Are ‘skinny jabs’ just another way to control our chaotic lives?

Think thin: ‘Semaglutide, the active ingredient in the diabetic medication Ozempic, is being sold as an alternative to dieting.’ Photograph: Bsip Sa/Alamy

I’m holding a pile of Tupperware and thinking about control. Somehow there are eight pots and 10 lids, and none of them fit, and while the search for metaphor here might be an enjoyable distraction it will not help me decant my pulses into easily stackable containers, which I can proudly document online so honestly what is the point?

Once upon a time there was currency in party pictures: evidence of hedonism, sloppy nights, mornings after. Today, the closest most come is a selfie following a brisk 5k, wet and legginged. Influencers post their grain-based breakfasts and the internet eats them up, or their perfectly labelled skincare shelves, or their ordered kitchen cupboards under hashtags like #PantryPorn. These are the things that get us off in 2023: images of control, of matter in its place.