American model Bella Hadid looked stunning on the red carpet at the REVOLVE fashion show in Los Angeles. And yet, beneath the photos of the event, online comments targeting her physique proliferated (skinny shaming). Just another episode of a well-documented, and still just as harmful, phenomenon.
Comments that have been repeated for years
The words used by some internet users under Bella Hadid's photos at the REVOLVE fashion show are the same ones we've seen for years under models' posts: "too thin , " "skeletal" —qualities that reduce a woman to her appearance in order to better devalue her. The mention of Ozempic—a medication initially intended for diabetics, misused by some celebrities for weight loss—adds to this as a further accusation. These comments, in any case, are completely unjustified.
Skinny shaming: the least discussed form of body shaming
Skinny shaming is the inverse of fatphobia: it refers to the stigmatization and hurtful remarks experienced by people deemed "too thin." It is less visible than fatphobia, which relies on well-documented structural and everyday discrimination—in public spaces, the workplace, and on public transportation. However, it is no less harmful. It fuels anxiety and self-loathing in those affected and can exacerbate pre-existing eating disorders.
Demands impossible to fulfill
The experiences of women like Bella Hadid highlight a telling paradox: never being "too fat," never being "too thin" either—under penalty of being labeled "anorexic," a term used as an insult even though it refers to a serious health condition. These contradictory demands perfectly illustrate what is known as body shaming in its broadest sense: society's constant "rating" of women's bodies according to unrealistic, ever-changing, and simultaneously impossible-to-meet standards.
View this post on Instagram
The concrete consequences for mental health
The normalization of this type of comment is not without consequences. Body dysmorphic disorder—this pathological relationship with one's appearance, very common among young women—is fueled precisely by this kind of constant external judgment. Mental and physical health are always closely linked when it comes to self-perception. And the idea that celebrities are "immune" to these remarks because they are in the public eye is untenable: human beings remain human beings, regardless of their fame.
Ultimately, "too fat," "too thin"... women will never win on this battleground, because this battleground wasn't designed for them to win. The only coherent response to these contradictory demands is to stop fueling them—in comments as well as in conversations.
