Do we ever have the right to comment on someone’s body?

Over the past week, social media has been consumed by another debate after creator Levi Coralynn argued that hating influencers has become a socially acceptable way of hating women. Her point wasn’t that influencers are beyond criticism, but that the label itself has become shorthand for dismissing women – a way of belittling female ambition and appearance under the guise of having a more legitimate grievance.

Concern may well be genuine for many people, but the language of concern can also become a socially acceptable vehicle for scrutiny. It allows us to dissect a woman’s body while feeling morally justified in doing so.

That’s exactly why these kinds of conversations gather so much momentum. They’re never just about the woman at their centre. They’re about the rest of us, and the impossible standards we’re expected to meet. They’re about the pressure to occupy as little space as possible while remaining effortlessly beautiful, and the collective anxiety that resurfaces whenever those standards begin to shift.

Ariana Grande looks very, very unwell. pic.twitter.com/lTLbCxeBbT

— Ian Miles Cheong (@ianmiles) August 1, 2026

While we tell ourselves we’ve moved beyond reducing women to the way they look, moments like this suggest we haven’t.

The truth is we don’t know what’s happening in Ariana Grande’s life. The only thing we do know is that she has repeatedly asked people to stop discussing her appearance, and that the conversation has continued regardless.

But that doesn’t change the fact she is a public figure with a huge influence. Anyone who has struggled with body image knows that these images don’t exist in isolation. We are living through a cultural moment where extreme thinness has crept back into fashion. Bodies that only a few years ago would have been held up as symbols of harmful beauty standards are once again being celebrated, whether implicitly or explicitly.

For someone with a fanbase as young as Grande, this poses a huge risk. Fans have already shared worrying personal accounts of the impact Grande’s appearance has had on them – from inspiring restrictive behaviours to warping perceptions of health and food.

The discourse around Grande is evidence that two things can be true at once. It’s possible to feel genuine concern when looking at someone while also recognising that voicing that concern publicly may do more harm than good. The internet has convinced us that every observation deserves to become a discussion, and every discussion deserves an audience. And ultimately, Grande has now been hounded out of public life.

Women’s bodies have always been treated as open for debate, and no more so than those of women in the spotlight. But before we pile on with our two cents, we need to let the people who inhabit these bodies reclaim ownership of them. If that means a retreat to privacy, I hope Grande emerges stronger and happier.

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