Hollywood’s obsession with being thin is back

For several years, it appeared that Hollywood was finally moving away from its obsession with extremely thin women. Body positivity became mainstream, plus-size models appeared on magazine covers and actresses increasingly spoke about accepting their natural bodies. Yet that progress now appears to be reversing. Across red carpets, films, fashion shows and social media, extreme thinness is becoming increasingly visible again, raising an uncomfortable question: are we returning to an era where women are expected to make themselves as small as possible?
Weight loss can happen for many reasons, including illness, stress, grief or medically supervised treatment. But the broader cultural change is difficult to ignore. Actress Jameela Jamil recently described a “scarily thin” beauty standard taking hold, while fashion industry figures have similarly reported that models are becoming noticeably smaller. Vogue reported this year that mid-size and plus-size representation on runways had fallen to its lowest level since Vogue Business began tracking the figures.
One major factor is the rapid growth of GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro. These medications have legitimate medical purposes and can significantly improve the health of patients with diabetes or obesity. The problem is not the existence of the drugs. It is the culture developing around them.
Weight loss medication has become so normalised within celebrity culture that dramatic transformations are now almost expected. Oprah Winfrey, Rosie O'Donnell and other celebrities have openly discussed using GLP-1 medications, although their individual reasons and experiences differ considerably. Meanwhile, doctors are reporting cases of people with eating disorders obtaining GLP-1 drugs and experiencing relapses or dangerous restrictive behaviours.
Model Lottie Moss has spoken particularly openly about this danger. She previously revealed that misuse of Ozempic resulted in her being taken to hospital. She has since warned about the influence celebrities can have, explaining that people may assume a medication is safe simply because famous people are using it. That influence should not be underestimated.
Hollywood celebrities do not exist in isolation. Millions of young women and girls follow their Instagram accounts, watch their films, copy their clothes and use their photographs as beauty inspiration. When almost every famous woman suddenly appears significantly thinner, audiences inevitably notice. Social media then amplifies the effect through before and after photographs, discussions about weight and algorithms constantly recommending appearance focused content.
The message becomes difficult to escape: being thin is desirable, but being extremely thin is even better. There is also an uncomfortable economic dimension to the conversation. Food prices have risen substantially in recent years.
Pew Research Center found in 2025 that 90 per cent of Americans believed healthy food had become more expensive, while 69 per cent said those higher prices made eating healthily more difficult. Lower-income Americans were particularly affected.
It would be inaccurate to suggest that inflation itself is causing anorexia. However, it is worth examining the strange intersection between economic hardship and beauty culture. While wealthier consumers can spend considerable amounts on medications designed to suppress their appetite, lower-income households may be skipping meals or purchasing cheaper, less nutritious food because groceries have become unaffordable. At opposite ends of the economic spectrum, eating less can occur for completely different reasons.
Meanwhile, thinness is once again becoming associated with status. This represents a striking reversal from the body positive culture that dominated parts of the 2010s. For a while, fashion and entertainment appeared to acknowledge that women naturally exist in different sizes. Now the pendulum seems to be swinging backwards. Fashion insiders interviewed by Vogue explicitly described a return to extreme thinness, with some models reporting that losing weight resulted in more work. That is precisely why Hollywood has a responsibility to think carefully about the images it promotes.
The conversation should focus less on individual women's bodies and more on the industry surrounding them. Why are actresses still subjected to such intense pressure over their weight? Why is size diversity disappearing from fashion just years after it was supposedly embraced? And why has society become comfortable treating dramatic weight loss as entertainment?