What Do GLP-1s and Voting Have to Do With Each Other?
You're scrolling after the kids are in bed (or after a long day of being needed by everyone), and there it is again. Another red-carpet photo. Another "what's her secret?" comment thread. Another celebrity who seems to have quietly become half her size. And somewhere in the back of your mind, a small, familiar voice starts doing math about your own body.
If that voice has gotten louder lately, it isn't a coincidence. Conversations about GLP-1s and body image are everywhere right now, and they're happening alongside a much bigger cultural shift, one that asks women to take up less space in more ways than one.
So what do weight loss medications have to do with the ballot sitting on your kitchen counter this fall? Let's talk about it.
Because the pressure to shrink your body and the pressure to shrink your voice come from the same place, and the 2026 midterms are one of the clearest chances you have to push back.
At a Glance: GLP-1s and Voting
GLP-1 medications are real medical care that many women use for good reasons, and the choice to use them belongs to each woman and her provider. What deserves a closer look is the culture around them: a renewed "thin is in" ideal that tends to rise alongside political movements that restrict women's autonomy. Protecting your mental health, body image, and right to make your own choices includes both caring for yourself and using your voice, including your vote in Colorado's November 3, 2026 election.
Thin Is "In" Again, and You Are Seeing It Clearly
If it feels like the body ideal shifted under your feet over the last couple of years, you're reading the room correctly. After a decade of (imperfect, often commercialized) body positivity, fashion editor Lisa Armstrong summed up what many of us noticed in a single headline: "We thought we'd seen the end of it, but thinness is back."
And this version of thin has a particular flavor. Philosopher Kate Manne, author of Unshrinking, has written about why celebrities' bodies are shrinking, describing today's ideal woman as "very thin, white, highly feminine," projecting "a certain frailty without actually being ill or disabled."
The ideal currently being celebrated is small, delicate, and a little breakable. That's worth paying attention to, because body ideals carry messages far beyond bodies. They tell women how much room we're allowed to take up in the world.
GLP-1s and Body Image: Pro-Choice, Pro-Wellness, Pro-You
Let's be really clear about where Her Time Therapy stands. We are not anti-GLP-1. Medications like semaglutide and tirzepatide help many women manage diabetes, PCOS, heart health, insulin resistance, and more. Some of our clients use them. Some of our family members and friends do too. Deciding what to do with your body, in partnership with your medical provider, is exactly the kind of autonomy we're here to rally for and protect.
What Her Time Therapy stands for is pro-women's autonomy and pro-whole-body wellness. That means your mental health and body image count as much as the number on a lab report or a scale.
Here's where it gets complicated for women. A 2026 study in the International Journal of Obesity found that women who lost weight using GLP-1s were judged more harshly than women who didn't lose weight at all. Sit with that for a second. Women are judged for being in larger bodies, and then judged again for the way they choose to change them. That's the definition of a no-win situation, and it points to the real issue: a culture that treats women's bodies as public property, up for comment and control.
Researchers are starting to name this, too. A 2026 paper in the journal Body Image argues that body image should be treated as a key part of GLP-1 care, not an afterthought, and calls for psychological support alongside the medication. In other words: if you're on a GLP-1, considering one, or just watching everyone around you talk about them, your feelings
about your body deserve care and attention.
Women and Authoritarianism: Why the Two Keep Showing Up Together
Here's where body image meets politics. Researchers who study democracy have noticed a pattern for a long time: when governments move toward more centralized, top-down control, women's rights are often among the first things to go.
In a Harvard Kennedy School PolicyCast episode, Erica Chenoweth and Zoe Marks describe rising authoritarianism and the repression of women as "mutually reinforcing ills." They name specific areas where control over women tends to tighten: reproductive autonomy, access to work and political life, pressure toward traditional gender roles, and weaker consequences for violence against women.
We see this globally. Writing for DAWN, scholar Dalia Fahmy documents how authoritarian regimes in the Middle East have targeted women activists and protesters, calling state violence against women "an assault on the core principles of freedom, equality and human rights."
So when a culture starts celebrating women who are smaller, quieter, more fragile, and more dependent, it's worth asking what else is being asked of us. A woman who is hungry, exhausted, and preoccupied with monitoring her body has less energy for everything else: her career, her community, her activism, her vote. As the Harvard Political Review put it in a headline that stuck with me: starving women can't break the glass ceiling.
Here's the hopeful part, though. Chenoweth and Marks's research also shows that mass movements with strong women's participation (at least 25% of participants) are significantly more likely to succeed in building democracy.
When women show up, things change.
What the Pressure to Get Smaller Does to Your Mental Health
As therapists, this is where we see the real cost. The message to shrink rarely stays in one lane. It spreads.
Women who absorb it often describe:
Constant body monitoring. Checking reflections, adjusting clothes, cropping photos, mentally tracking every bite. It's a second job no one pays you for.
Anxiety and hypervigilance. A body that's always "on," scanning for judgment in the grocery store, at work, at family dinners.
Shame that spills into everything. When you feel too big in your body, it's easy to start feeling "too much" everywhere else: too loud, too opinionated, too needy.
Quietly shrinking your life. Skipping the beach trip, turning off your camera in meetings, holding back your ideas, letting someone else take the lead.
That last one matters a lot. The same conditioning that says "take up less room" in your body often says "take up less room" in your relationships, your work, and your community. If you've noticed yourself getting quieter lately, that's information to attend to with compassion. Our earlier post on confronting our obsession with thinness digs deeper into how this shows up, and our self-esteem counseling is built for exactly this kind of work.
In therapy, we work on separating your worth from your size, building a relationship with your body that's based on care rather than control, and reconnecting with the parts of you that were never meant to shrink.
Taking Up Space: Your Vote in the 2026 Midterms
This brings us back to that ballot on your kitchen counter.
Voting is one of the most concrete ways to take up the space you're entitled to. It's self-advocacy on a community scale. Every policy that touches women's health care, reproductive rights, insurance coverage for mental health, and access to medications like GLP-1s gets shaped by the people we elect.
Midterm elections often get less attention than presidential years, and turnout tends to drop. That's exactly why your vote carries so much weight right now.
In Colorado this November, the ballot includes a governor's race, a U.S. Senate seat, every U.S. House seat, state legislative races, and ballot measures that affect daily life here at home.
You don't need to have it all figured out, and nobody here is going to tell you who to vote for. We just encourage you to show up as yourself, with your values, and be counted.
How to Register and Vote in Colorado
Colorado (for now) makes voting accessible. Here's what you need to know for the November 3, 2026 general election:
Check or update your registration at GoVoteColorado.gov. If you've moved, changed your name, or aren't sure you're active, take two minutes to check.
Watch your mailbox. Counties begin mailing ballots October 2, and every active voter's ballot is sent by October 9.
Register by October 26 to receive your ballot by mail. After that, you can still register and vote in person at a voter service center, right up through Election Day.
Mail your ballot back by October 26. After that, use a drop box or voter service center. Drop boxes open by October 12.
Track your ballot through BallotTrax (sign up at GoVoteColorado.gov) and get a text when it's counted.
Election Day: Ballots must be received, or you must be in line, by 7:00 p.m. on November 3.
Key dates come from the Colorado Secretary of State.
Feminist and Women-Led Voting Guides
If you want help understanding what's on your ballot, these nonpartisan, women-founded resources are a great place to start:
League of Women Voters of Colorado: Founded by suffragists in 1920, the League offers plain-language breakdowns of Colorado ballot measures and its positions on the issues.
VOTE411.org: The League's personalized ballot tool. Enter your address, see every race and candidate on your ballot, and compare their answers side by side.
BallotReady: A nonpartisan guide that lets you research candidates and build a plan before you vote.
A small, practical suggestion: pick one evening this October, pour yourself something warm, and fill out your ballot with a friend in person or over FaceTime. Voting together turns an errand into an act of connection, and connection is one of the most protective things we have.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can GLP-1 medications affect body image?
Yes. GLP-1 medications can affect body image in several directions, and researchers are just beginning to study how. Some women feel relief and more at ease in their bodies, while others notice increased body checking, anxiety about regaining weight, or shifts in identity as their body changes quickly. A 2026 paper in the journal Body Image recommends that psychological support be offered alongside GLP-1 treatment. Working with a therapist who understands body image can help you care for your mental health whatever you decide about medication.
Is it anti-feminist to take a GLP-1?
No. Feminism is about women having the freedom and information to make their own choices about their bodies, including choices about medication. Many women use GLP-1s for diabetes, PCOS, heart health, and other medical needs. At Her Time Therapy, we are pro-women's autonomy and pro-whole-body wellness, which means supporting each woman's decision while also paying attention to the cultural pressure to be thin that surrounds these medications.
Why are women's bodies connected to politics?
Women's bodies are connected to politics because laws and cultural norms shape who controls women's health care, reproduction, safety, and participation in public life. Research from Harvard Kennedy School scholars Erica Chenoweth and Zoe Marks shows that authoritarian movements and the repression of women tend to rise together. Body ideals that reward women for being smaller and more fragile often reflect those same power dynamics, which is why body image and civic participation are more linked than might be obvious.
How do I register to vote in Colorado for the 2026 midterms?
You can register or update your Colorado voter registration online at GoVoteColorado.gov. To receive your ballot by mail for the November 3, 2026 general election, register by October 26. After that date, you can still register and vote in person at any voter service center in your county through 7:00 p.m. on Election Day. Colorado mails ballots to all active registered voters, and you can track yours through BallotTrax.
Support for Taking Up Space, in Your Body and Your Life
If this post stirred something up for you (frustration, grief, recognition, or a little bit of fire), list to that. The pressure to shrink is heavy, and you deserve a place to set it down.
At Her Time Therapy, our clinicians offer feminist, women-centered therapy online across Colorado.
Whether you're on a GLP-1, considering one, or simply tired of carrying the weight of everyone's opinions about your body, you get to decide what whole-body wellness looks like for you. Schedule a free consultation, and let's make some room for all of you.
And this fall, fill out that ballot. It is your right to use your voice and take up space.
About the Author
Lauren Veazey, MA, LPCC, NCC, is a therapist at Her Time Therapy who provides online therapy for women navigating fertility challenges, perinatal and postpartum concerns, anxiety, and grief. She supports women through identity shifts, motherhood, and life transitions using a holistic, client-centered approach informed by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), mindfulness, and feminist therapy.
About Her Time Therapy
Her Time Therapy is an integrative group counseling practice comprised of licensed therapists in Colorado who specialize in providing convenient and empowering online therapy for women. We recognize that women experience a unique set of biological, environmental, economic, and social challenges that have a real impact on mental health, and that you deserve specialized, feminist-informed support. Schedule a free consultation to get started.
Disclaimer: This blog does not provide medical advice. The information contained herein is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a licensed health provider before undertaking a new treatment or health care regimen, including starting or stopping any medication. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or Colorado Crisis Services by calling 1-844-493-8255 or texting TALK to 38255.
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