Let’s dicuss Heroin Chic

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Heroin Chic - what is it? What is it not? And what does this mean for body image?

*Trigger warning: this talks about weight loss, disordered eating, and dangerous body-norms perpeptuated by the media. If you find any of this content concerning, please reach out and speak to someone - Butterfly Foundation is a great place to start. 

By now, it’s likely you’ve seen the viral commentary by body positive celebs and organisations on social media in retaliation to the New York times releasing the headline “Bye Bye Booty, Heroin Chic is Back”. 

So, what is it?

Heroin chic is the hallmark of the 90’s and early 2000’s - think impossibly thin bodies, sunken facial features and an epidemic of eating disorders and ED related deaths. 

Kate Moss was the poster girl of the era, responsible for that famous line “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”. And in the early 2000’s many were influenced by the Olsen twins alongside others like Linsey Lohan and Paris Hilton.

Media publications were awash with titles shaming snaps of celebs at the beach with their normal, natural bodies on show, and glamoursing disordered eating approaches to lose 10kg in 10 days - you get the picture. 

So then, what is it not?

Heroin chic is simply not an option in 2022. 

With a number of celebs and influencers sharing their thoughts immediately - their actions have supercharged a response felt by women of all ages across the globe. 

Through the 2010’s and onwards we have seen the rise of body-positive content, conversations and culture online. Whilst this is a step in the right direction, we know that our rates of eating disorders and eating disorder-related deaths are still far too high. 

Heroin chic is not safe for women and a new generation of teenage girls to be exposed to again. Gone are the days of dial-up internet that meant that impressionable minds would only face the dangers of diet culture online when they were able to actually get online.

Instead, today we know just how deeply social media is ingrained in the way we live our lives. Photoshopped images, facetuned selfies, and influencers selling weightloss programs & detox teas are hard to miss from the moment we wake until we go to sleep each night. The idolisation of ultra-thin across these platforms could prove catastrophic for women and girls at risk of eating disorders, and the impacts of this could stretch far beyond celebrity culture. 

And what does this mean for body image?

This problem is so much deeper than a headline. And as I’ve alluded to above, it’s raised serious concerns about the wellbeing and safety of young girls and women. Already we face unprecedented pressure to look a certain way and to show up online aligning with body ideals. 

All the work of body-positive and body-neutral organisations, celebs and influencers is threatened by the mere existence of this one headline. But the hard truth is that the fact the Times had an audience to print this headline for, demonstrates we still have a long way to go pushing against diet culture more broadly. 

So what can we do to protect ourselves, our friends, and our young people from a potentially deadly “trend”? 

• Speak up. 

  • Share your thoughts online and in-person where the conversation calls for it. If you have lived experience of disordered eating and negative body image, sharing your story can go a long way to support those around you.

• Actively curate what you see online. 

  • We can take a stand by continuously diversifying the kind of content we consume online. I’ve spoken before about how changing what I consumed online helped me challenge the negative body image I was facing - and you can do this for yourself too. Not only is it better for your own wellbeing, but unfollowing accounts sharing unhelpful content shows that this is not what we, as a collective, want to see. 

• Look out for your friends.

  • If you see loved ones showing signs of disordered eating, be sure to reach out to them. If you’re not sure what to look out for, or how you can best support the people in your life - you can download my mini-course all about understanding eating disorders and supporting people experiencing them.

All in all, our bodies are not a trend. Sure, indulge in the claw clips hairstyles and wide-leg jeans if you’d like - those are trends of the 90’s we can happily bring back. But your body is not a trend, it’s a vehicle for life and it deserves to be treated with kindness and appreciated for all that it does. 

If the resurgence of heroin chic has brought up concerns for you or someone you love, you can reach out to Butterfly Foundation for support by calling their National Helpline on 1800 33 4673. You can also chat online or email.