is (paraphrasing) that it's crazy we can't call a spade a spade and call this out, and that people are either pretending that everything is fine, or getting dunked on for saying, 'This looks extremely unhealthy and life threatening' as if that's somehow misogynist.
(On that note, I wonder if this post will get banned by tumblr. I haven't been back on here that long and am not up on all the no-no words. I guess I'm about to find out.)
The above video framed the whole topic as disordered eating and a mental illness, and I've got to say, I never even thought of it that way.
Yes, I agree that some of the celebrities look like skin and bone. Yes, they look like they are minutes away from their organs shutting down. I am aware of EDs and yes, this is what they can produce, and yet, that was not my read of the situation at all.
To me it looks like a class thing. It feels like the extremely rich are aware that the majority of people are struggling more and more financially, and so the current status symbol is making it extremely clear that you are so rich that you can exist on the brink of death because you don't have to worry about where your next meal is coming from.
I mean, let's be real, they look like they would not survive actual food scarcity to any degree at this point. That's the point, they seem to be saying, 'Look how unbothered I am, I have no need to take care of myself physically'.
And I don't buy that they're under societal pressure to be that skinny. For one, they're not skinny, they're dying, and for another, they are insanely, astronomically rich. They are removed from society altogether. This is a flex, pure and simple.
'I am so safe and rich that I can starve myself and I’ll still be fine.' There's no real lack here on any level.
As for there being some wider cultural trend back toward ridiculous thinness with these celebrities at the helm: Whoever is into it is free to knock themselves out. I, however, will be eating good and exercising and taking care of my bone health because disappearing myself is not in my best interest. I will be strong and healthy and enjoy my food and my life as much as I possibly can. They can take their little project elsewhere.