Is It Chic To Look Sick? How Illness Symptoms Became Beauty Standards

It's high time the beauty industry took a pause and reflected. From glamorising overconsumption to perpetuating unhealthy standards, it has reached an unsettling tipping point. Amid the countless fleeting fads and aesthetics, a new trend has emerged—the Ozempic face. Originally a drug to manage type 2 diabetes, Ozempic (semaglutide) has been repurposed as a miracle weight-loss solution. The result? A sullen, hollow-cheeked look that has been turned into an aspirational beauty standard. The other side effects, like nausea, fatigue, and visible gauntness, are conveniently ignored or simply dismissed as 'the price to pay for beauty'. After all, beauty is pain, right?

The psychology behind finding the 'sick look' attractive is equally sickening, some may agree. The appearance of weakness and fragility is synonymous with submissiveness, which is considered "desirable" in a woman. This fetishisation of meek features has been translated into numerous beauty trends over the years and has defined femininity in limiting ways.

The 'Ozempic face' is not the only beauty trend dictated by the symptoms of a serious medical condition. Pale skin, a slender body, and 'mysterious' glazed-over eyes have always been seen as attractive, just in different names in different eras. Across history, right from the Victorian era, illness symptoms have been reduced to the "in thing" in fashion and beauty. 

Are Eurocentric Beauty Standards Inspired By Tuberculosis Symptoms?

In the 18th and 19th centuries, 'consumptive chic' was all the craze. A frail body, pale complexion, and flushed 'rosy' cheeks were considered attractive. However, the root of these features was rather sinister. These were symptoms of tuberculosis, or what was called consumption at the time, which was characterised by wasting, diarrhoea, coughing and the spitting of blood.

Between 1780 and 1850, tuberculosis was at its peak, resulting in about 25% of deaths in Europe, according to Caroline A Day, author of Consumptive Chic: A History of Beauty, Fashion, and Disease. However, the side effects of this deadly disease were glamorised, setting a beauty ideal. Even Charlotte Brontë once wrote, “Consumption, I am aware, is a flattering malady."

Heroin Chic Of The 90s

The 90s saw some of the most disturbing beauty trends in the entertainment industry, including heroin chic, which turned drug dependence into a hot topic. Popularised by many runway supermodels of the time, this trend glamorised heroin addiction, turning side effects like pale skin, dark circles underneath the eyes, and sunken cheeks into a fashion statement.

Recently, a New York Post article stirred social media controversy for its headline, 'Bye-bye booty: Heroin chic is back. The article, about the resurgence of the slender physique after a decade of bubble butts and ginormous breasts, sparked backlash for promoting harmful body ideals and using language that ridicules serious conditions like addiction.

Pro-ana trend of the early 2000s

By the early 2000s, heroin chic was rebranded as pro-ana, short for the promotion of anorexia, an eating disorder. The trend gained popularity when Oprah Winfrey addressed it on her eponymous TV show in October 2001, when she expressed alarm at the growing popularity of "thinspiration" websites and recommended the use of filtering software to bar access to them.

Although the pro-ana trend was mostly driven underground in the 2000s, several niche social media sites like Reddit and Tumblr continue to harbour eating disorders, often under the guise of "support groups." On TikTok and Instagram, influencers peddle diets and routines that skirt dangerously close to starvation while dodging accountability or genuine resources. 

The recent 'Ghoul girl' trend

Celebrities like Bella Hadid and Emma Chamberlain are known for their effortlessly dishevelled and edgy looks. Hollow under-eyes, slicked-back hair, a lean body, pale skin, protruding cheekbones, and glazed-over eyes giving off a 'mysterious' expression. This is the "ghoul girl look," a social media trend that has turned exhaustion and burnout into something cool and aspirational.

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'Sick girl' makeup

Another social media trend inspired by illness is the Japanese 'byojaku,' which translates to ill. This is a makeup trend, also called the 'sick girl look,' which emphasises pale skin and a red tint under their eyes and nose to appear sick. Although it started in Japan about a decade ago, it has slowly regained popularity worldwide in recent times on TikTok and Instagram.

What do these trends tell us?

Trends like Ozempic chic or 'sick girl' are heavily tied to the societal expectation of women looking 'in need of help' or vulnerable to the male gaze. They show that illness is not just aestheticised but also eroticised. Weaponising sickness or psychological conditions as beauty trends reinforces the expectation that "femininity" is about appearing "breakable."

While chronic illnesses are being played with as 'desirable,' people with genuine conditions or disabilities continue to face stigma and dismissal, especially if they don't fit into the "ideal appearance" standard. This makes it all the more important to separate aesthetics from actual suffering and reflect on the social expectations embedded in beauty standards.