Disordered eating has been trending on social media since the early 2010s, but now it wears a new deceptive mask
cw: eating disorders
Approximately one million Canadians have been diagnosed with an eating disorder. Teens and young adults are the most at risk groups. Women are particularly vulnerable as they make up approximately 80 per cent of patients. The risk of developing an eating disorder is further heightened by social media trends that glorify unhealthy eating.
The ‘girl dinner’ trend went viral on TikTok this past summer and remains popular on the for you page. ‘Girl dinner’ started as a joke where young women and girls were showing weird combinations of food they put together as meals. However, the trend quickly slipped into the dangerous territory of disordered eating. People now use it to show off their tiny portions of food. Dinner implies a full meal, but many ‘girl dinners’ are barely a snack.
When ‘girl dinner’ first started promoting unsafe behaviours, I was reminded of the eating disorder culture that ran rampant on Tumblr in the early 2010s. Both ‘girl dinner’ and the pro-anorexia rhetoric from Tumblr encourage people to obsess over lowering calorie intake to obtain the ‘ideal body.’
Although awareness has increased, the culture has not changed. If anything, it is more pervasive and even deceptive. In the 2010s it was easy to discern what posts promoted eating disorders and unattainable bodies. For example, the quote “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’ was popularized in 2009 by Kate Moss.
Today, it is much trickier to identify certain trends as problematic. ‘Girl dinner’ falls into this category of deception for two reasons.
First, it started as a joke. These meals were not intended to be taken seriously. However, calling a cheese string, five strawberries, and two hardboiled eggs a dinner sends out a harmful message. Some even started calling crying, vaping, and sleeping a ‘girl dinner.’ There are even ‘girl dinner’ filters on TikTok. Several of the options include things like medication, cocktails, and condiments. These are not meals.
Second, ‘girl dinner’ is linked to a broader trend of using the word ‘girl’ as an adjective in phrases like girl dinner, hot girl summer, and girl math. Typically, ‘girl’ has been used to devalue womens’ abilities. Now, the term is being used to reclaim feminine energy and activities. However, in doing so the dangerous implications of ‘girl dinner’ have been harder to discern.
‘Girl dinner’ wears a deceptive mask so it is critical to take a step back and analyze the issues with this trend and others like it.
Several eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder have been listed with symptomatic criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental illness. Collectively, eating disorders are among the deadliest mental illnesses. Disordered eating should never be promoted.
Tumblr was a breeding ground for eating disorders, hating one’s body, and abusing food intake to change one’s appearance. Social media is likely the reason why every single woman in my life has suffered from an eating disorder or has shown signs of disordered eating. Every single woman.
I was young teen when eating disorder culture spread like wildfire on Tumblr. Being bombarded with unhealthy images, quotes, and blogs contributed to my personal struggles with food. It is my hope that McMaster students and Generation Z alike can be the ones to end this cycle of toxicity, and this starts with calling out ‘girl dinner’ for what it is - a trend glorifying mental illness.
If you are struggling with an eating disorder McMaster University’s Student Wellness Centre offers resources to help you find trusted support for you or a friend in need. The National Eating Disorder Information Centre offers a helpline, information, and referrals. The NEDIC also offers resources specifically for racialized community members.
If you need urgent care, St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton has an Eating Disorder Program to help treat and guide anyone 16 or older. The program does require a referral from your doctor, but St Joseph’s has a self-assessment to guide you towards the treatment necessary for you. Please remember that you are never alone.
C/O Jessica Tan, Unsplash
Generation Z has become enchanted by true crime stories — but why?
cw: murder, death, violence, crime
Since I could remember, I have always loved scary, gruesome things. I was six years old watching Halloween with my Dad on the couch with smiles staying up past my bedtime to see which true crime case would be talked about on 60 Minutes.
I loved it. I loved the rush, the mystery and also being able to tell who murdered who and why. Almost as if it was a game of Clue. I have always wondered why I’ve become immune to learning about such gruesome events on television.
Once TikTok started to become more popular, so did true crime. Many creators would speak about true crime stories which tugged at the bored minds of Tiktok’s generation Z audience. I have noticed a huge spike in true crime as a whole, with many true crime creators on YouTube skyrocketing, such as Bailey Sarian, Kendall Rae and Hailey Elizabeth.
Another interesting aspect that I’ve noticed about these true crime Youtubers is their ability to tell these stories in a lighthearted way. For example, they’re often told while the Youtuber does their makeup or even eats food.
That’s when the realization really hit me. How can we watch and listen to such gruesome stories all the time? How are the storytellers able to do their makeup alongside, as if it's a normal conversation with a friend?
In fact, there’s a psychological explanation for why many of us may enjoy true crime stories.
For one, it's the notion that it's not us in that situation. We are grateful we are not the victim or even the murderer. We watch in awe of the story, feel sympathy for the victim and experience disgust and confusion for the murderer and their motivations.
Everytime I hear a true crime story I think to myself, “How could someone even do such a thing?”
And even though it may be selfish, we do experience relief that it is not us. It’s the same notion as when you’re driving on the highway and you see a crash; you slow down to take a glimpse of what took place, you sigh in relief and keep moving. Although it may not sit well with you, for some reason you just can’t look away.
As members of generation Z, we have grown up with an abundance of readily available information, some of which we may not have wanted or intended to see, given the lack of regulation of what’s visible in the media.
Another reason is people want to be more prepared. You actually take a lot away from true crime stories, from how the murders think to how the legal system works. This gives individuals a sense of preparedness so that if something like this ever happens to them, they may have some insight on what to do and what not to do.
Overall, true crime stories are very interesting and I can attest to my obsession with watching hundreds of different podcasts, YouTube videos or news stories on it. Despite this, it is also important that we do not dehumanise nor make light of what occurred.
