Ashley Graham calls GLP-1s 'smack in the face' to women

Ashley Graham has a bone to pick with GLP-1s. Specifically, how they're ushering in a new wave of thinness on runways again.

“It's really disheartening,” the model, 38, recently told Marie Claire. “There was a pendulum that swung that was so body acceptance, positivity, everybody be who they want to be. And now it's going back this whole opposite way that feels like a smack in the face to the women who have felt like they've had a voice.”

For those who need them, GLP-1 injections can be a life-changing tool and lead to significant health benefits, particularly for those with diabetes. Approximately 1 in 8 adults in the United States has used one for diabetes, heart disease or weight loss. But now with FDA-approved weight loss pills on the market, some mental health and eating disorder experts are concerned that the prevalence of these medications are a return to a time where diet culture is everywhere, and they worry people with a history of disordered eating may seek out GLP-1s in pill form as they become a cultural norm.

That's not to say that progress is over and you'll never see a plus-size model again. “It goes with the times—and GLP-1s are a time…I know that there are and there's gonna still be women who are considered plus size forever,” Graham added. “This drug isn't going to wipe out a whole statistic of women.”

Graham continued: “There's so many (plus-size influencers and creators) … they're all over the place with their sizes and their proportions and how they look and how they're relatable. And to me, that's the coolest part about all of this. Seeing that these girls, who were raised on social media at such a young age are now coming in and they have a platform to say to the younger generation, ‘Be yourself, be who you want to be. If you have cellulite, who cares?’"

Contributing: Sara Moniuszko