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Eddie McGuire's sudden weight loss exposes a cruel double standard

Melissa Singer
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If you saw last weekend's papers, you may have noticed that Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has shed a few pounds.

Viewers of Fox's telecast of Friday night's clash between Sydney and Essendon were the first to notice a much trimmer McGuire, who on Sunday credited the transformation to virtually starving himself for three weeks.

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Eddie McGuire's extreme weight loss

Losing 15 kilograms in three weeks, Eddie McGuire's weight loss has drawn attention.

Under the guidance of Sydney-based Dr Shuquan Liu, McGuire ingested only herbal tonic for two weeks, followed by small amounts of cucumber and chicken in week three.

McGuire's reliance on fasting to shed 15 kilograms in such a short time frame is worrisome on several fronts.

First, there's the health risks. Despite even the CSIRO condoning occasional, intermittent fasting, there are many people for whom fasting is a bad idea, including pregnant women and people with pre-existing health conditions.

In January, Dr Liu, who has also helped Malcolm Turnbull to shed excess weight, was found guilty of professional misconduct for prescribing his radical program to a patient with a chronic health condition.

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There is also limited research available on the long-term benefits and McGuire himself has acknowledged that he has a battle ahead to keep off the weight.

What's also troubling about McGuire's weight loss is how it has been glorified by the general public. Social media users were quick to praise the trimmer McGuire on Friday night and again after the story appeared in the Sunday News Limited press.

Just for one second though, imagine McGuire was a female celebrity. How would her sudden weight loss be perceived by an incredibly scrutinising public?

We don't have to wonder, as history has provided us with plenty of examples that show the sexist double standard at play.

After Rebecca Judd gave birth to twin boys last year, the internet went into meltdown after she posted a photo of herself in skinny jeans 11 days later.

The TV personality was accused of everything from having an eating disorder to being a poor role model for other women and mothers.

Nowhere did Judd say she returned to her pre-baby weight by starving herself but there were plenty of people who formed that opinion – and weren't afraid to share it.

In 2015, Australian model Erin McNaught was also pilloried for posting a photo of herself, post baby, in a bikini. And Kim Kardashian drew widespread condemnation earlier this year when she attributed a three-kilogram weight loss to a bout of the flu.

As Natalie Reilly wrote for Daily Life at the time: "Men get to enjoy a comfortable distance between their body and their overall identity because, unlike women, who must inhabit the aggressively patriarchal space that is celebrity, they are not defined by how they look."

So that's why when Eddie McGuire loses 15 kilograms in three weeks he's a hero, while a female celebrity who does the same thing is considered irresponsible. Go figure.

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