Did I just wake up in the 90's?

Last week, I turned 40, but instead of a quiet cake moment and a nostalgic Spotify playlist, I found myself staring down a very familiar feeling…I’m getting late 90s vibes.

But not in the fun, Girl Power kind of way… in the low-rise jeans and body shame kind of way.

It’s like we’ve all collectively bumped our heads and woken up in an era where thinness is moralised. The fashion industry has quietly re-fallen in love with the emaciated silhouette, while pretending it’s simply “trending.”

Models are smaller again. Celebrities who once stood as symbols of average, accessible beauty are re-emerging slimmer, sharper, and suspiciously silent about how.

And let’s not ignore the pharmaceutical elephant in the room - Ozempic and its siblings are reshaping culture.

Now, please know I’m not here to shame anyone. The pressure is huge. No one is immune, and that’s because when the world starts applauding something, it’s hard not to get sucked in.

But let’s be honest: This is a reboot of a toxic narrative that has already cost us far too much.

We millennials absorbed the message that worth is tied to size. We still bear the scars of those innocent diets, and now in my work, I hold the hands of people trying to claw their way out of that mindset. But it’s creeping back in under a new name, with newer tools, but the same old impact.

No, this culture doesn’t cause every eating disorder, but it fans the flames. It triggers relapses, and it keeps people stuck. It teaches control and value through hunger, and it disguises disconnection as discipline.

If we don’t push back collectively, it’ll shape the next generation just like it did ours.

But here’s the difference: We know what this is now - we’ve seen it play out before.

This time, we don’t get to say we didn’t realise what was happening, and we’re not letting it steal any more joy, any more bodies, or any more futures.

Let’s not let the next generation be lost to thinness. Not again.