Those last four words caused a furor online, with one Reddit discussion garnering nearly 600 responses, ranging from “This is definitely how Boomers and older communicate on social media” to “Bubs, what are you doing?!” Fitness guru Richard Simmons also wrote on Facebook, “What a question.”
Streisand deleted the comment. Posted a description About X: “She was amazing! I just wanted to give a compliment,” she said. “I forgot the whole world was reading it!”
McCarthy, meanwhile, took the Streisand gaffe in stride, at least publicly: “The bottom line is, Barbra Streisand knows who I am.” McCarthy said in a follow-up video.“She contacted me and thought I was lovely! I won!”
However, the original photo she posted has since been deleted.
Americans have long considered talking about appearance, especially body image, taboo in “polite” conversation. But social media is a place of impoliteness, and this taboo is rarely observed at school lunch tables, in grocery stores, or at family gatherings. In reality, overweight people are often not shown the common courtesy that thin people take for granted.
New medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro have been developed that can lower blood sugar levels and reduce hunger.
We can’t stop talking about these drugs. Some of these drugs were originally developed to treat diabetes, but are now increasingly prescribed for weight management and loss. We speculate about who is taking these drugs and why. We ask where they can get them and what it feels like to take them. We offer advice, but it’s not always asked for. Internet forums and social media comment sections feature endless debates about whether these drugs are being used appropriately.
These conversations, even when well-intentioned, can be rife with bias, misinformation, and shocking insensitivity. As a conversation topic, Ozempic seems just the latest vehicle for communicating all the complex issues we have with our bodies.
Abigail Morrison, 27, a higher education specialist at the City University of New York, believes it’s inappropriate to comment or question someone’s weight, even if it’s Barbra Streisand.
Morrison gained weight while taking birth control pills, and then gained even more after she experienced postpartum depression after giving birth. As she struggled to lose weight through diet and exercise, her aunt, who has pre-diabetes, told her she was taking Wegoby. That prompted her doctor to prescribe the drug to her last October.
Morrison initially only told her aunt and fiancé about her decision, fearing societal retribution for taking Ozempic because she doesn’t have diabetes.
But as Morrison’s weight-loss journey took off, she began sharing her story on TikTok, where her following grew to more than 150,000. She was already posting product recommendations and her parenting journey, so when one of her viewers asked her how she’d managed to lose nearly 30 pounds in six months, she knew she had to get real about her journey with Ozempic.
Her commenter’s question was essentially a request for advice, She said it sounded more sincere than the famous singers’.
But some people are rude.
“Some people say, ‘Why can’t you go to the gym?'” Morrison said. “I’m trying to get healthy, but I’m on medication. [I’m considered] It’s lazy and I hate it.”
Candice Toney, a 44-year-old health worker, said media portrayals of the drug reinforce stigma, including by implying that patients are stealing it from others with diabetes. Toney tried to raise awareness by sharing her story on social media accounts, Weegobee and later Zepbound, but some commenters still criticized her for taking “weight loss pills.”
So, is there a way to politely ask someone if they’re taking Ozempic?
Carolyn Hax, an advice columnist for the Washington Post, believes discussions about these types of drugs should, for the most part, involve just two people: the person taking the drug and the doctor who prescribes it.
People who are interested in losing weight might ask friends who have lost weight for advice, but they don’t need to share their secrets. She said: Patients taking weight-loss drugs may want to tell their spouse for practical reasons, such as deciding how to cook meals or shop for ingredients, but unsolicited advice or comments are otherwise ineffective, says Hax.
“I always approach these questions with the understanding that people in that position have already been thoroughly denounced and don’t really need anyone else’s opinion on anything,” she says. “Unless you hand them a lamp that they can rub and summon a genie to instantly give them the body they desire, everything else is meaningless.”
The reality of being overweight is that you are constantly reminded of your weight in even the strangest situations.
“My uncle was on his deathbed and he was like, ‘I can’t believe how big your belly is,’ and I was like, ‘You’re going to die,'” recalls Samhita Mukhopadhyay, a former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue and author who wrote about her experiences at Munjaro. “I just thought, ‘So are you! You’re on your deathbed. Maybe these shouldn’t be the last words you say to me.'”
“There was absolutely no etiquette” when it came to talking about weight within her family, she says.
Certain subcultures can be particularly critical of weight loss interventions.
In the fitness and bodybuilding community, there’s a saying that AJ Robredo sometimes hears: “The size of your body is a measure of your discipline.”
Robredo has long struggled with her body shape, despite dieting and working out. In 2023, Robredo weighed 550 pounds and was prescribed WeGobi. She lost 90 pounds before her weight loss plateaued. After undergoing weight loss surgery in May, she is now down to 397 pounds, but her weight loss has sparked mixed reactions from fitness enthusiasts.
“The gym community has [are] “There’s a very purist approach to encouraging weight loss,” says the 22-year-old college graduate. While their methods of choice vary, Robredo says one thing they all have in common is their disdain for surgery or medical intervention.
“Several people commented that I took the easy way out with surgery.”
But the surgery was far from “easy,” Robredo noted: To qualify for the procedure, he had to follow a calorie-restricted diet for months, and be on a liquid diet for two weeks before and after the operation.
and Gyms have never been a welcoming place, despite being the “right” way to lose weight. When Robredo was heavier, she had trouble finding a spotter. People would pretend they couldn’t see her, or just hurry off after a set. “I had to figure out for myself whether to do it without a spotter or without any help.”
Robredo said since she lost the weight, it has been easier to find help.
Many who have taken weight-loss drugs can attest to how much kinder strangers are when they lose weight: Doors are held open for them, service staff are more attentive, fast-food cashiers don’t look shocked at their orders. Robredo recalls receiving unsolicited advice at the grocery store about what she should and shouldn’t eat.
For internet personality Samantha Jo, the surge in positive attention she’s received since climbing Mount Maunjaro in the fall hasn’t exactly felt good.
Overall, she says, life is much better. Her “food noise” has disappeared. “People are awake and thinking about food 24 hours a day, and I thought I was just weak. Like I wasn’t mentally strong enough to handle it,” Jo says. Now that the noise has quieted, “it’s so peaceful.”
Now, at 25, she feels comfortable walking with friends, riding theme park rides and wearing flip flops, and Jo says her family, friends and followers have been “super supportive.”
But Jo is shocked at how differently she is treated now: brands who were previously reluctant to work with her are now supportive, her posts get more attention and people are swooning over her beauty.
“It makes me feel kind of bad, like I didn’t deserve you back then, and the only thing that’s changed about me now is my weight,” Jo says. “I’ve never felt ugly, I’ve never felt worthless. I’ve always been confident in myself, regardless of my body type.”
“I don’t believe my weight is an indication of how I should be treated or whether I deserve respect.”
Mukhopadhyay is no longer on Munjaro because her insurance doesn’t cover it and it would be too expensive to do so otherwise.Reuters reports It has recently been found that most patients using these drugs to treat obesity stop using them within a year for a variety of reasons, ranging from severe side effects to being unable to afford the high cost.
She knows firsthand how terrible the side effects can be, but she also knows how positively inspiring the world can be when you’re small.
Still, the way we talk about these drugs has degenerated into a “weird witch hunt” about which celebrities are taking them, and has led us to think of Ozempic primarily as a weight-loss drug rather than a breakthrough diabetes treatment, Mukhopadhyay says. “It feels like Ozempic has been commercialized as a diabetes treatment. [kind of] “Botox.”
Scientists speculate that these treatments may help. People suffering from addictionThere is a possibility that ; ADHD and ObesitySome believe Ozempic may also have mental health benefits.
Instead, Mukhopadhyay says, it has reinforced arbitrary boundaries about who can lose weight and how: “We’re just creating more tools to judge each other.”
