Do you think being thin will become less desirable now it’s more attainable?

[thehighgatevampire]

I was just thinking about this, being thin has always been seen as something desirable but not something that everyone could manage for whatever reason but now with weight loss injections it’s something that’s open to many more people.

Things with an element of rarity are always attractive to us but a part of that has now gone wrt to being thin.

just for context I’m what the internet would call mid size and I’d love to be eligible for the injections but I’m not. I could almost definitely lose weight the traditional way but now I know there is an ‘easy’ alternative out there I some how feel cheated in some way because I need to work at it whilst others can get an injection to do it. I know that sounds pathetic but just being honest.

No I think people will always want to be thin. Bottom line is everyone looks better when they're not overweight.

I'm on the injections though so might be biased.

I think the right kind of thin will be desired - lean, with some healthy muscle and glowing skin, rather than skinny and underfed looking. That’s because maintaining muscle on GLP1s will be quite a challenge, but those that do it well will look fantastic.

It’s not easy at all. You feel a bit grim and still have to diet and exercise to lose weight.
You are being incredibly judgy about something you clearly don’t understand.

No because evolutionary-wise we will all prefer mates that can hunt and run from a tiger.

I think it’s possible it might go even further, with people expected to be slim and being overweight being seen as a bit weird or rebellious.
I don’t think this will happen immediately, because the injections are currently only really available to those with the resources to fund them, but in the medium term I can see being obese as even more of a class marker than it already is.

I don't know about being 'thin' but being slim is much healthier and looks better so it's unlikely to become less desirable, of people have any sense.

I’m mid size and peri menopausal. At my age I need to be building muscle and stopping bone density from becoming worse as much as I can. Surely the injections do the absolute opposite to this? Get to the gym and get strong. It’s not all about appearance.

That is an interesting question @thehighgatevampire. I think it might make it even more desirable to be thin. As only those who can afford it will get the injections will it be seen as a sign you are too poor to pay if you are even just a little overweight?

I am obese and often feel judged for it. I am not quite obese enough to qualify for the injections or any weight loss help via my gp. My gp referred me to weight management but I got a letter saying I didn’t qualify for any help. I cannot afford to pay for the injections.

So my worry is that the judgement I must be lazy and lack will power will be even more as I will be seen as too lazy and lacking to stay thin and too poor and feckless to get the injections.

Having struggled all my life with my weight and always dreamed of a magic bullet to change this I want the injections but wish I didn’t need them.

I am trying to quit dieting right now and just accept I am fat but after nearly 50 years of it being so central to my life and hating the fat me it is so hard.

Although once the injections and drugs become cheaper then maybe attitudes might start to change. It is such a strange world we live in now and I feel it is so superficial. I think image issues must be even worse for young people these days.

But such an interesting question and I am interested to see what others think.

In novels from 1740 to 1950 being thin is much more often seen as ugly or undesirable than attractive: "skinny" "boney" "clavicles like salt cellars" "puny" "meagre" "dried up" "drumstick legs" are phrases I remember. I think a bit of cover is inherently more attractive than very thin especially in older women. Once we get ozempic in the drinking water we will probably go back to the historical default preference of a little plump being preferred.

No, why would you think that?

This is a good point. I think so much has to do with social status. In the past being sun tanned and skinny showed you were poor and had to work in the fields. Once the world’s production changed it flipped. So now tanned and slim become desirable whilst pale and fat are seen as a sign of poverty. You cannot afford healthy food, gyms etc or fancy holidays to get tanned.

Slim won’t become less desirable, no. It’s a sign of health and we are programmed to be attracted to healthy mates.

Of course it’s about appearance- whether it should be or not is another matter but from health to how you get treated by the health service to how successful you are at work is all hampered if you are fat.

i wonder though if it will make people have a bit of a reset about how much food you actually need to stay alive which is not that much really. That was the reason people weren’t losing weight , although on all the threads the view was often I’ve tried everything I eat hardly anything. Well you don’t otherwise you’d be thin. It’s just that the eating hardly anything is really hard not that it doesn’t work. And harder for those who have more food noise. The body is shockingly good at surviving it doesn’t want you thin.

I am I know, it’s definitely a case of grass is greener…

There have been a few threads now recently about the injections and how it's "cheating".
You know you do have to count calories etc on them? You won't just lose weight if you binge eat but take the injections ? I'm not on them but my sister in law is and she calorie counts alongside.

Being slim has only become a rarity very recently. When I was young (teenager in 1970’s) it was very rare to see overweight people. Now 64% of the population are overweight/obese. It was normal to be slim and fit then… now the opposite is true.

Hopefully with the new drugs people’s weight will return to normality.

I do understand that being overweight has health implications but has being slim always bee what attracted people? Like a previous poster said attitudes have changed since the past. And in other cultures for various reasons larger women have been seen as more desirable. Also if a person is underweight doesn’t that also affect fertility? And women need stores for breast feeding. I was under the impression the very slim ideal was quite recent.

I hope no one thinks I am judging their weight being slim or obese or any where in between. Everyone is human and I don’t want to upset anyone and respect everyone. We all deserve to be valued for who we are not our weight or size.

I don’t think thin is desirable, slim and strong is desirable op, toned, fit. “Thin” on its own hasn’t really been desirable for at least a decade. Now it’s about being gym fit.

i think that will always be desirable, ‘but anyone overweight or obese, I guess people will wonder why they don’t take the drugs to support them if they can’t do it themselves. So other health issues, finances etc

but this will be short term, soon enough these drugs will be available in tablet form and much cheaper. There are I think 8 drugs in trials right now and expected to be on the market by 26/27. In addition every one is racing to create a pill version.

as more and more people use these drugs by private prescription now, it will save the nhs a lot of money on other health care requirements for those people, ultimately the drugs will be prescribed for anyone with a weight issue and be affordable.

As a lifelong tall and thin person who's had some morbidly obese friends. I'm fucking thrilled when when they show up all thin after I've not seen them for a bit. I do ask, 'Are you on the jabs?'

And why can't I ask? I've had years of people commenting on my weight.

I'm not judging. I am genuinely pleased for them.

And don't worry, they'll always be someone thinner and fatter than you. So rest assured, you can still judge.

No because everyone looks better when they are slim

There Is a difference between, thin, slim and underweight. I don’t think anyone is talking about being underweight here, I don’t think that’s ever been desirable other than the heroin chic of the 80s and the modelling world.

My desire isn't to be 'thin' though, i just want to be healthy. I feel for people who's major 'take' form anything weight related is the appearance factor over health. I guess that's why I have been judged so badly for being fat for many years.

I get your thinking. I'm a great candidate for the injections and have been debating for weeks about arranging a discussion with my GP to learn more about them, but it feels like cheating. Even though it's not. Trust me I've been on every diet going on and off since 18 and am 40 now. I shift a bit and always put extra back on when I eventually fall off the wagon. I'd love to be thin but I know if I did it I would feel like it was because of the injections not because of my hard work.

I keep seeing people that are looking good, who were a bit chunky and automatically put it down to the pens. There's a beautician in our town who sells them at reasonable prices and these are the type that would buy. So yeah I'm definitely guilty of wondering how someone has finally lost the weight and immediately thinking pen. Why I have a problem with it I don't know. Maybe jealousy.

Agreed, there's a huge element of jealousy on my part.