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Analysis
This column contains descriptions of disordered eating.
In case you missed it, TikTok is obsessed with Bella Hadid. And now, her voice has gone viral—but TikTokers aren’t necessarily using it for good.
A TikTok audio of Hadid saying “My name, my name is Bella Hadid” has been used in over 40,000 TikTok videos. Many have used it to make jokes about themselves displaying “model behavior,” like being complimented for their natural features.
But the majority of the trend pokes fun at a behavior stereotypically associated with modeling: disordered eating. Hadid’s voice is heard over videos about TikTokers saying they only ate gum for breakfast, don’t eat breakfast, only eating gum and drinking water during the day, feel thinner after vomiting, and even refrain from eating for multiple weeks.
Why it matters
While these videos are clearly made in jest, they can be activating for those who have a vulnerability about disordered eating, such as people in eating disorder recovery. The TikToks are also harmful in general because they normalize disordered eating habits.
Viewers might be able to understand that not eating for an entire day or longer is unhealthy, but the more benign videos that use the Hadid sound are a bit trickier. TikTokers have posted about calorie-saving hacks like wiping the grease of their pizza, drinking water with an “unhealthy meal,” not eating dessert or candy given out in class, and ordering french fries without salt—all of which demonize food in some way.
TikToker Victoria Paris, who has built a TikTok fan base for her lifestyle content, posted about the trend on October 9. In her viral video, she says that the aforementioned videos “slightly trigger” her eating disorder, and that she has to “swipe or look away” from the videos.
Commenters of Paris’s video agreed: some said they struggle to not think about videos that use Hadid’s voice and describe disordered eating all day long. Some said that they feel inspired to engage in disordered eating because of the TikToks.
Others expressed concern for those making videos that joke about disordered eating. “Some of them don’t even realize it’s a whole [eating disorder],” @oliviamedinaaaa commented on Paris’s video.
What’s worse, Hadid probably wouldn’t sign off on her voice being used as part of a harmful trend: The model spoke about her experience with eating disorders and body dysmorphia as a teenager in an interview with Vogue in March.
“I can barely look in the mirror to this day because of that period in my life,” Hadid said.
For more information about eating disorders or to speak with a someone confidentially, contact the National Eating Disorders Organization.