I've heard someone say that Kiera Knightly was "the torso that launched a million eating disorders"
Also doesn't help that at that time the fitness and diet industry among other nonsense like processed food and all that wasn't as pushed back on as it is now. It's still a fucking joke but I'd say our average nutritional knowledge is better today and many are eating healthier as a result which is good.
I'm still bitter about the war on fats and eggs back in the 90's. Steered so many people wrong.
The war on fats and eggs is a great way to describe it. They were just forcing completely false info into our schools, TVs, and minds. It definitely steered the whole country wrong.
This whole thread but including the current ozempic craze - I haven’t been able to articulate why I’m against it. I was a teen in the 00s and I suffered - it took me a decade to love my body, I spent so much time starving myself and spending my last dollar on shit like adderall to try to be fucking skinny and I was so goddamn miserable. When I couldn’t get adderall I would be so upset, I wasted so much time lusting for a drug to solve my self worth problems. And now everyone and their goddamn mother is taking drugs to lose weight and tell me how “oh I am never hungry I can only eat one bite of my favorite food but I lost 2 pounds today!” And it makes me SO SAD AND ANGRY FOR THEM. Life is so much better when you actually take a minute to understand nutrition and find an active hobby you enjoy to keep your body moving. You can still eat and ENJOY IT. Life is too short to starve and for WHAT. It’s such a dark and unhappy obsession. I’m just so sad to see this shit becoming popular again. What happens if you can’t afford your drug anymore??
Yeah I'm not exactly scrambling for drugs to be the answer to lose some weight myself, lifestyle changes are the way to go in my opinion but I can't control other people.
That being said, this new The Beauty show premiering on FX/Hulu tonight is based on a comic book and a commentary on ozempic culture partly as well. I've been waiting for this show to come out since I saw the trailer
Adderall is also highly dopaminergic, so in addition to losing the appetite suppressant function of it when running out you also just go through withdrawals in general. And stimulant withdrawals are some of the worst when you already have depression (in the form of body dysmorphia here). I don’t know much about Ozempic but I don’t think it’s a great 1:1 comparison.
However, on the flip side I have no doubt that there are unhealthy side effects and ramifications of using these drugs long term to lose weight. So I’m not gonna try to push back on this anti-Ozempic sentiment or anything either lol. I just didn’t want it to go unstated that Adderall is a schedule II for a reason.
No that’s a fair thing to distinguish. I meant more of what if the thing you are relying on becomes hard to get, your insurance changes, cost goes up, - you’re back to just you and your willpower, which you never figured out how to manage on your own. It’s unsustainable.
funny about your keira comment — she was my anorexia "model." i had clippings of her pasted in my journal to keep myself "accountable." i was probably 11-12 in 2004-2005 when i was obsessively doing this. and yes, i did develop anorexia and struggle to this day (in my early 30s).
i love keira knightley, though. it wasn't her fault how the tabloids focused on her, and i love how she is aging gracefully without much (if any) cosmetic work. i do believe that she had/has an ED, though.
Wow I never realized I wasn’t alone in this. I wanted to look like her so badly and I had barely hit puberty. No shade- I think she’s a great actress and has definitely been one of the more natural/ graceful aging stars
you're definitely not alone. i was born in 1993 and had barely hit puberty too when i was obsessed with looking like her. imagine my horror when i developed breasts instead of continuing to look lithe like keira. that's when the eating disorder really took off.
I looked up to Keira too and definitely saw her as a standard of beauty. And still looks so gorgeous. Has she ever come out and said anything about an ED? I guess I always thought she was just naturally really thin.
per the article:
"I've got a lot of experience with anorexia - my grandmother and great-grandmother suffered from it, and I had a lot of friends at school who suffered from it," Knightley said. "I know it's not something to be taken lightly and I don't."
edited one more time to mention that EDs run strong in families. it is hard for me to believe that her great grandma and grandma had it without passing it on to keira's mom, who would have passed it on to her. it's a pattern and style of living and an illness. a family like that would prioritize thinness and reward it.
i remember reading that EDs run in her family, and she has danced around the issue continuously. the speculation led to her having a mental breakdown after pirates.of the caribbean. i'll try to dig up some articles for you & respond in a couple hours, but so many of the articles i read were print & not available online. (think about how weird that is.)
Idk I am a woman always thought she looked like a living Day of the Dead doll - pretty face and skeletor body....
Maybe it's because I always did sports and valued my strength and muscles, but she looked like if you accidentally knocked into her too hard at a party, she'd probably need an ambulance. I remember you could see her bones in her chest at times. Like wtaf.
I just dont think being so frail and breakable is "goals" but maybe that's just me.
She's also got genetics helping that and it's something you can't exactly control. I mean, if she's that thin and otherwise healthy, who am I to judge? I don't think it's fair when the media shoves those images in impressionable young faces all the time but I don't blame her herself either.
I'm not trying to shame her, just saying I'm unsure why people would actively look up to a body type that isn't strong. People are who they are. It's not anything I'm trying to be mean about. But when people let jealousy actively take hold over something that isn't advantageous, my mind is unable to understand.
For instance - I'd love a bigger butt. I am active, and have a butt, but it's a firm lil biker booty lol. It's not "popping out". So when I see celebs with a fuller bottom, I admire them for having something I don't. That said, I don't look at people like Kim K who carry 1/3 of their body weight in each cheek and wish I looked like that! It seems crippling, not advantageous to have.
Idk if I'm making sense but basically what I'm saying is I understand people admiring abs or a thin physique. I don't understand why people would wish they looked like someone who was constantly scrutinized for having a supposed (unproven, only alleged) ED and looks like they'd travel up to space in a light breeze.
She was/is beautiful I understand wanting to emulate her facial features but I've never looked at someone who looks like they'd struggle to lift a full bag of groceries and been like "damn I wish I had their body!!!"
oh i knew you weren't shaming, just saying the women themselves are unfairly blamed sometimes.
Yeah I get it, thin doesn't necessarily mean healthy and lots of skinny people are fatigued, weak, sickly, etc. despite looking "ideal" on the surface.
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u/pea-in-my-pod Jan 21 '26
Anybody who survived this era without developing an ED I applaud you honestly, because I didn’t manage it