Just when it seemed like we'd made progress in terms of healthier body image for young women, actress Anya Taylor-Joy shows up with a throwback to the 1860s.
To celebrate the premiere of her film “Dune: Part Two” in New York, the 27-year-old posted a photo of herself on Sunday in the underwear she needed to pull off the dramatic Maison Margiela haute couture dress, that she wore on the red carpet – namely, a corset straight out of the Victorian era that was so tight that eating disorder counselors will have to empty their diaries for the foreseeable future.
When I first saw the shot, several thoughts came to mind.
“Anya, can you breathe?” was the first. “How are your ribs?” was the second.
Third, and perhaps most important: “Why would you post a headless backstage image that fetishizes your dangerously constricted waist, in a garment that has been known to subjugate women for centuries?”
Actress Anya Taylor-Joy at the New York premiere of Dune: Part Two. Anya wore a dramatic haute couture gown by Maison Margiela. Underneath the dress, she wore a corset straight from the Victorian era
Anya posted a picture of the corset she wore under the dress on Instagram. The corset is so tight that eating disorder counselors will have to empty their diaries for the foreseeable future
The female body is a biological reality. Not a fashion template. Compressing with such corsets comes at a high cost, as the Victorians learned. Doctors at the time blamed corsets for anemia, blood clots, fainting, infertility, miscarriages and digestive problems. As a former model, Anya and her supporters may still claim that this corset is just a fashion item and is needed for the dress to function. In fact, Anya simply captioned the picture: “Merci… (to the designers) for making my dreams come true.”
But this is disingenuous and Anya is smart enough to know it.
In reality, the image is incredibly dangerous – especially for impressionable young girls.
As the author of ten parenting books, I have interviewed schoolgirls who wear waist trainers under their school uniform in a desperate attempt to slim their waistlines. They also want to create the illusion of a bigger butt, the look made fashionable by reality TV star Kim Kardashian.
These waist-training corsets — available everywhere on Amazon and, unsurprisingly, in Kim's own shapewear collection Skims — encourage young women to punish their own bodies for not conforming to unrealistic ideals.
However, publishing such an extreme image has far more serious consequences. While researching my books, I saw pro-anorexia content on social media sites that set the standard for the body shape that women with eating disorders aspire to.
I've listened to the heartbreaking stories of anorexic girls who, every time they look in the mirror, want to superimpose this extreme silhouette over their shapes and erase the parts of their bodies that don't conform.
Anya with her co-stars from Dune: Part Two. From left to right: Souheila Yacoub, Zendaya and Timothee Chalamet
Anya cut a very different figure at the premiere of Dune: Part Two in London, where she wore a white plunging dress with a sheer headscarf
I'm not the only one questioning Anya about this. To date, her Instagram post has received thousands of comments.
One accuses the actress of “normalizing starvation”; They tell her clearly that “this is not a healthy look for women at all”; and another posted a desperate appeal: “You will kill people with this kind of beauty advertising.” Please delete. Please.'
I'm having a hard time understanding why Anya posted this picture – or at least didn't remove it after her followers alerted her to the potential harm it could cause.
And unfortunately, the only thing I could think of was the need for publicity – the need to get more attention for her red carpet appearance for Dune.
As an adult actress admired by so many young women, she must realize that supposedly fashionable Instagram shots like these can become tomorrow's anorexia inspiration.