Is the elephant in the room with us?
Disorders of very many kinds
Holiday season is here, but in some corners (looking at you, Hollyweird), the focus isn’t on feasting—it’s on fixating. Thanks to an unhealthy obsession with ultra-thin figures, the girls’ wardrobes may be sparkling with festive flair, but the plates? They’re looking suspiciously empty.
This relentless pursuit of Demi Moore’s The Substance persona is spiralling out of control in real life, demanding a serious reckoning with this absurd infatuation. The fashion industry, meanwhile, is breathing a collective sigh of relief—no longer needing to feign interest in, quote-unquote, body positivity.
The next four years are already destined to turn to sh*t, but what does that mean for culture? For diversity? Inclusion?!
Pfft, forget it—that chapter’s closed.
The 'heroin chic' era of the early '90s is creeping back, reigniting a cultural obsession with extreme thinness. With Ozempic, Mounjaro, and the potential for weight-loss meds to be covered by the U.S. healthcare system, thinness is now not only normalised but medicated. The trend is only gaining momentum—just look at this one's Instagram; clearly, they’ve been having a good scroll through the 'thinspo' archives on Tumblr.
Even the more youthful influencers are edging into dangerously thin territory as they scramble for the next 'it' magazine cover. It’s a shame. As for the celebrities, something darker is at play. And while, yes, thinness has long been a Hollywood staple, we want to acknowledge that we’ll always stand by icons like Nicole and Angelina—because, let’s be real, these mothers have endured and survived some truly wild men.
Zooming in on the girlies currently on everybody’s lips: divas—some of them didn’t always look like that, and that’s exactly why we’re watching. (Side note: we tried to dig up older photos of a certain photographer who's popping up everywhere at the minute—whose work we genuinely admire, by the way—but who looks alarmingly malnourished and allegedly suffers from filler blindness. But alas, we came up empty. *Sips tea*)
Now, this isn’t to say anyone should hide their frail frames under trench coats buttoned to the top, not at all, but let’s not pretend it’s unreasonable for people to notice and react to dramatic changes—gauntness, twig-like arms, poses that emphasise protruding bones.
This post isn’t about thin-shaming. It’s about acknowledging that, for some reason, a few choice-feminists have managed to convince people that calling out objectively concerning situations is the same as restricting women’s choices or thin-shaming.
And while we’re at it, let’s address the elephant in the room—because, naturally, this has a lot to do with her. Ariana Grande has been vocal about the unwavering scrutiny surrounding her appearance. She addressed comparisons to her past self (which one, though—she’s had so many? Remember this version?), revealing that the body so many once idolised as ‘ideal’ was, in fact, when she was at her unhealthiest.
Kholi: Hmmm, okay. What we’re seeing now doesn’t exactly scream healthy either. Side note: the dynamic between her and Cynthia is fascinating to me. Watching Cynthia appear noticeably thinner during Wicked's press tour makes me wonder if the two share some kind of trauma bond. It’s almost as if their alleged shared experiences—referring to the messy entanglements of affairs with married people—have created a foundation for them to mirror each other’s habits. But I guess that’s…
Verity: …tea for another day? Agreed, let’s save that one. I’m already quenched by this topic.
V: Ariana and Cynthia’s trauma-bonding couldn’t have been symbolised better than when they held onto each other by a mere finger. A whole hand was just too much to bear, apparently. Poor girls. I’d also be curious to know when, where and why Ariana labelled herself as unhealthy during that earlier period. I mean, denial is a river in Egypt...
K: Also, I’m not going to entertain another TikTok about her allegedly starving herself, but every time I see a new image of her on the carpet—still undeniably beautiful—it reaches a point where you have to ask: when and how are we going to have honest conversations about things that clearly don’t seem okay? What I will entertain, though, is smart, critical thinking—and no one breaks it down quite like Thought Knots.
V: “The very fundamental nature of celebrity itself is extremely unnatural.” Damn, she's good (and right). Sadly, it's a fight that always seems to take two steps forward and ten back. Kids, while this body type may be the natural default for some, it’s a) completely unattainable for most and b) exhausting on so many levels. Don’t wait until your 30s, 40s or 50s to finally grasp that.
K: Exactly. Anyway, great performances, so I’ve heard. Can’t wait to see Wicked.
You know who else has been putting on quite the performance lately? The surgeons behind the transformations of celebs like Lindsay Lohan, Christina Aguilera, Demi Moore and Jennifer Aniston—whose faces are practically brand-new, straight out of the box. Whether it’s a ponytail lift, Sculptra, or some other modern aesthetic miracle, the results are nothing short of astounding. These women have been reshaped into real-life, filter-perfect versions of themselves, with features so flawlessly sculpted, it’s enough to leave you wondering: how is it even possible to achieve such seamless transformations in the blink of an eye?
One moment, they’re aging gracefully (or at least, naturally), and the next, they’re reborn with hyper-real, ageless faces. It’s as if the boundary between the authentic and the digitally enhanced has completely vanished.
Plastic surgery has evolved to such an advanced degree that it’s no longer just about ‘enhancement’. It’s edging closer to complete reinvention, where the question isn’t just how far someone will go for beauty—but how much of themselves they’re willing to leave behind.
K: My FYP on TikTok is taunting me with all these ‘celebs going back to factory settings’ deep dives. Lindsay looks amazing, but it’s kind of sad she seems to have removed most of her freckles—she’s giving Barbie with those shiny veneers.
V: You know what’s also sad about all this? They’re letting the Millennial side down. We were supposed to grow old gracefully—together. This all just seems so very unfair. My 21-year-old self will not be crawling out of my back Substance-style anytime soon. Great movie, by the way—I watched it with my husband and he was almost sick in his mouth (involuntarily, of course).
K: Lol, mine isn’t into body horrors at all. Speaking of which—Christina’s current look has me wondering if she’s running on borrowed time with whatever work she’s had done. Whether it’s Sculptra, fillers or something else entirely. It’s not going to last. People are saying she and Lindsay might’ve gone to the same surgeon, but there’s something about Xtina’s appearance that feels especially delicate. The weight loss has definitely helped her pull off this new aesthetic, but I’m giving it two years, tops.
V: It’s all very Death Becomes Her, no? Except Christina is putting her transformation down to a mix of “intermittent fasting, clean eating, and a rigorous exercise regimen” and not some magical elixir. Sure, babe.
K: I’ve seen people in the comments dragging Amanda Bynes into this, saying they hope she “does whatever they did.” Rude? Yes. Funny? Maybe. But also—can we not? Sure, she’s been a bit off the beaten path—the face tattoo? A choice. But I’d much rather see her prioritise getting her mind in a good place before anyone starts fixating on anything else.
V: I wonder what Britney Spears has to say about all of this?