I like to think I'm immune to the pressures of ever-shrinking celebrities. I grew up in the early 2000s, meaning at 12, my idols were birdlike Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Nicole Richie and Mischa Barton. I was used to seeing women looking teeny tiny in magazines every week.
© WireImageOn top of that, my job means I'm exposed to photos of stars on the red carpet every day, so I thought that seeing celebrities shrinking in front of my eyes with every public appearance was washing over me.
I figure that the younger generations, who came of age in the body positive era, are more likely to be feeling the impact of everyone suddenly becoming a size zero, because their entry into celeb world was at a time when "curvy" stars were celebrated – Ashley Graham, Kim Kardashian in her early years in the spotlight, and Iskra Lawrence, to name but three.
So, given that I thought I was above feeling pressured to lose weight by celebrity culture, I was bemused to find myself nitpicking my appearance in recent photos of myself. Maybe I am feeling the effect of the GLP1 world we're living in.
"I think most of us like to believe we're immune to celebrity culture to some extent, but when the same body type is repeatedly shown as the ideal, it starts to shape what we see as 'normal'," laments radio presenter and body positivity activist Danielle Broadbent. "Suddenly a completely ordinary arm, stomach, thigh or waist can feel like something we should change, when actually it's just part of being human."
Picking myself apart
I found myself falling foul of celebrity culture while looking at photos of myself from the Bank Holiday weekend. I mused that my arms didn't look toned and sculpted like I wanted them to.
Feeling disillusioned by my own looks, I did what any millennial does to distract themselves. I closed my camera roll on my phone and went on Instagram for a mind-numbing scroll instead, but on the app, I was met with Cannes photo carousels, videos of Kylie Jenner at Knicks games and snaps of Selena Gomez promoting Rare Beauty.
Photos of Demi Moore on the Cannes red carpet showed her muscular arms looking smaller than ever, while Kylie's arms looked so minuscule they could belong to a child. while Selena, who has spoken openly about knowing she'd never have her 18-year-old body again, seems to have managed exactly that.
© FilmMagicI'm not criticising these women; they have more pressure piled on them than I could ever imagine, but I did feel the need to check in with myself. Which is why the next video that popped up on my feed was a refreshing breath of fresh air.
Normal arms
Posted by model Soph Hughes, the video (of which I have now seen many iterations) sees Soph show her arms to the camera, as she tells her followers: " Guys, it's all got a bit mad out there, so let me just remind you that this is what a normal arm looks like.
"I eat well, I go to the gym, I look after myself. This is my arm. It doesn't look like this [gestures small arm] because I'm not a child, and I don't know how we've ended up in 2002 again.
"But just remember that this is what a normal arm looks like, okay? Go live your life. Best life ever."
She captioned the reassuring video: "Quick reminder that your arms aren't supposed to look like a 7-year-old child's, despite what skinny Tok may be telling you."
Seeing Soph not celebrate but not moan about her totally "normal" arm was reassuring, and Danielle agrees: "I think these videos can be powerful because they challenge the idea that the bodies that we are shown or even taught to see as 'ideal' or 'perfect', are the only acceptable bodies.
© Instagram"People are seeing arms that move, fold, soften, jiggle and simply exist, and realising, 'Oh… mine look like that too.' There's something really powerful in that because so many people have spent years thinking the things they notice about themselves are flaws, when they're completely normal.
"For years we’ve normalised edited bodies, posed bodies and highlight-reel bodies, and I think most of us have been guilty of buying into that at some point, myself included. Seeing an everyday arm being called normal feels radical because it reminds us that texture, softness and variation aren't problems – they’re part of being human.
"I've spent years talking about body confidence and normalising normal bodies, and what I always come back to is that the bodies we see every day are the most representative. Bodies move, soften, change and carry us through life, and that deserves to be normalised too."
Slim bodies aren't the issue
Some comments on Soph's video criticised her for demonising smaller arms, noting that commenting on any body type is unacceptable, and Danielle is quick to point out that the issue isn’t slim or toned bodies existing because every body deserves representation. "It's when one look becomes the aspiration, and everything else starts to feel like it falls outside of that. We also must remember that public-facing images often come with styling, lighting, glam teams, posing, editing and a lot of pressure around appearance."
For anyone struggling with how they feel about their looks, Danielle shares her advice.
1. Remember real life
"I'd say first of all, bring yourself back to real life. Look around at the people you love, people in supermarkets, on school runs, in cafés, at work. Real bodies are incredibly diverse and most of us sit somewhere within that reality."
2. Realise celebrities are curated
"We need to remember that social media and celebrity images can be a very curated version of life. If your feed leaves you feeling inadequate every time you scroll, that's information. Follow people with different body shapes, ages, sizes and experiences because representation really matters."
3. Remember bodies change
"I think it's also important to remember that bodies naturally change throughout life. They change with age, hormones, pregnancy, stress, illness, recovery and life experiences. The goal isn't to stay in one body forever, it's learning to have more acceptance for the body you’re in as it changes.
"The problem isn't seeing slim bodies. It's forgetting they're not the only normal bodies. Normal bodies don't need fixing, they need representation."
