r/popculturechat • u/ChicSynergy • Jun 02 '26
Celebrity Fluff đ„° Hannah Einbinder being correct, as always.
1.1k
u/Sutech2301 Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
That's an interesting take, especially now, the craze to be thin is particularly concerning. All those female celebrities looking like they are on the brink of starving
356
u/charlesfhawk Jun 02 '26
Are we sure it's not just the rise of these GLP-1s that are just unmasking a tendency that we always had. Like heroin chic was in vogue in the 90s and that time wasn't particularly right wing compared to what came before or after.
Also to be clear, I think GLP-1s are great. Substantial benefits are demonstrated in a lot of conditions that weren't previously well treated (HFpEF with obesity, MASLD, DMT2, OA, OSA). They are game-changing medications and we need to increase availability. But a lot of people are turning to peptides without medical supervision and this has the potential for abuse.
263
u/volvavirago Jun 02 '26
I think itâs a little of column A and a little of column B. GLP-1âs have made it easier to become thin, but the desire for thinness is having a cultural resurgence. For a while being âthiccâ was all the rage, so there was less pressure to be super duper thin.
106
Jun 02 '26
[deleted]
40
u/PenguinStardust Jun 02 '26
Yeah I remember leg gaps being a big thing even with a big butt and wide hips, which with realistic proportions doesnât usually make much sense.
10
u/exobiologickitten Jun 03 '26
Thank you! I was simultaneously insecure about my flabby arms and legs; while also concerned that my butt was too flat and hips werenât wide enough.
There was no winning if you couldnât put the fat/muscle exactly where was fashionable for it to be.
14
u/NoMoreFund Jun 02 '26
 "Thicc" idealised having curves on top of an otherwise thin (or at least "not fat") body.Â
At best, not being thin was seen as an acceptable trade off. But if you take two otherwise identical bodies, one with a flat stomach and one with a belly, I can't think of any time in recent history where the belly would be preferred.
66
u/Formal-Radish1413 Jun 02 '26
I dont think the desire for thinness ever went away tbh. We live in a society that has praised thin women for decades.
The difference is that thinness wasnt always easy for everyone to obtain. It required energy and time and those were things that the average person struggled to achieve between regular normal life demands (work and family and friends etc).
But with a medication, its far easier to do. Its a pill or a shot. Takes MAYBE 5 mins total. Way easier to do than a 30 min gym session and 30 mins of cooking and meal prepping.
When its your job to look a certain way (like celebrities and athletes) its easy to do it since you have 8 hours during the day to do it instead of sitting at a desk like normal people.
I think âthiccnessâ is more an indication of how Black culture has taken over more mainstream elements of the media. But even then, it still comes with unrealistic expectations like a tiny waist with a big butt and boobs - hence all the BBLs we are seeing.
It was easier to embrace larger bodies when it was obvious that getting thinner required a lot of time and energy. Now that it doesnt in most cases, of course everyone wants to be thin again.
→ More replies (5)6
u/blahblahblah1234_ Donât come for me unless I send for you Jun 03 '26
Agreed, I think people were trying really hard to embrace thickness but really most people deep, deep, deep, down want to be thin. Itâs why a lot of âthiccâ celebrities were criticised constantly (eg Lizzo, Adele, Lana Del Rey, Rebel Wilson).
→ More replies (17)26
u/the_platypus_king Homeboyâs gonna like...get it đ Jun 02 '26
I also think columns A and B directly feed into each other. GLP-1s have made it so that more rich and famous people are thin, which then makes the culture at large see that thinness as the new normal, which then creates a permission structure for more people to take GLP-1s
8
u/surgartits Jun 02 '26
I absolutely think thatâs part of it, and part of THAT is there is a lot of money to be made in pressuring people to be as thin as possible. Itâs all connected.
12
u/ProbablyNotADuck Jun 02 '26
Even with GLP-1s, we still need to learn more about longterm use for the purpose of weight management/maintenance. Absolutely, it is a great tool for people who genuinely have health issues related to weight, but people are still pretty cavalier about it in their attitude. What we are generally seeing so far is that it is a medication that you're going to have to take for life. While we do have over a decade of data, we still don't know what it is like when people are on it for 30-40+ years, which is highly likely what's in store for many of the people using it for weight loss now. Hopefully, we'll continue to see that it is pretty low risk... but we don't know. All medications come with harms and benefits, and we should always attempt non-pharmacological approaches before jumping into medications.
Again... I am by no means against GLP-1s... They absolutely have their place, and I think we'll find that they're useful for even more things.. But there are a lot of people who are using them as a first resort or when they don't even have genuine weight issues to begin with... and that is a concern.
21
u/charlesfhawk Jun 02 '26
We don't know that people need to be on these meds forever. We could switch people to lower doses or oral formulations for maintenance. Not a ton of trials have been done for this.
Even if people have to go off of these medications after a time (5 or so years), the benefits in the short term appear to be massive. So we're weighing objective benefit against hypothetical concerns. There are many diseases where we give meds only for 5 or so years and then have to stop because of the long term risks of these meds. Osteoporosis and the risks of some its medications are an example that jumps to mind. Yet the lay public doesn't know about this or really care. When is the last time you heard a normal person express anxiety about long term Bonita or Xgeva? However, a lot of folks have concerns over the long term use of these meds when significant long term risks have not been identified. My instinct is to think that there is a lot of underlying bias against the populations that GLP-1s are meant to serve.
3
u/Pigeonofthesea8 Jun 03 '26
Maybe. As a lifelong myopic, my greatest fear is going blind and Iâm not willing to risk that, even if the odds are minuscule . Iâm trying the old way haha
5
u/basicwitchbaby Homeboyâs gonna like...get it đ Jun 02 '26
I think it's both. The accessibility of glp-1s makes it easier to get extremely thin. At the same time, as others have mentioned, a central part of fascism is control and conformity. This includes rigid gender roles, as is connected to the very narrow beauty standards. Of course it's not some great conspiracy where fascists in power give people drugs to get women weaker, but the rise of fascist culture pressures women to conform.
There's a lot of studies regarding fascism and gender, and the connection of fascism and rigid gender roles is well known. So the way she's wording it could be described as populist, but she's not wrong.
5
u/carlitospig Jun 02 '26
I would actually think fascism would want more Marilynâs and Sydney Sweeneyâs, not Kate Moss types. I also lean toward your theory.
13
u/charlesfhawk Jun 02 '26
That's a good point! Fascists are obsessed with the birth rate right now. They're so gross.
2
→ More replies (2)1
u/Partners_in_time Jun 05 '26
So OSA is super bad for you. I have it. Turns out compliance with CPAP/APAP machines donât actually improve heart damage. They donât do anything; and actually the high pressured air makes your body fight each night and actually increases your heart valve size (bad)
This study wa shuts published like a year or so ago. They used to be happy slapping people on CPAPs and forgetting about them. But it doesnât improve their health outcomes and their lives are still cut shorter by five to ten years.
Crazy.
So GLP1s would be literally life saving medicine for those with OSA. Iâve lost so much weight with it and Iâm finally getting to the point where I might not need my machine anymore.
Removing tonsils, adenoids, septiopapscy, nasal turbinate reductionsâ- none of those fixed the apnea. The only way thing thatâs helped is GLP1.
20
u/Lorebreaker_ofArarat Jun 02 '26
Bro, the 90's and 2000's were so much worse than now.
2
u/JDLovesElliot Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
Back then, there was no body positivity. Now there's toxic positivity. So it's gotten better in some ways and worse in others.
2
u/vensie I wore my standing pants to a sitting event Jun 03 '26
A Brush With Bekah did a video closely relating to her point! It covers art history and women's idealised bodies.
Here it is:Â https://youtu.be/8ooRZqSyPig
35
u/moodswung Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
I think it's a huge stretch to draw a parallel to fascism or recent politics to this.
The expectation that a woman be stick thin has been around for a very long time. It was only in recent years that people began a trend of 'body acceptance' but even that wasn't fully embraced. To clarify, it wasn't an expectation so much as what was considered, "beautiful."
I think more and more people being ultra thin these days is more attributed to the rise of GLP-1 drugs.
74
u/Teamawesome2014 Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
Fascism isn't new either. The cultural enforcement of beauty standards directly correlates with fascism because a trait of fascism is enforced conformity.
GLP-1 drugs are being used as a tool to push conformity.
12
u/Strawberry_Curious Jun 02 '26
Exactly. Fewer plus size models and models of color, excessive Botox, clean girl aesthetics, healthism, eating disorders on the rise. It may not be a 1 to 1 relation, but the patterns are interesting. Itâs kind of like the hemline index. Itâs a good reminder that weâre not totally individual and immune to societal shifts, especially because these trends come back stronger - like orthorexia is the fastest growing ED because it has better PR.
→ More replies (2)5
u/MartyFieb Jun 03 '26
Fascism is about conformity says the person with the backing of every corporation, news agency, university and obnoxious celebrity on planet earth lol
→ More replies (1)44
u/constantchaosclay Jun 02 '26
But add it to the rise of trad wife content and clean girl makeup, it all definitely correlates to traditional values and fascism.
It reminds me of Cabaret when Sally has to remove her nail polish to visit her father.
Red lipstick was a sign of resistance and was issued to military women at one point and it all ties in because of fascist ideals of what women are.
→ More replies (2)4
u/Manic-StreetCreature Itâs CAMP đ đ» Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
Red lipstick itself wasnât a sign of resistance, as far as I know. Itâs true that Hitler apparently disliked it but thatâs because of his weirdo romanticized ideas of primitiveness and agrarianism that a lot of Nazis had, so the Nazi ideal was a very like âclean facedâ blonde milkmaid, but lipstick wasnât banned or anything. Nazi women wore red lipstick all the time because most women period were wearing red lipstick in the 1940s. I canât find any solid evidence outside of articles that are linking makeup to sell that lipstick was seen as anti-Nazi in the 40s.
9
u/constantchaosclay Jun 02 '26
There's also a book called "The Red Menace How lipstick changed the face of American History" by Ilise S Carter
Here is a Snopes about red lipstick being patriotic and how Hitler hated it.
"The Aryan ideal was a pure, un-scrubbed face. Visitors to Hitler's country retreat, lady visitors were actually given a little list of things they must not do: avoid excessive cosmetics, avoid red lipstick, and on no account ever are they to color their nails."
There is a lot more about it out there but I think thats enough reciepts to prove my point.
4
u/Manic-StreetCreature Itâs CAMP đ đ» Jun 02 '26
Iâm not saying Hitler didnât hate it, he did and I said so. Iâm just saying that in Nazi Germany it wasnât seen as a sign of resistance but I think weâre saying two separate things because I was talking about it as a symbol of resistance in Germany specifically
2
u/grubas Jun 03 '26
It wasn't the Germans. It was the Americans.Â
Going to your factory job with Red Lipstick was another little screw you to Hitler and Germany. The American women were going to wear the colors they wanted, work, and win the goddamn war in heels if need be. Â
"Victory Red"
43
6
u/LittleBlag Jun 02 '26
The heroin chic of the 90s happened in a pretty left leaning political sphere. I donât this is a correlation at all, much as it makes a good soundbite
→ More replies (1)3
u/greatblueheron16 Jun 03 '26
Idk I've seen a lot of (women and queer) creators tracking the parallels between rise of the far right in US culture and the shift in fashion and body ideals: tattoos and bbls declines in popularity while the "clean girl" aesthetic rose and subsequently the new wave of weight loss in public figures .
6
1
u/CaryKerryLoudermilk Jun 02 '26
Historians would disagree with you
→ More replies (4)8
u/SwaggiiP the subplots could become unmanageable Jun 02 '26
Do you have any sources
→ More replies (16)1
u/canadiantaken Jun 02 '26
It was the same as the craze in the 70s and 90s. I donât recall facism on the rise then, but anorexia, sure.
→ More replies (26)1
298
u/Manic-StreetCreature Itâs CAMP đ đ» Jun 02 '26
Iâve figured out what this reminds me of: the ahistorical idea that womenâs clothing didnât have pockets so that women couldnât carry around political pamphlets. I do think thereâs maybe some evidence of that happening directly following the French Revolution, but in general thatâs just not a thing in western fashion. Colonial women in the US had massive pockets under their skirts just as one example.
Now, the reason for small pockets now is that a thin silhouette is prioritized over functionality which IS sexist, but well-meaning people have been sharing bad history about pockets for like a decade now. Like, itâs important to look at history, but making things up so you can act like a skater dress with pockets is a grand political statement does more harm than good. Misinformation and bad history are dangerous even when well-intentioned.
82
Jun 02 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
7
u/Pinkbunny432 Jun 03 '26
The desire for women to take up as little space as possible stems from the patriarchy, particularly western (puritanical) Christian patriarchy which has been Americaâs thing since birth. There is a baseline of this in our culture but it is especially pronounced in the right wing since they desire to conserve the patriarchy, whether religiously or not. Right wing ideologies are authoritarian, and when they are in power, it is unfortunately easier to conform than risk your life. It is just a truth that society treats you better when you are thin, because of these patriarchal influences over centuries. I think it is similar to plastic surgery, the reason you dislike a certain feature of your body is probably because society has conditioned you to hate it. We arenât born hating our noses or our stomachs, we are conditioned to.
→ More replies (1)4
u/Fippy-Darkpaw Jun 03 '26
Two statistics:
Easy one: people in most countries now are heavier than ever, on average, according to most BMI surveys.
Harder one: is there more or less fascism than in the past?
Anecdotal for the US: the public emphasis on being thin is absolutely nothing now, compared to the 80's and 90's.
31
u/Mofstar Jun 02 '26
Thank god this comment section is full of rational people. May be a bit of a wake up call to OP giving this post such aâŠ. decisive title. It honestly takes 5 seconds of critical thinking and a little bit of history knowledge to see that the point sheâs making is completely unfounded and in reality youâd probably assume the opposite would happen.
2
u/sleepycar99 Jun 03 '26
I always thought womenâs clothing didnât have pockets because more of them would buy purses?
3
u/Manic-StreetCreature Itâs CAMP đ đ» Jun 03 '26
Not really, thatâs more of a coincidence. Handbags in some form or fashion have been around for centuries but purses as we know them now are kind of a late 19th century and beyond thing. A lot of clothes that were in fashion well after modern purses came onto the scene had decent-sized pockets, but purses were viewed as their own accessory that completed the outfit.
Which that is absolutely a marketing thing, but I donât think it has to do with the rise of smaller pockets. Honestly the tiny/sewn shut pockets on womenâs clothes are even more recent than modern purses. It has more to do with valuing silhouette over function than it does with selling handbags though. People nowadays tend to buy new clothing more often than we buy new purses too.
219
u/Fast_Theory6127 Jun 02 '26
I would correlate this more with end stage capitalism than fascism. These companies are forcing weight loss, beauty, and anti-aging products in our faces at an alarming rate. I suppose one could argue theyâre connected, but I donât know enough historical examples to back that up.
59
u/BabaofTheShimmer Jun 02 '26
The weight loss portion is only a slice.
For the last 2 decades, we have had everything from vitamin pills for glowing skin to FaceApp to cosmetic surgeries being shoved down our throats.
And the amount of discussion around how women look (any kind of discussion, positive or negative) is insane.
Iâm in my 40s and as a woman, Iâve never encounter so much caring about how women look than I have in the past 5 years. You canât show a photo with someone first commenting on how the woman looks.
8
u/Brief_Isopod_5959 Jun 02 '26
Yes because social media is even so different now compared to even like 10 years ago. Itâs all about money, people and businesses trying to sell you things. My babies are young but I will continue to keep them off social media for as long as I can.
1
u/AccurateAssaultBeef Jun 02 '26
Well if this doesn't give me ED, it's a small miracle. Thank god I'm off IG.
8
u/shy247er yay sports đ đđŸ Jun 02 '26
I would correlate this more with end stage capitalism than fascism. These companies are forcing weight loss, beauty, and anti-aging products in our faces at an alarming rate.
That's because everything is forced upon us. There is only a finite amount of money people can spend so it's an "arms race" for these companies which one will reach our wallet first.
The infinite growth (that's unsustainable) must go on!
I'm male, and I can't watch a single sporting event without having betting ads and crypto being shown down my throat.
Everything is a race.
2
u/Brief_Isopod_5959 Jun 02 '26
Good point! Men have a different thing shoved down their throat too. Money money money
18
14
→ More replies (33)2
u/Pinkbunny432 Jun 03 '26
End stage capitalism /is/ fascism. When there is no way else to extract wealth, fascism and conspiracy against the people takes place. The Nazis came to power because the businessmen and the wealthy of Germany feared the workers uniting against them with communism. Fascism is in the shareholderâs interests.
293
u/possumpossuss Jun 02 '26
I get what sheâs trying to say but if you look historically at fascist regimes they have never promoted thinness, why would they?
If you look at propaganda from the 40s, the women depicted are usually full figured, because fascism promotes women as mothers
199
u/Responsible-Pie-5666 Jun 02 '26
You could make an argument that fascism promotes strict ideals of beauty related to femininity, motherhood, and the domestic sphere. Extreme thinness wasnât associated with any of those things 100 years ago, but now the perfect housewife has to pop out dozens of kids and also stay thin. Liberalism encourages individuality and person freedom thus body positivity/neutrality fits nicely into that.
I donât agree with Hannah here, Iâd be interested to hear her explanation. I could be persuaded.
→ More replies (3)37
u/jvpewster Jun 02 '26
Iâm sorry but you can just look at falangist, Italian and Nazi propaganda. If you think theyâre promoting a thinner beauty standard then South Korea today, The US today, or even the US in the 10s youâre not looking at them with the slightest bit of seriousness..
This is an unserious hypothesis.
5
Jun 02 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
→ More replies (2)38
u/jvpewster Jun 02 '26
Itâs most certainly not. Itâs also not close to Nazi Germany on the Fascism scale either. Almost like these are unrelated data points.
For SK, The traditional societal pressure, the extreme liberal economic policy thatâs led to a massive focus on materialism, and influence/idolization of US culture to the point it heightened its standards have created an obsession with beauty that anyone from the 40s would recognize as dystopian.
We can blame Trump for a lot of shit, but heâs not ushering a focus on beauty. People magazine in the 00s was not in league with the Bush Admin. The plastic surgery industry in SK isnât some government program. Theyâre all manifestations of a lot of things, but mostly our inability to say the free market shouldnât define our health standards.
→ More replies (1)5
u/ddancer25 Jun 03 '26
Itâs not about thinness, itâs generally about control. Not even in the sense that small women are literally easier to control, but the overarching sense of all of us falling in line with whatâs perceived as socially correct. BUT there isnât even a huge reality of everyone suddenly getting super thin throughout the country right now⊠it is a narrative thatâs being latched onto kind of for clout/marketing, so weâre seeing it in media a lot. The most fascism-related thing happening is just women policing other women (even here) and their bodies, which is grade-A patriarchy and actually distracting whole swaths of people from engaging in organizing the working class against fascism.
14
u/keekspeaks Jun 02 '26
We had the presidency house and the Senate during peak anorexia in the late 2000s, early 2010s
→ More replies (2)10
4
u/violetxlavender Jun 02 '26
because now we associate thinness with health. back in the 40s that was not the case. fascism idealizes âhealthâ and the âperfectâ human. think of the rise of looksmaxxing. itâs all about perfection. fascism will look different in the internet era than it did in the 40s.
25
Jun 02 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
54
u/possumpossuss Jun 02 '26
Because the definition of fascism is debated and the only thing people universally agree on is that Germany and Italy in the 1930s and 40s were fascist. There is a very strong appeal to âtraditional valuesâ in fascism that slim women does not fit with or support
People misuse the word fascism when they mean authoritarianism or oligarchy
4
u/Special-Garlic1203 Jun 02 '26
Fascists absolutely celebrated thinness they just had a less insane idea of what that meantÂ
2
u/Apt_5 Jun 02 '26
You're describing "full-figured", the description parent comment used, as "thinness". Imho, THAT is insane.
29
u/-CowNipples- Jun 02 '26
Thatâs a weird take. As if women have a one track mind and canât focus on being thin while also being involved in politics. Itâs a little stereotypical and I donât know if I agree with it.
Itâs like saying letâs make all the men focus on being buff so they forget to vote. Huh???
15
→ More replies (3)9
u/ceilingsfann Jun 02 '26
How is it stereotypical? The point is that staying super thin takes a lot of your energy.
→ More replies (6)13
u/-CowNipples- Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
Itâs stereotypical because the original comment is insinuating that women are hyper focused on being their version of pretty, that they canât focus on anything else like politics. It takes a lot of your energy, but you can absolutely have ambitions outside of that.
Thereâs an A-list celebrity who just released the biggest musical movie in years, followed by a new album. If what youâre saying is true, she wouldnât have been able to do any of that since she is also thin
Edit: Iâm not glorifying eating disorders, I just didnât agree with the framing of the comment
7
u/shy247er yay sports đ đđŸ Jun 02 '26
Historic fascist regimes didnât have Palantir either.
Germans had Volkskartei. Keeping tabs on people didn't start with Palantir.
→ More replies (1)16
u/BabaofTheShimmer Jun 02 '26
Seriously?
You think that women are that unintelligent to ignore the political climate because they are too focused and distracted on their wrinkles?
17
u/Manic-StreetCreature Itâs CAMP đ đ» Jun 02 '26
Yeah Iâve always thought this argument was giving us as women very little credit lol. Itâs genuinely the âsmart girls donât care about how they look and dumb girls like makeup and sparklesâ argument repackaged
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (1)2
u/Strawberry_Curious Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
I feel like thatâs a misinterpretation of the original intent⊠women arenât a monolith like that, but falling for multi million/billion dollar campaigns intended to destabilize different groups of people is not a weakness (this includes manosphere stuff too). Itâs also algorithmically beneficial for them to go exploit peopleâs vulnerabilities. I get more pro-Ana content on IG because Iâm susceptible to it, so I left the app. It absolutely took up a bunch of my headspace and made me physically weak for a while. Itâs not to place blame on women and call them superficial, but to call out heavily funded messaging that exploits vulnerabilities to raise capital.
3
u/ddancer25 Jun 03 '26
this!!! itâs not an attack on individual will powerâthe systems are by design. capitalists have spent billions keeping the working class distracted by any means necessary⊠like this isnât conspiracy stuff itâs literally textbook political theory.
2
u/Strawberry_Curious Jun 03 '26
It is literally a type of propaganda. Everyone wants to believe theyâre immune to it. The fact that itâs so hard to accept the new obsession with thinness could be anything but individual desire is proof of that.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (1)5
Jun 02 '26
[deleted]
20
u/BabaofTheShimmer Jun 02 '26
You canât be serious.
And FYI: you can be strong and thin. You can protest and dedicate your time to fight injustices while having a beauty regime.
Women arenât dumb. We can do it all. We donât need to be distracted with Botox needles as not to see the reality of our political environments.
→ More replies (5)13
6
4
u/ourobourobouros chicken soup for my tinfoil hat-wearing soul Jun 02 '26
Imo the current thinness craze is just a result of what can be sold to us.
Plastic surgery became slightly more accessible and affordable, suddenly the best body type is slim thicc with large breasts and butt but tiny waist. Now that glp-1 is around we're back to EDs being trendy.
→ More replies (2)-3
u/Special-Garlic1203 Jun 02 '26
Those women were not big by 1940s a standards lol. Your brain has just been melted by anorexia chicÂ
17
u/possumpossuss Jun 02 '26
No, the average person in Europe in the 1930s/40s was malnourished coming off the back of multiples wars and the Great Depression
→ More replies (1)
96
Jun 02 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
11
u/bbyxmadi Itâs good to see me, isnât it?𫧠Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
This is how I felt. Thereâs so much more nuance and depth to our political climate and fashion and beauty trends.
Itâs also kinda just the current beauty trend, being rail thin and sickly looking is back in. I blame GLP-1âs and toxic beauty standards more than fascism.
Not⊠fascism = thin women, because they canât take up too much space!
edit: Iâm not trying to demonize GLP-1s, but theyâre everywhere now, and people who donât have diabetes nor those with severe weight/weight problems are taking them. Thatâs the problem.
211
u/DarkPrincess_99 Jun 02 '26
I am so glad that people on this comment section are calling out her take- I also find it to be a ridiculously simplistic explanation of a very complicated situation
70
u/Manic-StreetCreature Itâs CAMP đ đ» Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
It reminds me of the tumblr days when people meant really well but they would just kind of say things
Like yes there is plenty to be said for strict gender roles being enforced/encouraged under some forms of authoritarianism and especially under Christian nationalism, but thinness=fascism is very reductive. Like the take isnât coming from nowhere, but it has the vibes of like⊠saying that if you have long hair as a woman youâre a tradwife lol.
Edit- and Iâm not generally an âitâs not that deepâ person because a lot of things ARE that deep, but my problem is that people tend to want there to be a clean, clear line between X bad thing and Y bad thing when that often isnât the case. Most problems have a ton of sources. This thinking is simplistic and leads to ideas like âwell I canât be sexist because Iâm a leftistâ etc etc.
→ More replies (24)49
u/AbsolutelyHorrendous Jun 02 '26
Yeah this just smacks of someone taking two unrelated, popular takes and smushing them together to try and sound good... in other words, virtue signalling
Like, it sounds like a valid point, until you ask the obvious question... since when has fascism cared about promoting thinness?
→ More replies (1)41
→ More replies (2)6
63
u/DrPikachu-PhD Jun 02 '26
This take has always been funny to me because thin women take up less space in a physical sense, but not in an emotional or political or social sense which is what the fascists actually care about.
25
u/PigletRivet đ§œ and đžđŒâs *cosmic love* Jun 02 '26
If anything, wouldn't fat women take up less space socially and politically because people are less likely to listen or pay attention to them?
9
u/Apt_5 Jun 02 '26
I said that, too. Everything I've ever heard about pretty privilege is the opposite of what she's saying; that it is so much harder for larger women to have any influence or social esteem for being looked down upon. So it seems a thinner woman would be more politically effective, in either countering or supporting fascism, b/c people care more to hear them out.
3
u/telsongelder Jun 03 '26
YES. Absolutely yes. Fat women are afforded literally no space to exist. This take seems to be coming a lot from thin women who have enjoyed skinny privilege and perhaps feel a shift happening as that pool becomes bigger.
20
u/Elkku26 Jun 02 '26
Yeah, I have no clue what this person means. The amount of physical space a person takes is hardly the measure of their political effectiveness. There are convincing arguments connecting beauty standards and fitness obsession with fascism so I don't understand why she'd pick one that makes no sense.
→ More replies (1)2
u/Techygal9 Jun 03 '26
If fascist want to take over, wouldnât you want people unable to fight back ergo a higher weight? I donât see the connection.
233
u/teentytinty Jun 02 '26
This feels like psychobabble lmao. Fascism and societyâs obsession with thinness are two separate concerns.
74
u/Manic-StreetCreature Itâs CAMP đ đ» Jun 02 '26
I think people take âissues are interconnectedâ (which is true) to mean âeverything bad is a direct result of one particular overarching bad thingâ (which is not true)
4
u/NoMoreFund Jun 02 '26
Hyper capitalism is driving both fascism (as those at the top want more than even neoliberalism can provide) and the widespread promotion of GLP-1s including to people who don't really need them. But the idea that fascism wants women to be thin so they're weak is a big stretchÂ
39
u/Garrett4Real charlie day is my bird lawyer đŠ Jun 02 '26
buzzwords are all the rage these days
9
u/bnanae Jun 02 '26
I feel like I've already read these exact words on some tweet that's been recycled a hundred times already.
→ More replies (8)41
u/particledamage Jun 02 '26
They certainly can be but I do think there is a reason why a lot of trends are all happening again and they ARE tied to fascism. Misogyny, homophobia, racism are all on the rise as part of the increase in global fascism. Part of misogyny is thinness--making women smaller, more feeble, more insecure is of course fascist.
Does the Fascist Regime itself promote thinness? No, of course not. But do legs that sprout of a fascist beast, which have historically included fashion houses (See: Nazi uniforms), promote thinness, more so now than in recent "good" years? Yes.
Right now, part of the rise of global fascism is promoting more exclusivity, less inclusivity. Excluding fat people and all the people who cannot make their way to Real Thinness (which is informed by europoean body standards and body types, which often excludes the poor who often get fat on poor diets, which is informed by ableism, etc etc) is par for that course.
8
u/Outside_Glass4880 Jun 02 '26
Iâd argue that most of the women who are being influenced to be thinner are not right-leaning or being influenced by âfascistsâ in our country.
Really the size of people isnât really a function of politics imo. Itâs more of a cultural trend thing which may happen to coincide with things.
If anything I think negative mental health can affect things more than the fascists themselves. And women (and men) who feel like they lack control may be susceptible to these trends. That and just being in a bad headspace because of the political atmosphere might lend itself to negative self image and wanting to be thinner.
5
u/particledamage Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
Thatâs not really the point being madeâthe point isnât âpeople who are becoming thin right now are fascists,â itâs âfascism is promoting thinness and punishment for anyone who fails to become thin.â
The size of people absolutely is a function of politics. The political framework of the âobesity crisisâ has been used to change taxes on food, the structure of SNAP, quality and focus of healthcare (GLP-1s get fast tracked and accepted while vaccines are met with skepticism), and also just⊠propaganda. There is a reason why political cartoons often make characters fat as shorthand for things like greed, poverty, laziness, and more. Itâs deeply ignorant to pretend politics have nothing to do with weight policing.
I recommend educating yourself more on fat liberation, the wellness to fascism pipeline, and similar subjects. Fatphobia has heavy ties to racism, ableism, classism, and misogyny which⊠are all deeply political things with political mechanisms.
→ More replies (23)
53
12
42
u/AfternoonPossible Jun 02 '26
Tbh thinness has always been in. Fuller figures have always been more niche or fringe.
27
u/Manic-StreetCreature Itâs CAMP đ đ» Jun 02 '26
Even when âfuller figuresâ were the in thing, it was like âhuge perky boobs, tiny waist, big hips.â
9
4
u/Apt_5 Jun 02 '26
Like I said elsewhere, wealthy people never rushed to their plastic surgeons to become spherical! It isn't the nicest phrasing but I don't think you can argue against it đ
10
→ More replies (3)6
u/Critical_Success_936 Jun 02 '26
Idk, a lot of traditional art of women shows... Well, women who'd be overweight by modern health standards. Now, the waist to hip ratio part has always been a thing, for obvious, uh, evolutionary reasons... But you can be fat with a nice hip to waist ratio.
Not saying thin women have ever been universally ugly, except in very niche cultures, but the trend on what's desired certainly changes. I agree that it isn't like what the video says tho... Correlation =/= causation.
42
u/albatross_blues Jun 02 '26
Im sorry but I just find her so insufferable and self-righteous
→ More replies (1)6
19
u/irisxxvdb Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
Not sure what that has to do with fascism, propaganda usually involved tall strong women with child bearing hips. I think it's an overreaction to the curvy/athletic ideal of the 2010's, just like Marilyn Monroe was followed by Twiggy, and the athletics of the '80s were followed by '90s heroin chic.
If we're looking for a historical equivalent, it's more akin to the tuberculosis-chic craze of the Romantic period and the Victorian era. Women would starve themselves, powder their faces white and fake-faint in order to appear fragile and delicate and tragic.
I don't think it's a coincidence that a lof of the celebrity Ozempic warriors now put on light airy voices and move around as if they're fragile little birds. We're conflating vulnerability with feminity once again.
14
u/Meme_Pope Holding Space Jun 02 '26
The 90âs were peak thin obsession, so I guess Bill Clinton was Adolph Hitler
9
7
u/ZuluIsNumberOne All tea, all shade đžâïž Jun 02 '26
her family has been multi millionaires since pre world war two. she wouldn't be able to relate to normal people if her life relied on it.
48
u/LionBig1760 Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
Correlation doesnt imply causation, Hannah.
What is much more likely is that with the rise of Ozempic use, there's a direct correlation with women taking up less space.
Fascism wasn't real popular when heroin chic was a thing in the 90s.
This is the kind of hot take that you'll get when people are hailed as geniuses for the simple fact someone at HBO decided to give a mediocre white girl a TV show.
7
u/Brazilian_Buns2301 Jun 02 '26
đŁïž If youâre thin youâre a faschist
11
u/JoffreysCrossbow Jun 02 '26
In a way itâs refreshing to see someone say âhot takeâ and actually say something dumb af
9
u/SwaggiiP the subplots could become unmanageable Jun 02 '26
The only reason people even entertain her bad takes is because sheâs the internetâs gf of the month. This and her subway hot take about people saying theyâve met you before is wild. Sheâs a good person with her heart in the right place but she just be yapping sometimes.
2
u/michellefiver Jun 02 '26
If it's a subway hot take it's not to be taken seriously. Do you mean Subway takes with the Kareem guy?
7
u/ihate_avos Jun 02 '26
I totally agree that thinness today is part of a larger conversation about fascism, control over women, etc. However, itâs not hard to notice that the person criticizing the beauty standard of thinness also meets that same beauty standard.
10
u/YaoiNekomata Jun 02 '26
Anyone thinking this is true has to be a minor who never saw the literal same push for stick figures ever fucking dacade.
6
4
9
u/Blurryneck Jun 02 '26
I donât disagree that fascism plays a role in thinness, but I disagree that the conclusion is to make women take up less space (which just seems a bit silly). I do think that authoritarianism relies on enforcing a standard way of life, whether it be ideals, life style, or looks. Fascism has a vested interest in control and if they can establish a standard of a body, they can begin to exert control over those who donât conform. Additionally, those who are willing to conform â in this case, to the extent of damaging their own bodies and wellbeing â are likely willing to adhere to rigid standards in other ways.
→ More replies (1)
16
u/Ambitious_Wealth8080 Jun 02 '26
The way she phrased it is a bit TikTok, but I didnât think itâd be all that controversial to draw a link between fascist ideologies and rigid enforcement of beauty ideals and femininity. Republicans clearly have a narrow range of acceptable gender expression for women - just look at a photo of a Mar-a-Lago event. Thinness is certainly part of that.Â
The narrowing of acceptable gender boxes is also happening for men - just look at the rise of the âmanosphereâ and âlooksmaxxing,â clearly preying on societal anxieties about being âman enough.â The details of gendered ideals are obviously different across time and place, so it doesnât seem relevant that other fascist periods didnât mandate extreme thinness for women or, like, the kind of gym bro body that is popular in menâs rights spaces.Â
→ More replies (8)3
u/ddancer25 Jun 03 '26
thank you. this is such a great competent response from someone who has clearly thought/read about this topic & I really appreciate it lmao
6
6
u/Chance-Ask7675 Jun 02 '26
I mean, I love Hannah Einbinder and I hate fascism and I hate that thinness is back in but she pulled this out of absolutely nowhere lmao, completely ridiculous take. And we should all be careful accepting completely fabricated opinions like this just because we like the ideas.
2
u/Overall-Scientist846 Jun 03 '26
Please no one tell her who the president was when the media first really coined heroin chic. Hereâs a hint it was Bill Clinton. LOL.
2
u/Alarming-Solid912 Jun 03 '26
I donât think the correlation is this linear. Thinness has been fashionable, on and off, for a very long time. Women in the 19th century wore whale bone corsets to make their waists look tiny. Some went as far as to remove a rib or two to achieve a âwasp waist.â
Thinness and flat-chested bodies were the trend in the 1920âs even as women raised their hemlines and cut their hair short. It was in style in the 1970s too. The 80s saw a swing back toward conservative views under Reagan, but bodies actually got more athletic and fuller in that era. You were supposed to be fit. Thin sure, but not skinny.
4
5
6
u/MCB1317 Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
... what ...
Crap takes like this helps Republicans win elections.
5
u/YoshiTheDog420 Jun 02 '26
As much as I like the correlation, I think weâre giving those fools too much credit. The reason is so much more superficial than that.
3
5
u/LizNYC90 Jun 02 '26
Fat acceptance surging during the first Trump administration disproves this bs theory
3
2
2
15
Jun 02 '26
[deleted]
13
u/AbsolutelyHorrendous Jun 02 '26
'Hot takes' like hers basically just exist to shift blame, frankly
Is thinness becoming more visible because of the ready availability of Ozempic, allowing people to get skinny with zero effort? Nah, actually its fascism, because... um...
2
u/StrongStyleRobo Jun 02 '26
Why not both?
9
u/Brazilian_Buns2301 Jun 02 '26
Because one is factual the other one is a opinion. What the lady in the video is saying is just pseudo intellectualism.
→ More replies (1)4
u/Apt_5 Jun 02 '26
Yeah, to say that the entire motivation behind female weight loss is because authoritarians want/need women to take up less space in an actual physical sense is so silly. Do people really think that more obese women will translate to women having more social power? And the only way for women to have influence is to be physically larger?
From everything I've heard about "pretty privilege", it's quite the opposite in reality.
4
u/lizzy-stix I switched baristas âïž Jun 02 '26
I feel like it's more about GLP1s becoming super available tbh, but it's really depressing either way. It feels like a lot of the gains made across social justice and change were just a pendulum and we've swung back. Not me, tho! I cannot be fooled again, but I feel sorry for the young girls coming of age rn.
3
u/jaguarsp0tted Jun 02 '26
I get what people are saying when they say this. I do. but as a fat person who has always been fat, the expectation of thinness has never left. the expectation of extreme thinness has never left. there was a brief period where it was somewhat en vogue to get BBLs and breast implants to be "curvy", but those "curvy" bodies were still desirably, extremely thin. this expectation has never gone away.
specifically the over-prescription of weight loss drugs is what's correlated to fascism. so few people seem to recall RFK jr floating the idea of having low income people take GLP-1s to suppress their appetites. THAT is where the fascism comes in. the expectation of thinness in women specifically is bog standard patriarchal misogyny (though men are also expected to be thin (and all other genders), but the intentional over-prescription of weight loss drugs in a time where the government is fucking up So Much Goddamn Shit across the board in order to both make people thinner, give people eating disorders, and suppress their appetites in an economy where they can't afford food, is fascism.
2
u/KennKennyKenKen Jun 02 '26
Just because ozempic and fascism popped off at similar times doesn't mean they're related
3
u/Fantastic-Guitar-977 Jun 02 '26
As a woman with a naturally thin/athletic build i cant WAIT to be told all they ways my body is WRONG in the year 2026 đđđ«
→ More replies (3)3
2
u/Electric-Sheepskin Jun 02 '26
I don't know if it's about them literally taking up less space, but there certainly is a look that MAGA prefers, in both men and women. For men, it's rugged, hyper masculinity: either beards, or clean shaven if you have a very square jaw, muscles, tight suits, man spreading. For women, it's very long hair, thin bodies, big lips, Botox, fillers, lots of makeup. There's definitely an aspect of knowing your place and looking the part.
2
2
u/MoreShoe2 Jun 02 '26
Itâs not just physical space either, itâs mental. ED takes up all of your energy, intellect, ambition, creativity. Itâs a gluttonous disease that feasts on our best and brightest - and thatâs exactly what they want. Docile, weak, minerally depleted women with no energy to think.
2
2
u/CarolingianDruid Jun 02 '26
There are many very valid directions to correlate to the strict beauty standards. Physical space being one of those seems like quite the leap in logic.
2
2
u/Thin_Function6913 The legislative act of my pussy âïž Jun 03 '26
I hope she did her stretches before reaching like that. Wouldnt want to pull a muscle or something
1
u/frankylovee Jun 03 '26
This isnât her original take, fyi. Sheâs parroting well documented phenomena.
1
u/Poetic_Dalmatian Louis Vuitton show is for old ladys Jun 02 '26
1
u/LogicallLunacy Jun 03 '26
Big butts are out! Harming yourself in another way is back in style! Never forget ladies, you are never enough! Thanks patriarch!
1
u/joeyhatesu2 Jun 03 '26
OR OR OR!!!! It GLP-1s. Delusional weirdo. Obviously incredibly smart but man wtf
1
âą
u/pccmodbot Jun 02 '26
Welcome to r/popculturechat! âșïž THE POPCULTURECHAT DISCORD SERVER IS NOW LIVE 👾 ❤️🔥 🎉 Click HERE to join! 📲
As a proud BIPOC, LGBTQ+ & woman-dominated space, this sub is for civil discussion only. If you don't know where to begin, start by participating in our Sip & Spill Daily Discussion Threads!
No bullies, no bigotry. ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Please read & respect our rules, abide by Reddiquette, and check out our wiki! For any questions, our modmail is always open.