TANITH CAREY: Why Anya Taylor-Joy’s corset photo is so dangerous to impressionable young girls

Just as it seemed like we were getting somewhere in terms of healthier body image ideals for young women, along comes actress Anya Taylor-Joy with a throwback to the 1860s.

To celebrate the New York premiere of her film Dune: Part Two, the 27-year-old posted a photo of herself on Sunday wearing the undergarments needed to pull off the dramatic Maison Margiela haute couture gown she wore at the red carpet – namely a corset straight out of the Victorian era, which was laced up so tightly that eating disorder counselors will be clearing their schedules for the foreseeable future.

When I first saw the shot, a few thoughts came to mind.

“Anya, can you breathe?” was the first. “How are your ribs?” was the second.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, “Why are you posting a headless backstage photo fetishizing your dangerously constricted waist, in a garment famous for subjugating women throughout the ages?”

Anya posted a photo of the corset she wore under the dress on Instagram. The corset is tied so tightly that eating disorder counselors will have to clear their schedules for the time being

The female body is a biological reality. Not a fashion template. Compressing it with these types of corsets comes at a high cost, as the Victorians learned. Doctors at the time blamed corsets for anemia, blood clots, fainting, infertility, miscarriage and digestive problems. As a former model, Anya and her defenders can still say that this corset is just a fashion garment and is necessary for the dress to work. Anya simply captioned the photo: “Thanks… (to the designers) for making my dreams come true.”

Still, this is unfair, and Anya is smart enough to know it.

In reality, the image is incredibly dangerous – especially for impressionable young girls.

As the author of ten parenting books, I have interviewed schoolgirls who wear waist trainers under their school uniform in a desperate attempt to slim their waists. They also want to create the illusion of a bigger butt, the look made fashionable by reality TV star Kim Kardashian.

These waist training corsets – available all over Amazon and unsurprisingly in Kim’s own shapewear range Skims – encourage young women to punish their own bodies for not conforming to unrealistic ideals.

But posting such an extreme image has a much more serious consequence. While researching my books, I have seen the pro-anorexia content on social media sites, which sets the benchmark for the form that women with eating disorders aspire to.

I’ve listened to the heartbreaking stories of anorexic girls who, every time they look in the mirror, place this extreme silhouette over their shapes and want to rub away the parts of their bodies that don’t conform.

Anya with her Dune: Part Two co-stars. From left to right: Souheila Yacoub, Zendaya and Timothee Chalamet

Anya cut a completely different figure at the London premiere of Dune: Part Two, where she wore a white plunging dress with a sheer headscarf

I’m not the only one who questions Anya about this. So far, her Instagram post has received thousands of comments.

One accuses the actress of ‘normalizing famine’; they tell her outright that ‘this is not a healthy look for women at all’; and another has written a desperate plea: ‘You’re going to kill people with this kind of beauty promotion. Please remove. Please.’

I find it difficult to understand why Anya would have posted this photo – or at least not deleted it after her followers made her aware of the potential damage it could cause.

And unfortunately, all I could think of was the need for publicity – the need to draw more attention around her red carpet appearance for Dune.

As an adult actress, who so many young women look up to, she must recognize that supposedly fashionable Instagram photos like this could turn into the anorexic inspiration of tomorrow.