Toxicity of Glo ANANYA ANAND postscript editor
Look smaller, look prettier, look mature. That’s the expectation. One day you walk home next to your older sister, and then the next day you’re expected to be her. Is that expectation reasonable, or does it indicate that you are not enough as you are?
Glow up culture, the idea that children have to become a better version of themselves physically, over the course of their teenage years, has become a prevalent topic recently. As of now, the expectation of having a glow up over quarantine has become more pressing than ever. However, there has not been an adequate look into the toxicity of this concept. The phrase glowing up insinuates that you are not good enough as the person you already are. It indicates that you have to conform to society’s standards of what a teenager these days must look like, act like, and be like. According to Emily Mildenhall in her article “Glow Up Culture: Just Another Consumerist Trick”, “there’s a difference between putting work into yourself to make healthier life decisions versus throwing yourself into all the new beauty trends and comparing yourself to how models look.” Her quote goes to show that caring for yourself does not equate trying out diet culture’s new detox tea. Taking walks, getting fresh air, and eating healthier are all ways to become healthier both physically and mentally without buying into the toxicity of glow up culture. The results of this toxic expectation can be seen through various aspects. Starting off with eating disorders amongst teenagers; just last year alone resulted in a 66 percent increase for eating disorder hospital admissions,
