Disordered eating has been trending on social media since the early 2010s, but now it wears a new deceptive mask

cw: eating disorders

Approximately one million Canadians have been diagnosed with an eating disorder. Teens and young adults are the most at risk groups. Women are particularly vulnerable as they make up approximately 80 per cent of patients. The risk of developing an eating disorder is further heightened by social media trends that glorify unhealthy eating.  

The ‘girl dinner’ trend went viral on TikTok this past summer and remains popular on the for you page. ‘Girl dinner’ started as a joke where young women and girls were showing weird combinations of food they put together as meals. However, the trend quickly slipped into the dangerous territory of disordered eating. People now use it to show off their tiny portions of food. Dinner implies a full meal, but many ‘girl dinners’ are barely a snack.  

When ‘girl dinner’ first started promoting unsafe behaviours, I was reminded of the eating disorder culture that ran rampant on Tumblr in the early 2010s. Both ‘girl dinner’ and the pro-anorexia rhetoric from Tumblr encourage people to obsess over lowering calorie intake to obtain the ‘ideal body.’ 

Although awareness has increased, the culture has not changed. If anything, it is more pervasive and even deceptive. In the 2010s it was easy to discern what posts promoted eating disorders and unattainable bodies. For example, the quote “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’ was popularized in 2009 by Kate Moss.  

Today, it is much trickier to identify certain trends as problematic. ‘Girl dinner’ falls into this category of deception for two reasons.  

First, it started as a joke. These meals were not intended to be taken seriously. However, calling a cheese string, five strawberries, and two hardboiled eggs a dinner sends out a harmful message. Some even started calling crying, vaping, and sleeping a ‘girl dinner.’ There are even ‘girl dinner’ filters on TikTok. Several of the options include things like medication, cocktails, and condiments. These are not meals.  

Second, ‘girl dinner’ is linked to a broader trend of using the word ‘girl’ as an adjective in phrases like girl dinner, hot girl summer, and girl math. Typically, ‘girl’ has been used to devalue womens’ abilities. Now, the term is being used to reclaim feminine energy and activities. However, in doing so the dangerous implications of ‘girl dinner’ have been harder to discern.  

‘Girl dinner’ wears a deceptive mask so it is critical to take a step back and analyze the issues with this trend and others like it.  

Several eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder have been listed with symptomatic criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental illness. Collectively, eating disorders are among the deadliest mental illnesses. Disordered eating should never be promoted.  

Tumblr was a breeding ground for eating disorders, hating one’s body, and abusing food intake to change one’s appearance. Social media is likely the reason why every single woman in my life has suffered from an eating disorder or has shown signs of disordered eating. Every single woman.   

I was young teen when eating disorder culture spread like wildfire on Tumblr. Being bombarded with unhealthy images, quotes, and blogs contributed to my personal struggles with food. It is my hope that McMaster students and Generation Z alike can be the ones to end this cycle of toxicity, and this starts with calling out ‘girl dinner’ for what it is - a trend glorifying mental illness. 


If you are struggling with an eating disorder McMaster University’s Student Wellness Centre offers resources to help you find trusted support for you or a friend in need. The National Eating Disorder Information Centre offers a helpline, information, and referrals. The NEDIC also offers resources specifically for racialized community members.  

If you need urgent care, St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton has an Eating Disorder Program to help treat and guide anyone 16 or older. The program does require a referral from your doctor, but St Joseph’s has a self-assessment to guide you towards the treatment necessary for you. Please remember that you are never alone.  

The toxicity of beauty culture is harmful as it provides unrealistic body standards that may cause us to long for an appearance which will forever be unattainable naturally 

Media is a major influence on most young adults today, with the rise of TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and other social media apps influencing our culture and shaping how we live and act today. From models to instagram, social media influencers pose and give unrealistic expectations for anyone to see, particularly young teens.  

Beauty advertisements specifically, within the makeup industry have shown to portray their makeup as a realistic filter and that if you use it, it will blur your pores to provide you with smooth and flawless skin, just like those filters online.  

However, many celebrities have had cosmetic plastic surgery such as breast and lip augmentation, Botox and more, done to their body and portray themselves in the media in a specific way. This is where young adults try to convince themselves they are not naturally pretty as the celebrities shown online, when social media is just simply perpetuating this false reality.  

Although many individuals today strive to achieve a flawless look which is naturally unattainable, everyone does have their own little flaw which makes them, them or is simply something we all deal with as it is human. For example, pores and textured skin, it’s natural, because that's what skin is.  

Although photoshooping does happen a lot with celebrities and their jobs, it can still be something they do not stand for themselves, as Jameela Jamil, a British Indian celebrity, criticized magazines for filtering her face to make it more appealing to Caucasian audiences.  

Cosmetic companies take advantage of these insecurities to make products like blurring primers that teenagers are attracted to. Don't get me wrong, makeup can be used by people to feel confident and beautiful and that's more than okay. However brands that falsely advertise makeup products in their campaigns are very problematic, especially to teenagers. 

Mass media has invented new tools to further manipulate young teenagers and adults. Editing can be seen as just a mere feature to add brightness or contrast to photos. However using it to change your body structure and complexion to be more airbrush is toxic to young adults.  

For example, Facetune is a photo editing app known to retouch your face and body which has gone viral over the last few years. Some people use this app just because of boredom or to test how far they can edit themselves before it becomes noticeable, yet as you continue to do it so often it gets addictive and toxic to you and your mental health. 

To get more featuring tools, there is a VIP subscription for $71.99/year. Within a few seconds you can edit yourself, change your skin tone and curve out your body to look just like Kim Kardashian if you wanted.  

As people keep editing themselves, one can get used to your edited self, so, eventually when you look in the mirror, it's like you’re seeing a whole different person and you feel ashamed that you don't look like the edited version of yourself. It can become so dangerous with these constant false perpetuations as again as again, ththey are not true, it also does not mean you are not ey are not true utiful. 

The western beauty standard has been a great representation throughout years in the beauty industry of making only one specific group of woman feel good. This standard consists of features of white slim women with pouty lips, small waist, and a toned body to imply that, that body and face type is what is called ‘beautiful’.  

These beauty standards are all throughout western media, whether displayed on magazines or billboards. 

All body types are beautiful; however, our society would say that skinnier women are more attractive than larger women, when that is simply not the case.  

Women everywhere are beautiful in their own way, but this standard has not only made women but teenagers not appreciate their own image. This has led to many individuals receiving treatments and surgeries, and the rise of it over the past few years has been immense. Plastic surgery only makes you feel better about the way that you look because society tells you how you should want to look. I strongly disagree that an individual should get plastic surgery if they were only influenced by social media or some kind of celebrity. 

Cosmetic companies take advantage of these insecurities to make products like blurring primers that teenagers are attracted to. Don't get me wrong, makeup can be used by people to feel confident and beautiful and that's more than okay. However, brands that falsely advertise makeup products in their campaigns are very problematic, especially to teenagers. 

Celebrities and influencers are known to be influential, and to even some idols, as there are many young adolescents who look up to and dream to be when they're grown up.  

However, many celebrities have had cosmetic plastic surgery such as breast and lip augmentation, Botox and more, done to their body and portray themselves in the media in a specific way. This is where young adults try to convince themselves they are not naturally pretty as the celebrities shown online, when social media is just simply perpetuating this false reality.  

What's taking these filters to a new level is not just comparing yourself to these celebrities, but also comparing your authentic self against a false representation of them and more importantly you. It is important that you never believe anything on social media and focus on doing acts and practices of self-love. When you realize this, you can come to see your own beauty without the influence of social media. 

How outright and subliminal misogyny in mainstream “self-help” media is taking the fun out of casual dating

By Cassie Wong-Wylie, Contributor 

Navigating sexual shame as a girl, teen and, now, a young woman is something that is a very much shared and lived experience for the gross majority of women. Personally, I remember feeling a lot of shame about my sexuality from other women. It was easy to feel less judgment from men who were drawn to sexual prowess.  

Fast forward to today, when I now feel relatively secure in my embodied sexuality and work hard to omit shame from my sex life, I find fellowship and power when talking about sexuality with other women. This shift, however, has also come with newfound obstacles. I began to encounter men who view sex as a physical actualization of sexist societal values and their sexual pursuits sought to secure their place as the apex, “alpha”, sex. 

I cannot tell if it was my aging that revealed these sorts of men or the landscape around me that caused them to emerge. A landscape that is directly regressive to gender equality and emphatically contributes to homophobia, transphobia, female subjugation and by extension, sexual subjugation. This is namely, the chokehold that right-winged, misogynistic, “personal-growth gurus” like Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson seem to have on boys and young men via social media platforms. 

Dating, sex, relationships and general social interactions have changed since the fanaticism, or even just subliminal influence, of the macho-hustle mentality and with it, a new wave of outright misogyny. I can say confidently I have met the men I once thought only existed as hyperbolized wisecracks and parodies of pathetically insecure men my friends and I would joke about. After having met these caricatures, I believe the sensationalized Tate brothers, Jordan Peterson and other men who nonchalantly front self-help through avenues of female subjugation have ruined dating.  

Dating, sex, relationships and general social interactions have changed since the fanaticism, or even just subliminal influence, of the macho-hustle mentality and with it, a new wave of outright misogyny.

This isn’t to say all men have been corrupted by this influence. However, with how influential this mentality has become, I see myself on a night out or a first date dreading that a guy might secretly revere a “boom in her face, grab her neck, shut her up” pseudo-mantra, just to quote one instance where Tate quite literally encourages sexual violence.  

It's crazy to be talking to a man and suddenly, with just the slightest reference or name drop to the Tates, you realize he probably thinks you shouldn’t even be speaking when not spoken to. Additionally, having to psychoanalyze everything in a conversation and constantly trying to read between the lines has impeded playful banter. I also admit to the very embarrassing example of when a man says, “I love Jordan Peterson” and I agree, thinking we are being flirtatiously sarcastic, only to realize he is being totally serious when he asks me what the word ‘misogyny’ means.  

Even beyond the sphere of conversation in dating, sex and sexual shame has also been impacted by masculinist gurus. The age-old conversation of how the porn industry normalizes and fetishizes aspects of sexual violence and female subjugation for the male gaze has now been superseded by Tate’s direct normalization and advocation for female sexual degradation and abuse.  

The age-old conversation of how the porn industry normalizes and fetishizes aspects of sexual violence and female subjugation for the male gaze has now been superseded by Tate’s direct normalization and advocation for female sexual degradation and abuse.

Even men who do not ascribe to these channels and condemn the figureheads are not immune to the subliminal domination sex “commands”. Though it may not swing to the extremes, just ask the people in your life their thoughts about choking or a hand on her throat during foreplay and I bet you would be shocked by the number of people who say it’s so normal that it’s almost obligatory. Now, while that might not be directly oppressive, it still contributes to a culture focusing on male domination in the bedroom.  

Although male domination during sex may simply be just a social symptom of millennia of patriarchy, celebrities who are deified based on upholding repressive values will have further impacts. Who's to say what the next version of the playful choke is? With pop culture becoming radicalized, I wouldn’t doubt overt, sexual and non-consensual male domination to follow suit, particularly as the young generations of TikTok kids become sexually active.  

This isn’t to say that dating, men or sex need to be sworn off. Although the dating field has changed and new litmus tests for partners are required, I try not to allow advances from men who gain security in their lives by denigrating women’s autonomy as the oppressive force it aims to be. Instead, I hope to find renewed communion with women and establish strongholds of support as we are forced to fortify our status as equally alpha. Ultimately, I hope we all find refuge from sexual shame in each other, and not in a hollow, Tate-esc cult of personality.  

The increasing popularity of book culture can be attributed to the newfound exploration of cultural industries via social media 

Although the pandemic is over, its influence on our society has left lasting impacts, including the popularization of niche interests.  

In this way, book culture could be classified as another victim of massification. The #booktok trend developed this niche interest into another pillar of the cultural industry due to the hype of this trend.   

The cultural industry has taken over book culture through an exponential interest in this hobby due to its virality on TikTok. The massification of book culture began with the creation of #booktok, invented by Kate Wilson.  

It is fantastic to see so many individuals discover their love for reading. Yet, this is only because society reads the most trending books to partake in this trend. #booktok is a great way to promote authors. However, due to its virality component, social media and capitalist industries only promote similar storylines. 

Kate created a TikTok with a few of her favorite quotes pulled from books she had read. This video fostered a safe space within this social platform for book culture to thrive in the digital era.  

After two years of Kate Wilson creating #booktok, this trend became heavily popularized. In my perspective, others outside the book community chose to partake in #booktok due to hype mentality. These individuals began to read books they observed trending and reproduced similar TikTok's to fit in with the current book culture.  

As a materialistic society, it's no surprise that large book corporations such as Indigo viewed #booktok as a perfect marketing strategy to capitalize off book culture.  

Indigo, Canada's largest book retailer, jumped on this trend by creating a virtual Indigo X TikTok Book Club. This company also curated a section within their store dedicated to books "Now Trending on #booktok.  

The #booktok trend created a new market appealing to a mass culture of individuals interested in reading trending books.  

As a result, social media has become a prime gateway for companies to capitalize on the book culture. Through TikTok, society has allowed corporations to capitalize on this cultural industry via supply and demand.  

Colleen Hoover, for example, is an individual who gained popularity through the promotion of the publishing industry through #booktok. This author has become one of America's best-selling authors despite releasing her most famous novels over a decade ago.  

Her newfound success can be attributed to the massification of book culture via the #booktok trend and the capitalization of the popularity.    

With all this in mind, can we escape the book culture industry? Mass culture, capitalism, and the overarching capitalist sectors have captured society in a web of trend followers.  

Although I am a massive supporter of the book community and its authors, I do not support the massification of this culture since advertised books are only trending.  

It is disappointing to see book culture falling victim to social media's influence. Think about the numerous books out there that could be trending but are not due to hype mentality.  

As a result, social media has become a prime gateway for companies to capitalize on the book culture. Through TikTok, society has allowed corporations to capitalize on this cultural industry via supply and demand.  

It is fantastic to see so many individuals discover their love for reading. Yet, this is only because society reads the most trending books to partake in this trend. #booktok is a great way to promote authors. However, due to its virality component, social media and capitalist industries only promote similar storylines. 

The #booktok trend is a great way to begin your time within the book community since you are able to connect to a plethora of individuals. However, the recommendations that arise from this trend should not be the only books you read. 

This trend tends to popularize books of the same author and genre which hinders the exploration for authors of color, varying genres and usually pushes Western perspectives. I encourage you to research books outside of this trend and give them a read.  

You would be surprised with what you may find, and most importantly you will be hindering the power capitalist industries and social media hold over us.  

C/O Mateus Campos, Unsplash

The evolution of society is cultivating the different childhoods of youth today

Young adults today often observe the emerging wave of teenagers and adolescents with mixed feelings of frustration, confusion, disgust and awe all at the same time. Throughout the first two decades of the 21st century, Tamagotchis have somehow turned into the iPhone 13, playing at the park has been replaced by scrolling through social media and better yet, no one ever foresaw a day where children can attend school from their beds.  

Though these new practices shock the young adults of today, it only makes sense for an evolving society to yield different childhood experiences for newer generations. After all, every generation will have unique markers based on differing common experiences.  

What many find difficult to comprehend in adolescents, however, is their changing behaviour, rise in mental health issues and declining social skills. Through personal investigations, parents and other adults are quick to point technology as the leading culprit, but there’s much more to the picture.  

In addition to the rapid evolution of devices since the early 2000s, the world has also seen increased importance laid upon social media, influencers and remote communication.  

Of course, no conversation nowadays is complete without factoring in the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s completely valid in this case though, because it is arguably the defining historical event for this new generation, much like the World Wars, the Great Depression and American presidential elections have been for previous ones.  

The pandemic has effectively magnified both the causes and effects that have resulted in the colourful palate of children and adolescents today. It has enforced an increased reliance on technology and social media communication, even enlisting the few things that remained “normal” such as school into the same category.  

The pandemic has effectively magnified both the causes and effects that have resulted in the colourful palate of children and adolescents today.

Hadeeqa Aziz, Opinions Staff Writer

With schools and childcare programs coming to a halt or shifting online, children growing up in the pandemic are lacking sufficient social and cognitive stimulation which directly affects their habits and behaviour. Like many issues, this is also an intersectional one wherein children of different races, family incomes and neighbourhoods are affected differently.  

This is true for both young children as well as teenagers in high school who are now finding themselves in difficult situations in university classes. For example, last week, an alleged fourth-year McMaster student shared their experience and concerns on the university’s unofficial subreddit, r/McMaster, after attending a first-year online course.  

The fourth-year student claimed that the younger students were spamming the online chat feature with disrespectful comments aimed at both the professor and TA during the lesson. The Redditor claimed that the students were disgusting” and that it’s time for them to take off the “pampers.”  

Though it serves as no excuse for such behaviour, experiencing the latter two years of high school online may play a role in the inability to recognize and adapt to different social situations. The same concept can be extended to younger children who experiencing critical stages in life, including elementary school and pre-school in a pandemic.  

Children of this new era also differ greatly in social conformity as it pertains to the virtual aspect. With the rise of TikTok in the last couple years (and even more through the pandemic), it has made it increasingly convenient for influencers to post unachievable standards of beauty, looks and lifestyles that are nothing but meticulously designed highlight reels of reality.  

Nonetheless, it has effectively resulted in children gaining an increased urge to conform to these standards. Where many of today’s adults can recall dressing themselves in Disney-themed t-shirts as kids, they’re shocked to learn that their younger siblings are sporting the latest TikTok outfits, complete with Nike crewnecks and Air Jordan 1s.  

Whether this conformity is rooted in self-esteem issues or something more positive in nature will differ from person to person.  

Whether this conformity is rooted in self-esteem issues or something more positive in nature will differ from person to person.  

Hadeeqa Aziz, Opinions Staff Writer

Some of the admirable things that have resulted from placing social media on a pedestal are the increased conversations surrounding social issues such as mental health, racial and gender discrimination and climate change.  

Today’s youth have become more comfortable with speaking out and having difficult conversations about these issues that generations before them may have been rather hesitant to.  

It seems that adults can’t make up their minds on whether they wish to applaud today’s youth or condemn them. The only certain thing is that their lives and the lives of future generations will continue to evolve much like the world will. There’s no stopping that.  

It seems that adults can’t make up their minds on whether they wish to applaud today’s youth or condemn them. 

Hadeeqa Aziz, Opinions Staff Writer

C/O Patrick Malleret, Unsplash

TikTok and Instagram’s image of “that girl” is not the only way to live a fulfilling life

TikTok has slowly developed an unhealthy obsession with a recent phenomenon termed “that girl.” For those unfamiliar with this trend, “that girl” refers to an individual (not necessarily a girl) who seemingly is well-put and has their life together.  

“That girl” has a perfect routine that has made her fit, mentally healthy and motivated. Instagram and TikTok creators have been posting their daily routines in the promise of helping their followers also become “that girl.”  

However, I strongly take issue with this newly risen phenomenon. 

One of the less serious issues I have with these countless “routine videos” is the repetitiveness of it. In other words, every single influencer is telling you to do the exact same set of activities in order to achieve greatness. They only slightly change their wording and use varying camera shots and angles to differentiate themselves from other bloggers.  

According to almost all of them, the pathway of success has four simple steps.  

Firstly, you must wake unreasonably early between the hours of 5:00-6:00 am. Secondly, you are obliged to exercise and meditate immediately after you have woken up. Thirdly, you need to eat incredibly healthy and have a daily consumption of lemon water, avocado toast and berry smoothies. Finally, the last requirement is to replace all forms of technology with journaling.  

And so forth, your phone addiction will slowly wear off and you will have a healthy obsession with journaling instead. I don't believe that these routines are inherently wrong, but rather disagree with the repetitiveness of them.  

As I mentioned, almost all content creators are promoting the exact same and unvaried set of steps. This makes the audience question whether these four steps are truly the only route to success. One might ask themselves if they will ever achieve their goals if they don’t wake up early, exercise and eat healthy.  

Unless it isn’t clear, no, the only way of achieving success is not through these four steps. To start, studies have shown that high productivity is not always linked to waking up early. Countless research articles have exhibited how some individuals are biologically more attentive and fresh in the morning, while others are more alert at night.  

Furthermore, research has shown again that there is no objectively ideal time for exercising. Studies have shown how working out in the morning, afternoon and evening have respective advantages.  

The same logic follows with replacing technology with journaling. Although it might be helpful to some, it’s not the objectively right method of accomplishing your goals. 

"The same logic follows with replacing technology with journaling. Although it might be helpful to some, it's not the objectively right method of accomplishing your goals."

Kimia Tahaei, Opinions Staff Writer

To clarify, I don’t think that these routines are intentionally promoting the idea that these activities are objectively correct. However, social media can be incredibly toxic at times and swallow us in a tornado of insecurity, doubt and anxiety.  

When we constantly see these routines, more often than not we doubt ourselves and our abilities. We question whether we’re behind in the “race of success” since we’re not following their advised typical four steps.  

"We question whether we're behind in the 'race of success' since we're not following their advised typical four steps."

Kimia Tahaei, Opinions Staff Writer

In these situations, we often have to take a step back, understand our individual situation and then proceed to make a decision on whether these routines are the best choice for us. If so, then great!  

However, if not, we need to understand how it’s not a favourable routine for our lifestyle to immobilize the feelings of inadequacy and insecurity early on.  

Psychology students get their five seconds of TikTok fame in IntroPsych TikTok competitions

C/O MacIntroPsych

MacIntroPsych is turning the nightly routine of scrolling through TikTok into an educational habit, with psychology-themed posts and TikTok competitions for IntroPsych students. To get students engaged in the online learning environment, the course has taken to social media to make course content fun and accessible.

As the course was originally taught in a blended learning format, IntroPsych was well-prepared for the shift to online learning. A major difficulty faced by the university in transitioning to an online learning environment was transferring in-person lectures and tutorial components to an online format.

@intropsychtiktok

visual processing?? ... light work ##foryoupage ##fyp ##retina ##photoreceptor

♬ original sound - Lucas Geling

“[This year, we saw] such an outpouring of support, love and gratitude for the work that we put in and that definitely made it all worth it. Not to mention, we saw a huge increase in enrollment in PSYCH 1XX3 compared to previous years — we have 100 additional students this semester. I really thought this year would be like the rest of 2020, a bit of a dumpster fire, but it ran better than I could have expected. The students were engaged, happy and funny,” said Dr. Cadieux.

In the past, IntroPsych held meme competitions on Twitter, where students sent in their best original psychology-related memes leading up to important examinations. The TikTok competitions emerged from the Twitter competitions, in a natural shift to the up-and-coming social media platform.

The transition to TikTok competitions was driven by the IntroPsych TAs, who turned their joke of becoming “TikTok famous” into a reality. They started the TikTok account in January 2020 but started posting videos more frequently in fall 2020. Now the most popular video on the IntroPsych TikTok account has surpassed 40,000 views.

“One of the awesome things about both the professors is they’re very much down to try anything that’s interesting or anything that the TAs are passionate about. The IntroPsych team isn’t afraid to have fun and incorporate learning into fun and vice versa and I think that’s what really helped set the foundation for this TikTok sphere that we made,” said Zoe Thompson, a fourth-year psychology, neuroscience and behaviour student in her second year as an IntroPsych TA.

The TAs were inspired by Darrion Nguyen, a TikTok creator who produces educational and accessible science content for students. The teaching team creates their own psychology-related videos based on difficult course concepts throughout the semester with the goal of making course content more digestible for students.

The next TikTok competition will be around the April exam period. To enter the TikTok competitions, students can let their creativity run wild and post any TikTok related to IntroPsych course content with the contest hashtags.

The top two entries are chosen by the number of likes, while there are two additional TAs’ choice runner-ups. UberEats gift cards are reserved as prizes for the top four entries.

@intropsychtiktok

Be critical when reading papers to understand their weaknesses! Charity: Empowerment Squared ##macintropsych ##macintropyschtiktok

♬ original sound - best clips

“[Creating TikTok videos] is a form of elaborative rehearsal. It takes a lot of thought because you have to know something about pop culture, but you also have to know something about the concept that you’re teaching [to put] them together in a thoughtful way,” said IntroPsych professor Joseph Kim.

The IntroPsych team encourages students to make the most of their university experience and take responsibility for their learning in and outside of classes.

@intropsychtiktok

##fyp ##brain ##why

♬ original sound - Camila

“The onus is on the instructor [to facilitate student engagement], but at the end of the day, it’s also up to the students to put in an effort and make an investment in their own learning,” said Kim.

How your so-called “quarantine weight” is really a damaging idea

Graphic by Esra Rakab/Production Coordinator

cw: discussions of eating disorders, food and body image

As spring and summer roll around, the rhetoric we grew up hearing about the “perfect summer body” also comes around. Despite the dialogues about body positivity and eating disorders that are increasingly creeping up in our social dialogue, the societal norms of what is an attractive body still dominate our narrative.

Many people have always experienced a certain level of pressure to have a certain physical appearance and if one does not have what we can now call “pretty privilege,” they may be discriminated against.

Studies have shown that a bias against people who are not conventionally attractive is a very real phenomenon associated with how you are perceived on dating apps and even more surprisingly, one’s ability to gain promotions at work.

Studies have shown that a bias against people who are not conventionally attractive is a very real phenomenon associated with how you are perceived on dating apps and even more surprisingly, one’s ability to gain promotions at work.

So how have the demands of beauty standards changed in our current time of the pandemic? With gyms closed and no need to dress well (albeit just a nice shirt for a Zoom meeting over your pyjama pants), how is it that we continue to be so self-conscious about our bodies, that we dread the moment our baggy winter sweaters leave us when warmer weather comes along?

Many online influencers on YouTube, TikTok and other popular social media platforms constantly preach about the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle through rigorous exercise and an impeccably “healthy” diet. “Quarantine workout routines” dominate the algorithms of all social media we consume, but I believe this trend to be of poor taste. 

Saying that you need to maintain a rigorous exercise routine when all of us are isolated and locked in our house stems from a place of immense economical privilege, misinformation about the human body and a disregard for how our mental health is looking currently.

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with incorporating a reasonable exercise regimen and a nutritious meal plan in lockdown, for many of us, it is incredibly difficult to build a picture-perfect lifestyle as we’ve seen rich influencers do online.

With gyms being closed or inaccessible, not everybody has the means to buy workout equipment, the space in their living area to do exercises or the mental energy to be able to do the latest Chloe Ting challenge

Many individuals are unable to afford nutritious food and are eating what they can to feel satisfied and have enough motivation to fight through another day.

The idea of the dreaded “quarantine weight” is unnecessarily punishing a whole generation of young people who were already greatly impacted by unrealistic expectations from photoshopped social media pictures prior to 2020.

It may be difficult to accept, but your body has allowed you to survive in the middle of a pandemic and it is enduring unbelievable amounts of stress on your behalf.

It is tempting to beat yourself about not having a perfect sleep schedule, a perfect work schedule, or a perfect diet and / exercise schedule like you see many thin online influencers claim to have in their “Get Ready with Me, Morning Routine Edition” videos.

But it’s okay to not have a perfectly aesthetic bedroom to sleep in and most importantly, it’s okay for you to enjoy food and not feel guilty about it.

But it’s okay to not have a perfectly aesthetic bedroom to sleep in and most importantly, it’s okay for you to enjoy food and not feel guilty about it.

Organizations such as McMaster’s own Women and Gender Equity Network even took the time to host virtual initiatives such as “Bodies are Dope” which addressed many of these issues and even provided spaces for racialized bodies to talk about some of their experiences.

If you are feeling alone during quarantine, WGEN provides weekly spaces for Mac students to drop by and talk about anything they feel is weighing on them. WGEN is also able to connect you with a variety of appropriate resources, should you need them.

Please be gentle with yourself and understand that even if you are unsatisfied with your body and wish to change it later on down the line, there is absolutely no rush to do so and you are allowed to take care of yourself at a pace that is right for you.

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