Two think pieces about the return of thin as a body ideal for women are in the media this week and I thought I’d share them with you.
Of course, thin has never been out, but the writers feel this is different. I do too. The new aspirational bodies aren’t just thin, they’re competitively thin. They’re definitely not muscular. They’re the kind of bodies that I think look frail.
Kate Manne asks, over on her Substack More to Hate, why women’s bodies are shrinking again.
She writes, “It’s also fair to feel worried. Thin is more in than ever now for another reason too: the rise of authoritarianism, and the way women can signal their deference to the powers-that-be by conforming to a certain ideal of conventional femininity. The ideal woman today is very thin, white, highly feminine, and projects a certain frailty without actually being ill or disabled. She is Melania Trump; she is Hannah Neeleman of Ballerina Farms; she is a tradwife. She is a woman who the men in power will happily date and marry, partly because her appearance telegraphs wealth and health and effort. And her frail body suggests someone in need of a strong man’s protection.”
I’m not sure if it’s a “subscribers only” post or not but you can read more of it on her Instagram here,
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGvbFPJuBJE/?igsh=ZWs4NGJ2amh3bDhi
Lisa Armstrong’s piece is here.
What do you think?
