Thanks to Ozempic and similar medications, losing weight has become easier for some — although it is expensive and has side effects such as nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and constipation. (Flickr)
At the glamorous Golden Globe awards in Hollywood earlier this year, a presenter joked about how the event was “Ozempic’s biggest night” — a quip about the diabetes medication that has seen many using it to lose weight. But alarm bells also rang. Just how far would women go to pursue impossible standards of beauty?
One of the world’s most powerful businesswomen, Oprah Winfrey, recently admitted she had taken a GLP-1 medication like Ozempic, because of its appetite-suppressing and weight-loss effects. Winfrey has often spoken about her struggles with weight and self-image.
“One of the things I realised the very first time I took a GLP-1 was that all these years I thought thin people had more willpower,” she said in an interview.
Being thin remains one of the most desirable markers of beauty. Supermodel Kate Moss infamously said, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.”
Thanks to Ozempic and similar medications, losing weight has become easier for some — although it is expensive and has side effects such as nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and constipation.
But who cares — as long as you look good in a strappy dress, right?
Impossible beauty standards are nothing new. Corsets in the West, foot binding in the East and body modifications across African cultures, such as lip plates or scarification, show that beauty ideals have always been shaped by cultural values. Skin lightening products are still used despite health risks.
With social media and artificial intelligence (AI), beauty ideals are now more global, homogenised and unrealistic. Knowing that images are filtered or AI-generated doesn’t stop women from aspiring to those standards. This is taking a toll on well-being, especially among the youth.
So, how can we resist and reframe these ideals? To begin with, we need to understand why such biases exist. There’s a biological basis behind why some traits are universally considered attractive — youth and health signal reproductive fitness. But biology is only part of the story.
Social and cultural forces matter too. In South Africa, adverts long featured models who are fair-skinned, slim and straight-haired. But the tide is slowly turning. Miss South Africa 2020 Shudufhadzo Musida embraced her natural bald look and Zozibini Tunzi won the Miss Universe title with her short hair. They challenge the status quo and redefine what it means to be beautiful.
And we must not forget the intersection of race and power. The legacy of apartheid, combined with global media influences, continues to shape whose beauty is celebrated. Hair discrimination at South African schools, where learners with Afros or dreadlocks have faced disciplinary action — a stark reminder of how colonial beauty ideals still influence perceptions of acceptability.
With the world’s highest number of cosmetic surgeons per capita, South Korea shows the extremes of beauty culture. Procedures such as double eyelid surgery are given to middle school graduates as gifts to “improve” their appearance — aligning more with Western ideals. Yet this pursuit of perfection has created new social problems, with the term “Gangnam Beauty” mocking those who appear overly artificial.
South Africa may not have the same plastic surgery culture, but cities like Johannesburg and Cape Town are not far behind in embracing cosmetic enhancements — from botox to fillers — especially among young professionals. Influencer culture on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok fuels this, where filtered, polished appearances are rewarded with likes, partnerships and social capital.
More and more teens are exposed daily to content that promotes unrealistic body standards. Parents, teachers and communities need to actively counter this by promoting healthy self-image, diversity and media literacy. Attending heritage festivals, wearing traditional attire with pride, and showcasing African hair, skin tones and features in school projects or public platforms are small but powerful acts of cultural affirmation.
In our visual, hyper-curated world, we need to make use of our other senses. Listen to local music. Move your body. Join in at a street performance in Maboneng. Feel your own rhythm and worth outside the screen. Dance like nobody is watching.
We must remain aware of the messages we consume and the beauty ideals we internalise. How are they affecting our mental health — especially that of our daughters, sisters, nieces and friends?
Comedian Amy Schumer captured this tension perfectly when she said of her time when taking Ozempic to lose weight: “I looked great, but I couldn’t lift my head off the pillow. So, what’s the point?”
We rest our case.
Dr Babar Dharani is a senior lecturer at the Allan Gray Centre for Values-Based Leadership at the UCT Graduate School of Business and lectures on the MBA programme. Katherine Escreet lived in South Korea for five years, where she had a front-row seat to a deeply appearance-focused culture.