In the recent cinema awards season, the scrutiny of celebrity bodies has taken a new turn. The Golden Globe Awards was jokingly described by the host as “Ozempic’s biggest night,”^[1] referring to the popularity of the new weight-loss drug Ozempic (semiglutamide, also sold as Wegovy). Fans and critics have scrutinised photographs for signs of “Ozempic face”, a gaunt look due to the loss of facial fat, and compared them with past images to decide who is “cheating” with Ozempic to manage their weight. But is this “cheating”? Or is it just another tool in the beauty game or the “war on obesity”?  A tool that is radically effective and has, perhaps, shifted the rules of both game and war. 

This could be good. The use of Ozempic promotes weight loss without the need for strenuous exercise and diet control, factors that almost every person in the Western world knows that they “should” be trying harder at. It would make thinner bodies accessible to more people, and surely that’s a good thing—or so the thinking goes when we are assuming that thinner bodies are healthier bodies and simply better bodies. 

Continue reading →