The Death of Body Positivity? Ozempic, ‘Shrinking Girl Summer’ and the Return of Skinny Worship

What the Health

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Wednesday, 4 March 2026 - 55 minutes

For a decade, we were told to love our curves and celebrate our "flaws". But almost overnight, the cultural tide has turned. From A-list celebrities seemingly shrinking before our eyes to the quiet removal of plus-size ranges from high-street racks, "Shrinking Girl Summer" has arrived -and with it, a resurging worship of the noughties-level skinny.Journalist Rose Stokes joins host Claira Hermet for a chat about what happens when the "safe spaces" of body positivity begin to vanish. Rose opens up about the "unhealthy ritual" of scrolling through Instagram to spot who is using GLP-1 inhibitors, the agonizing jealousy of feeling "left behind" in a larger body, and the crushing pressure to participate in the collective sprint toward thinness.Rose shares the raw reality of her own experience with weight-loss injections: the fleeting hope of silencing "food noise," the "scarily fast" loss of 15kg, and the devastating mental health fallout that followed. From the lack of medical checks and balances to the "moral maze" of who these drugs are really for, this episode explores the complex intersection of vanity, health, and the commercialization of self-esteem.Claira was also on hand to answer all of your listener questions!https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/aug/10/body-positivity-shrinking-girl-summer-everyone-getting-smaller-except-me

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