Now Trending: Bodies
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Those of us who stepped into our 30s during the pandemic are old enough to remember the how viciously the media attacked women for not being a size 0. We’re also old enough to recognize that women’s bodies come and go out of style. We see this reflected in the different fashion trends. Large fast fashion brands, run mainly by white people, continue to take from racialized designers, appropriating different cultures, to increase profit margins. Just like fashion and makeup trends continue to change according to what seems to bring in as much capital as possible, certain body types also go in and out of style.
When Paris Hilton got married earlier this year, a certain narrative about skinny bodies emerged online. In the early 2000s, Paris had the ideal body type, and she does. Many only commented on her not making any drastic changes to her body, especially through the ‘BBL era.” While some applauded this, others, including myself, were reminded that Paris had it figured out. Skinny would never go “out of style.” Despite the last decade being dominated by Paris’ former stylist, Kim Kardashian, extremely thin celebrities, such as Ariana Grande, still held on to the public eye through fashion. In other words, as thin celebrities continued to remain relevant as fashion trends changed over the years.
“I was in middle school and high school during the mid to late 2000s, and I remember feeling the pressure to eat a little as possible because I wanted to look a certain way. This feeling haunted me even after I left high school. Whenever I felt that I needed to lose weight, I stopped eating. I only recently realized that this was harming my body and it took a lot of emotional healing to be able to accept my body and to nourish it in the ways it deserved,” mentioned Abi* who made the connection between eating disorders and harmful images in mainstream media.
When the “BBL era” surfaced two major things happened: 1) there was a shift in the conversation around body images and what was accepted as being worthy of existing in high fashion spaces, 2) it continued to solidify white women as the purveyors of this body type, despite Black and racialized women having features that were often sought after. Some may argue that this era changed the way people looked at bodies that were curvier or facial features such as bushy eyebrows and fuller lips, however, who were we seeing these “trends” on? White women. Who increased access to certain fashion and makeup spaces with these features? White women.
