Brontez Purnell, in a personal essay for Cultured's "Indulgence" issue, reflects on gluttony and his experience with weight-loss drugs. After a diabetes diagnosis, he began taking Mounjaro in 2024, losing 64 pounds in a month, then switched to Ozempic after losing insurance. He grapples with body dysmorphia, shifting gay beauty standards, and the moral implications of using GLP-1s, ultimately questioning whether Ozempic is a form of "elevated anti-gluttony."
This article matters because it brings a frank, queer, and artist's perspective to the cultural conversation around weight-loss drugs, body positivity, and sin in the 2020s. Purnell, a multidisciplinary artist and writer, uses his personal narrative to interrogate how beauty standards, morality, and health intersect in an era of pharmaceutical transformation, offering a rare insider view that blends humor, vulnerability, and critical thought.