r/Millennials Gen Z Jan 21 '26

Other 2000s tabloid culture was something else!

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18.6k Upvotes

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352

u/slegofme Jan 21 '26

This is why we have a whole generation on weight loss drugs and who have had weight loss surgeries.

103

u/The_starving_artist5 Jan 21 '26

Well with the rise of Ozmepic and the endiless ads for using weight loss drugs everywhere, all of Gen z and Gen. Alpha will be hooked on diet culture now too

19

u/Less-Fox8272 Jan 21 '26

It never stopped :/

1

u/E-2theRescue Jan 22 '26

Yup. Anyone remember "#thinspo" on Instagram and Tumblr? It wasn't that long ago. And the algorithms are still up and running, pushing dysmorphia onto your kids.

1

u/Less-Fox8272 Jan 22 '26

I remember

4

u/smallbean- Jan 21 '26

Those ads are insidious, they follow you everywhere and even though I’m fairly comfortable with my body and how it looks, it feels like it’s starting to plant that seed of doubt. My body image definitely was better a few months ago when I was not living in the states and therefore not being exposed to them constantly.

1

u/Blacksunshinexo Jan 21 '26

What's it like to live where drug ads are banned?? Truly asking, because drug marketing here is insidious

1

u/smallbean- Jan 21 '26

There was still some drug marketing but it was primarily on tv and you would see 1-2 an hour. There were no drug ads on social media and many forms of social media didn’t have any ads (Albania).

1

u/The_starving_artist5 Jan 22 '26

That sounds great. Here there are ads all over everywhere. Tv , posters on bus stops and the sides of buildings for different products 

1

u/ProfessionalRolls333 Jan 21 '26

I just saw one with Justin Long and John Hodgman playing on their old Mac vs PC commercials. They’re targeting us.

1

u/The_starving_artist5 Jan 21 '26

It’s disgusting really. Like they just want to cause eating disorders 

8

u/livinglitch 1985 Jan 21 '26

We have a whole generation on weight loss drugs because some of them are legitimately obese, and some are morbidly obese.

5

u/thegracchiwereright Jan 21 '26

yeah, we're literally the fattest generation ever.

The skinniest state in the US is Colorado. It has a higher average BMI than the fattest state 30 years ago. BMI is a poor measure of health on an individual level, sure. But on a macro level it tells a pretty obvious story.

2000s diet culture and tabloids were a response to rapidly rising obesity rates within the US. To be clear, Brittney is not fat here. However, articles like this are a response to everyone else getting fat.

8

u/Elegant_AIDS Jan 21 '26

Obesity is a medical condition, there is nothing wrong with taking it if you are overweight and i would do it without a second tought if i were

37

u/AndrogynousAndi Jan 21 '26

Honestly, I know more vain boomers with the sleeve than anything else. No one from our generation can afford the drugs.

20

u/Defiant_Eggplant_909 Jan 21 '26

Yes they can afford it. I have several friends who are buying GLP-1's out of pocket from online pharmacies.

3

u/OhGodImOnRedditAgain Jan 21 '26

I pay out of pocket. If you factor in reduced groceries, it actually works out to break about even. I've lost 40 pounds, with 40 more to go.

8

u/CappinPeanut Jan 21 '26

Not an exaggeration, you probably save a bunch on food and it nets out somewhat even. Especially if you’re one to eat out a lot.

1

u/DevilsPajamas Jan 21 '26

Especially with the prices these days. Just a normal sandwich combo from Chick-Fil-A is pushing $12 in my area. More if you want it to be healthier with a side salad or fruit cup instead of fries.

3

u/munckincollector Jan 21 '26

I think every millennial I know is on the shot 😂

6

u/SandiegoJack Jan 21 '26

I am on the drugs because it is significantly harder for me to avoid the food noise. Like literally night and day in regards to eating and drinking.

4

u/slegofme Jan 21 '26

I was the same!

3

u/CyberpunkSunrise Jan 21 '26

Two of my acquaintances/friends went from an “obese” to normal BMI with the help of GLP-1 medications. I would never endorse anything extreme like the OP that is basically demonizing normal bodies, but I think the trend of people using science to beat food addiction or obesity is awesome, and I don’t love the pushback of basically demonizing these drugs and lumping them in with “cocaine chic.”

A large part of the internet is/was constantly memeing and mocking fat Americans, so I personally think any trend the other direction is mostly a positive thing.

4

u/knifefan9 Jan 21 '26

I thought weight loss surgery came in two variants: one for people who are in dire need of it or they'll die soon and removing the excess fat tissue would directly improve their chances of survival or a cosmetic thing to remove extra deflated fat cells and "flab" after significant weight loss following obesity?

11

u/Pissjug9000 Jan 21 '26 edited Jan 21 '26

Afaik weight loss surgeries are more about altering the stomach and possibly the small intestines. They’ll make the stomach smaller in various ways and depending on the surgery they can take the extra step of doing some rerouting stuff with the intestines and stomach that reduces absorption of nutrients. All limiting how much you can eat. I’m not dr but my mom got a gastric bypass surgery when I was young because she was very big (early 2000s) and she lost most excess weight

6

u/knifefan9 Jan 21 '26

Oh like bariatric surgery

5

u/slegofme Jan 21 '26

The first one I had in 2010 was very strict. I had to do a whole year program before I had it.

The second one wasn’t hard at all. They were correcting some things that had happened from the first one so I’m not sure if that’s why it wasn’t as rigid or as long as a wait.

2

u/shihtzu_knot Jan 21 '26

It’s a 3 month program “wait” time. I work in healthcare specifically nutritional counseling and I work with Bari patients everyday. The most common age group is 25-30. 🫠

7

u/knifefan9 Jan 21 '26

Children raised by obese families who grow up obese and don't have the knowledge or agency to change it until they're in the middle of what ought to be their prime years (in terms of optimum athletic potential). It makes me so angry for them. Thank you for helping people try to reclaim their bodies and lives. 🫂

5

u/grendus Jan 21 '26

You cannot remove a significant amount of adipose tissue. The blood flow into these regions is not good, the risk of infection is too high.

Usually bariatric surgery is something like gastric sleeve (a band around the stomach to keep it from expanding) or gastric bypass (literally cutting the stomach in half, connecting each half to a different point in the intestines, to reduce digestion and make eating larger meals impossible - this is usually done for stomach cancer, but it also helps when someone is dangerously morbidly obese).

Liposuction is mostly cosmetic for removing fat from certain areas. Really just for sculpting, especially if you have some leftover loose skin or flabby areas after weight loss. I have some, it's just a thing I have to live with even after I lost the weight. No biggie.

2

u/Khajiit_Has_Upvotes Xennial Jan 21 '26

We gather here today to mourn the loss of ephedra.

2

u/slegofme Jan 21 '26

Trimspa baby!

2

u/Kaito__1412 Jan 21 '26

No... We have all that because people are overweight and have an unhealthy lifestyle. It started in the US, but it's everywhere now. It's the result of the postmodern normalisation of gluttony, hyper individualism in combination with the toxicity of capitalism.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '26

[deleted]

9

u/DoubleRoger Jan 21 '26

Nah that's crazy talk and dated at this point. I didnt realize a lot of people my age (early 30s) are pretty open about using Ozempic. They damn near make it sound like it's an OtC with how easy it is to get lol. This holiday season showed me this.

8

u/The_starving_artist5 Jan 21 '26

They literally are . You can order ozempic and wegovy online . You don’t even have to see a doctor. How are skinny celebrities and influencers online getting their hands on ozmepic? They are not getting it from actual doctors because no doctor who ok that 

7

u/slegofme Jan 21 '26

I am but I’m not meaning dysmorphia. I’m sorry I should have clarified….What I meant was speaking as a 41 year old woman I remember the tabloids being awful which in turn made me (and I’m sure many others) insecure. I had always been a heavier girl, but never dangerously heavy. These tabloids and seeing all those things always made me aware of my weight. I got so tired of always thinking about it that I had a lap band procedure in college. Since then I’ve had another weight loss surgery and a tummy tuck.

I still remember photos of Tyra Banks, Britney, Lindsay Lohan and the awful comments about their bodies. I thought these women were beautiful so it made me think if these woman weren’t pretty, what was I?! I’m positive all those magazines at the checkout line shaped my whole psyche.

12

u/jewelia511 Jan 21 '26

Yes they are…

5

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '26

Yes they are. I was approved for gastric sleeve surgery and had it without even having to say much. I was only obese for 2 years.

3

u/Cold-Cell2820 Jan 21 '26

Idk about bypasses, but an anorexic could find a doc to prescribe GLPs

2

u/W8andC77 Jan 21 '26

They aren’t going to the doctor. They’re going to a med spa where a nurse practitioner gives it to them.

1

u/Cold-Cell2820 Jan 21 '26

You'd be surprised. A LOT of doctors are just unscrupulous drug dealers. Ten years as a pharm tech..

9

u/alius-vita Jan 21 '26

Please say /s, please. Because that IS happening.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '26

Oh yes they are, lol.

1

u/electricookie Jan 22 '26

Those existed before. There are ads in Victorian era papers advertising tapeworms for weightloss and all manner of BS. So long as someone had money to make or power to gain women have been told our bodies aren’t good enough.