{"id":5852,"date":"2026-05-08T06:58:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T06:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/?p=5852"},"modified":"2026-05-08T06:59:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T06:59:14","slug":"a-silhouette-and-its-shadow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/index.php\/2026\/05\/08\/a-silhouette-and-its-shadow\/","title":{"rendered":"A Silhouette and its Shadow"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>5 Minute, 27 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n

Carolyn Wang ed. Veerein Sheorayan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we examine a moment in time, we can often characterise society by the distinctive silhouette of the people who occupied it. Whether it be the frame of the body or the shape of the fashions, silhouettes act as insightful microcosms into the social, political and cultural values of the time. It is interesting, and perhaps a little willful then, that we believe the modern silhouette to be one that is separate and almost distant from the past. While our chosen styles and hairdos may not be segmented into clear decades or centuries, I would argue that the modern silhouette is one now defined by direct changes to the body, than to our garments. Structural undergarments used to give the illusion of perfect proportions have been swapped out for pills and injections. Wigs can become permanent with hair transplants and growth serums. Facial structure, limb length, tooth pointiness \u2013 you name it, we have a method of altering it. This, inherently, is not a bad thing. The individual choices we make allow us to be more interesting people. But a silhouette is merely a shadow of a person, and it is important we don\u2019t lose ourselves in the pursuit of a shadow.\u00a0

There were a few things that sparked this opinion piece. A documentary I watched on looksmaxxing as further research after a friend had to explain what \u201cASU frat leader framemogged Clavicular\u201d meant. A discussion on the rise of GLP-1 receptor agonist use in a makeup store. A personal, longstanding love affair with historical fashion. A scroll through the celebrity news sites. A look in the mirror.

There are equally a few thoughts I want to share. Starting with this quote from the Ozempic website published by exclusive manufacturer, Novo Nordisk:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cOzempic may also help you lose weight. Ozempic is not a weight-loss drug.\u201d [1]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a sentiment echoed verbatim across their website.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOzempic is not a weight-loss drug.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOzempic \u2026 is not a weight-loss drug.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weight-loss is emphatically ascribed as only a side effect<\/em> of Ozempic. Yet in society, Ozempic is synonymous with dropped pounds and gaunt cheekbones, and the seemingly wildfire adoption of this weight-loss drug among celebrities has even led to the term \u201cOzempic face\u201d. Now I\u2019m not going to debate here the merits of Ozempic face in appealing to preconceived beauty standards \u2013 there\u2019s enough Internet trolls and gossip rags who\u2019ve done the hard yards in that regard. Instead of analysing each visible sag and wrinkle in 4K, I want to turn the spotlight to the figure in the shadows: Big Pharma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you were to examine the silhouette of the pharmaceutical industry, you\u2019d see a strong increasing trend in market value over the past two decades [2]. Even this is a microcosm in itself; a representation of the story which started in apothecaries, before moving into laboratories, dispensaries, homes and of course, the offices of Big Pharma corporations. Our society values this idea of continuous progress, and the pharmaceutical industry so clearly quantifies our big brain human knowledge with its new receptors discovered, new treatments formulated, and new products on our shelves. It\u2019s an addictive silhouette, and its recent addition is the GLP-1 receptor agonist boom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are a class of medications intended for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity. It\u2019s the class which drugs like Ozempic (semaglutide) belong to, and their therapeutic properties are being hijacked by those seeking to lose weight fast. The \u201cGLP-1 RA boom\u201d \u2013 a phrase becoming increasingly recognised \u2013 has been outlined in the literature, with a study by Falster et al. (2025) reporting an almost ten-fold increase in sales of GLP-1RAs in Australia across 2020 to 2025 [3]. The surge in demand has led to the domain of GLP-1 or obesity drugs being named on trading sites as the one to keep an eye on. History has shown us that the silhouette of fashion is always shaped in the image of what society prioritises, and our modern silhouette is no different. While weight-loss drugs are incredibly important in revitalising obesity management (an issue of silhouette with equally controversial discourse behind it), the way in which the general public has been exposed to them has shoved this medical implication in a distant, dusty corner. But that has not prevented the very tangible impacts on medical practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2023 saw a shortage of GLP-1RAs, will global supply chains unable to keep up with ballooning demand, especially for Wegovy, a semaglutide sold as Ozempic for type 2 diabetes, repackaged for the purpose of weight management [4]. Now, to be very clear here, I do not want to imply that celebrities are single-handedly responsible for using up the world\u2019s GLP-1 supply, nor am I suggesting that weight-loss drugs only offer aesthetic value. Wegovy, and drugs like it, can offer results for people who struggle with recalcitrant obesity which otherwise would have been unachievable from diet or lifestyle changes. But we have to recognise that the dominoes are falling. A lack of Wegovy has resulted in Ozempic being used to fill supply chain gaps, which in turn limits availability of alternative GLP-1RAs being used to fill the shoes of Ozempic [4]. And somewhere within this chain \u2013 perhaps the trigger which pushed it to fall \u2013 we come back to the question of, \u201cdo we like how our silhouette appears?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I procrastinated writing this article (a lot) because I was stumped on how to end it. In many ways, both literally and figuratively, and for many people, the answer to that question will be some iteration of \u201cnot really\u201d. I\u2019m not in a position to be lecturing to the individual reader, but I do have a final thought for society. The silhouette of a collection of objects can easily fool us into seeing something entirely different, just as a few fingers can appear as the shadow of a dog. In acknowledging our role in rearranging and redirecting these constituent parts \u2013 the media, Big Pharma, medical professionals, ourselves \u2013 perhaps we can turn our attention to refashioning rather than relinquishing to the modern silhouette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further resources (referenced pragmatically):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[1] https:\/\/www.ozempic.com\/ozempic-pen\/what-is-ozempic-pen.html<\/a>
[2] https:\/\/www.statista.com\/topics\/1764\/global-pharmaceutical-industry\/<\/a>
[3] https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1101\/2025.10.30.25339120<\/a>
[4] https:\/\/lens.monash.edu\/where-did-all-the-diabetes-drugs-go\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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