MAGA purity: Why right-wing Christian influencers are reigniting the 'thin is in' movement

30 July

Alex Clark speaking at Turning Point USA's 2020 Student Action Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida on December 22, 2020 (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

Salon's Amanda Marcotte has reported on a trend among MAGA women she calls "Mar-a-Lago face." This look includes very heavy, caked-on makeup, lots of bronzer, a fake tan, full lips, and, in some cases, plastic surgery — and Marcotte cited Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, activist Kimberly Gilfoyle, former Republican National Committee (RNC) Co-Chair Lara Trump (Eric Trump's wife), First Lady Melania Trump and far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer as examples of MAGA women who are embracing "Mar-a-Lago face" in order to please President Donald Trump.

But "Mar-a-Lago face," also described as "MAGA makeup," isn't the only look that women on the far right are embracing in order to please MAGA men. Now, it appears, thin is in.

In an conversation for the New York Times' opinion section published on July 30, journalists Meher Ahmad and Jessica Grose discuss the push for thinness and weigh loss among right-wing evangelical Christian fundamentalist influencers.

"On the right," Ahmad observes, "there's been a focus on body size that's been bundled up not just with health and wellness, but with religion, morals and politics. And so, when everything is political and we're more divided than ever, should the size and shape of our bodies be any different?"

Ahmad asked Grose to weigh in on right-wing evangelicals' "obsession with thinness," she noted "wellness influencer" Alex Clark's comments at the Young Women’s Leadership Summit — where Clark called for "less burnout, more babies" and "less feminism, more femininity."

Grose told Ahmad, "So I think it's a reaction to the body positivity movement, which I would say peaked about 10 years ago. It was the idea that weight is not tied directly to health and that you can be healthy and not rail-thin. You would see models who were not model size on the runway. It was never predominant. There was maybe one, and brands were more bullied into making more size- inclusive lines."

Another influencer the Times journalists discussed was Liv Schmidt.

"I don't think she talks about politics too much," Grose said of Schmidt, "but she has appeared in conservative magazines like Evie, which is a magazine geared towards young conservative women. And then, folks like Ballerina Farm, who's a trad wife influencer."

When Ahmad noted that "diet cultures" are overlapping with a "religious or moral tent," Grose responded, "So, there's long been a history of a Christian publishing universe. They've long tried to take things that are popular in the mainstream and put their own spin on it. I went back and read a book that was a best seller about 10 years ago, co-written by the megachurch pastor Rick Warren. The book is called 'The Daniel Plan,' and it features a blurb from Dr. Oz."

Grose continued, "So, it's sort of tied in with our current administration, and the book includes things like, 'Satan does not want you to live a healthy life because that honors God.' And 'Why should God heal you of an obesity-related illness if you have no intention of changing the choices that led to it?' So, there's a distinct idea that overeating or gluttony — which is one of the seven deadly sins — is immoral. And if your body size is not whatever society thinks is an appropriate body size, that is a sin."

Read Meher Ahmad and Jessica Grose's full conversation at this New York Times link (subscription required).

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