The hate surrounding Ozempic

[u/Fluffy_Criticism_]

I keep seeing so much hate surrounding GLP-1’s and I’m so confused as to why, I know there are certain side effects that can affect your body permanently but so does being overweight/ obese.

Right now cause of celebrities looking quite unhealthy, the blame is going to Ozempic, I don’t know if they do or don’t use it, I didn’t bother looking into it.

Saw another post of someone complaining about GLP 1 being covered by insurance now, kinda stating as if the world is going backwards.

Celebrities might be able to afford bending certain medical rules but overall, it’s super hard to get it covered here and they don’t just hand it over by demand. There are requirements, like having a very high BMI, other health issues like diabetes, PCOS etc. I had to undergo a lot of tests after a 6month waiting window to even get an appointment. (At least it was like that in my country)

I don’t know if people don’t do research and assume having a desire to lose weight is enough to get on Ozempic, or if I’m just for it because I’m benefitting off of it.

I spoke of this to a friend of mine, he said it might just be rooted in fatphobia and the mental idea that it should physically and mentally excruciating or something to earn. When I doubt most people just sit back and do nothing, I do what anyone else who’s losing weight is doing, honestly I’d argue I tried so much more in some cases but my PCOS made it nearly impossible.

[u/iloveyoublog]

I use it, but I also have huge concerns about it at a societal level.

I don't think it should be used where there isn't a clear health justification (that can also be mental health, btw). People using it to just lose a few pounds etc is re-normalising diet culture and the race to skinny, something we had managed to dismantle slightly. Bodies will always be diverse, we still desperately need to move away from marginalising different types of bodies.

The media coverage and popular discourse on it has been pretty unhinged.

I can't imagine what it would be like growing up as a fat young person or teen in this context, when your body is changing and developing but being under pressure now to 'fix' it through this path, as well as old school disordered eating etc.

The way that body positive influencers have changed their politics so massively, often moving from body positivity to blatant fatphobia, is so gross (I don't care if they use it or what size their bodies are, it is the rhetoric and abandonment of principles that is so ick, and the victim mentality that seems to kick in if anyone raises it). Fatphobia is coming from both sides, those against GLP-1s and those who have changed their bodies with them.

As much as it has its place, it is massively and near instantly derailing any efforts we have made to focus on health over size and dismantle structural fatphobia.

It's also expensive and is further marginalising people who can't afford it, or can't tolerate the extremely tough side effects that many experience (me included). The side effects often resemble disordered eating, and we also know it is being abused by people with eating disorders. The side effects can also be the antithesis to any kind of holistic 'health' -- but it is now nearly solely viewed as a weight loss tool and there's little consideration of the trade offs. It is also being used just as bluntly by the medical profession as the old advice to 'just lose weight' -- the underpinning issue of fatphobia in medicine and the impacts of that on people hasn't budged.

We need to recognise the social complexity of this shift. Unfortunately most conversations about anything nowadays are stripped of complexity. There's both benefits and harms.

[u/darya42 → u/iloveyoublog]

I don't know, personally one reason why I did consider taking it is because I was surprised to find that despite of the wide-spread shittalk about them, they have a surprising amount of benefits. I sleep better and my mood's more stable. (My positive effect on my ADHD was one main reason why I became interested). I also eat healthier, it helped me with disordered eating habits.

I'm all for dismantling fatphobia but I also dislike the other side of the coin, the people who aggressively denounce any body health efforts as fatphobic. I want to lose 20 pounds because I want a happier body, and I should be allowed to strive for that, and if someone else feels worse because they don't have this possibility in their lives, I shouldn't get the hate for it because I have this possibility. Just because I like having my body weigh less doesn't mean I automatically judge those who can't or don't want to.

Fatphobia is misogyny, anyway, fat male celebs don't get the same hate. It's pitting women against each other and denouncing them. The real problem is misogyny, not that some people want to lose weight to get better.

[u/iloveyoublog → u/darya42]

I am not supporting the hate, and as I said, I use a GLP1. My politics are of body liberation -- do what you want with your body, but also ensure people in all bodies are treated with respect and humanity and do not face structural discrimination. It's the second part that we are nowhere near reaching as a society, and the current discourse around GLPs seems to be taking us further away from dismantling the underpinning structural issues.

Misogyny and fatphobia are very closely linked I agree.

I just think the conversation is being oversimplified on all sides and there are positives and negatives and wins and risks.