Share
Trigger warning: This article includes discussions and images related to anorexia nervosa.
A Change.org petition was created to have YouTuber Eugenia Cooney removed from her platform. The petition and concern from fans reveals an extremely complicated issue: What do fans do when they're convinced a famous person is so sick themselves that their very presence could be triggering others?
There's no easy answer.
We have to start with this disclaimer: Thick or thin, no one's health is anybody's business. Nevertheless, we should be wary and critical of those trying to project an unhealthy beauty standard onto others (think celebs who sell dietary supplements or the fashion industry's lack of inclusion). Thus, I understand why people are concerned about the YouTuber in question, but whether they have the right to be is more of a gray area.
This is Eugenia Cooney, a popular YouTuber. Cooney discusses fashion and beauty with her 1 million subscribers. You may have noticed that Cooney is very thin. Just to be clear: Her channel is not pro-ana, and she does not talk about her weight.
Cooney has always been very thin, but since she moved out of her parents’ home, fans allege that her weight has been rapidly reducing.
In 2016, Lynn Cloud created a Change.org petition to have Cooney's channel shut down. About 20,000 people signed the petition.
"She knows that she's influencing young teenage girls into thinking being 60 lbs. is normal," Cloud alleged in her petition.
According to Attn, one petitioner claimed their 12-year-old cousin dropped 20 pounds to look like Cooney.
Cloud's assertion is not without merits. Twitter users have expressed wanting to be "Cooney skinny."
“Some people are saying I’m like a bad influence on girls," Cooney said in a video where she addressed the concern, denying rumors of having an eating disorder. "I would never want to do that. I have never told anyone to try to like lose weight or to try to like change the way they look or to look like me.”
Fans expressed that they weren't hating, they were deeply concerned for her health. The question is, do they have a right to be?
Is there a difference between accusing Tess Holliday of promoting obesity and accusing Cooney of promoting anorexia?
The answer is yes and no. The people who are accusing Holliday aren't remotely concerned about Holliday's health so much as they are shaming a fat woman for loving her size and making a career of it. Moreover, our society rewards thinness and condemns fatness as a general standard.
Still, both are examples of strangers policing the body of a woman who is not in the business of trying to convince anyone to look like her. There's a difference between Holliday and Cooney sharing their love of fashion to a large following, and Kim Kardashian selling weight loss lollipops, waist trainers, and appetite suppressants to fans. The former's bodies are incidental to what they are doing; the latter is instructing young women on how to get an "ideal" body type.
Cooney, if she has anorexia or not, may not be in the position to change her body to an "acceptable weight." Like any other person, the body she has at the time, is the body she has at the time.
We simply can't ban people with "unhealthy" BMIs (or the perception thereof) from being visible. Moreover, there are dozens of reasons why someone might be underweight that have nothing to do with anorexia.
This is a complicated matter. But one thing is for sure. You are not going to get rid of anorexia or unfair beauty standards by targeting a young woman who you think may have (but don't know for sure) the condition.
The issue with skinniness being the ultimate goal isn't going to go away if Cooney's channel is taken down. There are a million thin women who are on camera at any given moment. If we want to make society better, we have to look at beauty standards at an institutional level, and we have to rage against gatekeepers in the fashion industry, ad industry, and Hollywood — not police the mental health of a young woman who doesn't want to talk about it.
Eventually, Change.org took down the petition against Cooney. YouTube took down one of her videos and put it back up. Most of the comments on her videos are about her weight. Ultimately, if we're concerned about Cooney, there is a better way to handle that then banning her from social media and her source of income. Ultimately, if we're concerned about unrealistic and unhealthy beauty standards, there are better targets than the individuals who might be afflicted by them.
If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, please contact the National Eating Disorder Association at 800-931-2237.
