Followers feel ‘abandoned' as plus-size influencers embrace weight loss, blame Trump for cultural shift
"I think the audiences that are feeling abandoned, in my opinion, largely the feedback is not, 'I'm mad that you're skinny,'" Lydia Okello, a writer and model who was quoted in a recent Teen Vogue article entitled, "The Community Ozempic Stole: As Influencers Lose Weight, Their Followers Feel 'Abandoned.'"
"The feedback is, 'why are you acting like the body that I have is not worthy any more,'" Okello added, who calls herself "fat enby fashion bud" on her X profile.
Some even go so far as to blame President Donald Trump and his administration for the changing landscape.
"We're in a time when we have an administration which is trying to control us in every sense," said Wray Serna, founder of the clothing brand, WRAY, that calls itself an "inclusive, fine art inspired clothing line."
"I think it's a broad cultural message people are receiving that is about control, about conforming, about making yourself as 'perfect' as possible," Serna added. "I think it's deeply rooted in patriarchy. I think it's deeply rooted in racism."
She said the industry has given her community.
"[Fashion] was such a disappointing industry … until I opened up my sizing and discovered this whole other side of fashion that I didn't even know about," Serna said.
"That was one of the most surprising things that could have happened," she added. "It made me believe in fashion again, in humanity again. I found that community to be so welcoming and kind."
Some celebrities who have recently made news with their weight-loss achievements include Lizzo, who recently celebrated reaching her weight-loss goal, saying she hadn't seen that number on the scale since 2014.
The singer had in the past criticized speculation that her weight loss was due to taking Ozempic.
Others on weight-loss journeys include Kelly Clarkson, Kathy Bates, Eric Stonestreet, John Goodman and Adele.
Okello said she thinks the fascination of some with losing weight is contradictory to the body-positivity message they have embraced.
"I don't believe it's my right to tell someone [my opinion on] whether or not they want to lose weight," Okello told Teen Vogue. "But I have seen influencers who talked a lot about accepting their body where it was, or appreciating how they look regardless [of weight] really flipping the script and using the way they looked previously as a negative contrast to where they are now. That part is what I really disagree with."
Emma Zack, founder & CEO of Berriez, a vintage and plus-sized clothing shop, also sees inconsistency in the trend toward weight loss.
"It's this weird dichotomy, when a plus size influencer who has made their entire business on being plus size gets thin, we're not entitled to talk about their body changes," Zack told Teen Vogue. "They don't owe us this explanation. However they've built their entire platform on body positivity. So when they're getting thin and ignoring it, what's going on?"
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