Ozempic: from blood sugar to beauty standard

 

How did we get here?

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The now widely known pill or injection, titled Ozempic, has put a major spanner in the works of the worlds of weight, beauty, and celebrity culture. Ozempic contains semaglutide, a medicine belonging to a group called GLP-1 receptor agonists, and was originally developed to help adults with type 2 diabetes regulate their blood sugar, by managing appetite and digestion. However, the world of aesthetics and modern beauty has soon latched onto this prescription drug, evolving it into more of a cosmetic product after discovering its effectiveness for losing weight.

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Its popularity raises an important question: when a medicine becomes associated with looking thinner, are we beginning to judge health through the same mirror we use to judge appearance? With Ozempic’s help, becoming thinner is now automatically associated with becoming healthier and more attractive. This idea and growing social norm deserve to be challenged.

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Health is multifaceted, scaffolded with physical and mental wellbeing, genetic influences and lifestyle. Beauty, however, is often reduced to something much simpler: an outward appearance judged against constantly changing social ideals. By associating weight loss with both improved health and increased attractiveness, Ozempic risks blurring these two very different concepts. A thinner body may be perceived as the ultimate symbol of health and beauty, despite the reality being far more complicated. This raises the concern that society is becoming increasingly focused on how healthy a person looks or should look like, rather than understanding what health actually means and how it should internally feel.

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The restaurant effect:

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The influence of Ozempic does not stop at the reflection of the dreaded bathroom mirror. It is beginning to change the way society views food itself. Due to Ozempic reducing appetite and making people feel fuller for a longer duration of time, users frequently find themselves eating smaller portions or feeling less interested in food. This has majorly challenged the restaurant industry, which has traditionally relied on the selling point of large portions and indulgent dishes. Restaurants have been forced to adapt with smaller portions, lighter menus and new pricing strategies. There is a noticeable shift in an increase of appetiser prices because customers have begun to only order a singular appetiser due to a lack of hunger, therefore restaurants have had to match appetiser prices to main prices. Smaller portions, lighter menus and more flexible serving sizes will predictably become increasingly more common. The popularity of appetite-suppressing medications could create a particularly unusual shift because a culture built around eating more is being forced to respond to a culture increasingly focused on eating less and less.

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Igniting the ‘heroin chic’ back in today’s culture:

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Additionally, Ozempic has significantly encouraged the rise of extremely thin body ideals, and therefore the return of the infamous 1990’s ‘heroin chic’. Specifically, this trend famously promotes an intentionally gaunt and ultra-thin appearance that is heavily associated with different types of bad eating habits. Over the last decade social media has accelerated the speed at which beauty trends spread. Two competing ideals have become particularly prominent: the celebrated curvy, hourglass figure and the contrasting rise of extreme thinness. Ozempic has become caught within this transitioning cycle between the trends. The problem is not simply that beauty standards change. It is that these standards can make people feel as though their bodies need to change with them. When a prescription medicine becomes part of the conversation surrounding the “ideal” body, reinforces the idea that our health and self-worth can be measured by how closely we conform to society’s ever-changing beauty standards.

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Ultimately, Ozempic represents something much larger than a prescription drug. It has become a symbol of the complicated relationship between health and food. Judgement against someone has become determined by the shape of someone’s body, therefore demonstrating how Ozempic has become such a relevant topic. The drug has not only influenced how people approach weight loss but has also encouraged wider conversations surrounding body image and the unrealistic expectations placed upon individuals to conform to constantly changing beauty standards.

 

The ripple effect Ozempic is creating will continue for as long as individuals view it as a means of achieving their perceived ideal of ultimate attractiveness.

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Image from: Fashion Gone Rogue: Moschino Shows Unfinished Fashion for Pre-Fall 2015