Could Ozempic Derail the Body-Positivity Movement?

The medical story about Ozempic is straightforward and satisfying. A drug designed to treat diabetes had a game-changing application for weight loss. But it has plenty of caveats: You have to take it indefinitely. It doesn’t work for everyone. It has side effects. It’s at the moment unbelievably expensive and rarely covered by insurance. But it works. People can lose a significant percentage of their body weight and keep it off—safely. In the history of spotty and dubious weight-loss drugs, this one is a genuine medical breakthrough.

But the cultural story is more complicated. In the last few years, the culture has finally started making a little bit of progress with fat-shaming. For example, WeightWatchers downplayed the word “weight” in its name and started talking more about health and wellness and developing a positive mindset. Ad campaigns started using models of all shapes and sizes. A lot of women find these models beautiful and are finding their own bodies beautiful too.

This progress is new, and fragile. And the introduction of a miracle weight-loss drug could easily upset all of that. In this episode of Radio Atlantic, science writer Olga Khazan and I imagine it’s 20 years from now. Insurance covers Ozempic. It’s affordable. It’s pretty widely available. In this future, have we become a lot less judgemental about obesity? Or does the decision to have whatever body you want come to be seen as a problem?

Listen to the conversation here:

Subscribe here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Google Podcasts | Pocket Casts

Here is a full transcription of the episode:

Hanna Rosin: There’s a story about the new drug Ozempic that people like to tell. It’s a story of a once-in-a-generation medical breakthrough, of how a drug to treat diabetes became a game-changing new drug for weight loss. Now, there are plenty of caveats. You have to take it indefinitely. It doesn’t work for everyone. There are side effects. It’s, at the moment, unbelievably expensive and barely ever covered by insurance. But it works. People can lose a significant percentage of their body weight and keep it off. And they can do it safely.

This medical story is straightforward and celebratory and satisfying.

But there’s another story: the cultural story, which is way more complicated. In the last few years, the culture has finally started to make a little bit of progress with fat-shaming. For example, WeightWatchers downplayed Weight in its