Whether we like it or not, celebrities have influence over multiple facets of our lives. Their fingerprints are all over the clothes we wear, the media we consume and what we name our children. We shouldn't be surprised that they also hold such sway over how we talk about health.
Most celebrities have the kind of bodies we're conditioned to aspire to. In the age of #cleanliving, the ideal body parameters now include the prerequisite of a certain level of health and its corresponding weight (i.e. your leanest liveable weight).
The 'thin is in' trend is nothing new — women have been told to aspire towards this standard for aeons. But something's changed in how the one per cent lives. Celebrities and influencers, rather than credit their physiques to intense exercise and diet regimens, now owe it all to 'wellness'. And you owe it to your health to get on board the wellness express as well.
When it comes to conversations regarding women's health and noncommunicable diseases however, including chronic illnesses and autoimmune diseases, this talk of wellness becomes problematic. To quote Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop website: 'Where we have found our primary place is in addressing people, women in particular, who are tired of feeling less-than-great, who are looking for solutions — these women are not hypochondriacs, and they should not be dismissed or marginalised.' In the eyes of Big Wellness, you can make a profit out of these women's insecurities.
Wellness gurus create a false conjunction between aspirational wellness and authentic self-care with phrases like 'nourish your body with real food' and 'live your best life'. In other words, if you're not drinking celery juice or drinking from a rose quartz water bottle, are you really taking care of your body? This particular kind of advice from famous wellness gurus is a product of their privilege, namely being able-bodied and wealthy. It's easy to share the idea that global warming will give more Americans diabetes when you've never had to ration insulin.
What makes wellness gurus so alluring is the idea of 'empowerment'. When you get off your bum and have the chutzpah to take control of your health, you too can live your best life! Unfortunately, this idea of 'willpower' doesn't work when applied to instances of noncommunicable diseases. It's a fairly reasonable assumption that sheer willpower and going Paleo aren't the cure that people with noncommunicable diseases have been waiting for.
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