Wonyungism, originally being about self-care and self-confidence, had quickly turned into content about supporting eating disorders even having a trend of teaching people how they can be able to ´Romanticize eating disorders.´
The effects of having such a negative view of food and such low self-esteem caused by expectations from images of people that are filtered can be dangerous and deadly. There have been many victims.
Nancy, who has a borderline personality disorder, unconfirmed if before or after Wonyungism, had drank extremely toxic chemicals in an attempt to lose weight and appear more like the K-pop star. In a TikTok video by @Run2wony, many hate comments had been made complaining about the toxicity of the account and Wonyungism and even comments such as “Wonyungism got me in a hospital”.
In an interview with Frankie Badill, Frankie Badill was asked what her thoughts were on the concerning rise of Wonyungism and its harmful impact on impressionable and young tennagers, young adults, and even children. She made the claim,
“You don’t bully people into having eating disorders because that could ruin their health and possibly change their whole life for the worse, like it could even lead to them developing serious mental health issues or even dying.”
It’s important for social media and influencers, big or small, to oppose trends that support dangerous behavior. Even Jang Won-Yung has opposed this trend; despite her efforts to stop it, it continues.
Social media platforms such as Tiktok need to better moderate and remove content that promotes eating disorders or other harmful behaviors. Some say that it is nearly impossible to remove all such content but Tiktok has shown that they have the ability to censor topics to a significant degree when they want to. For example another topic such as the multiple silent genocides, such as Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and Congo, being oppressed and censored on their platform. This is, in my opinion, because Tiktok profits greatly from the engagement that inflammatory and controversial content generates, even if it is harmful.
Sofia Moua was also asked in an interview about her perspective on the rise of Wonyungism and its harmful impact on young people. She had an opposing opinion making the point that,
“Not all of wonyungism is toxic”
Also that many people find inspiration and support in the movement for self-care and body positivity in non-toxic wonyungism, I believe that even if all toxic parts of wonyungism are removed, the toxicity will resurge over time.
Staying away from toxic trends such as this is very important as it can lead to body dysmorphia, ed, and a lack of self confidence. This is why it’s important for social media platforms and influencers to actively discourage and remove content that promotes dangerous behaviors like eating disorders.