The Wellness to MAHA pipeline
How wellness went so far left, it became right
Hi friends,
Before I get into MAHA and conspiracy theories and my own experience with the MAHA folks, I want to give a shoutout to my book!
It’s been three weeks since YOU BELONG TO ME has been out in the world. Have you read it yet?
You can buy it from any independent book store even if you don’t live near one through Bookshop.org
Want a signed copy? Buy it from Watchung Booksellers and tell them who you would like it to be made out to.
You can listen to it on Libro.fm, an audio company that supports local bookstores
You can request that your local library carry it, or listen to it on Libby, the book and audio borrowing app
And if none of those option work for you, you can get it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or any of the other big book stores.
Please don’t forget to leave a review on Goodreads or Amazon. It really really really matters.
I’ve been on a number of podcasts including the It’s A Little Bit Culty podcast with Sarah Edmonson and Nippy Ames who were former NXIVM cult members. (They were followed and interviewed in the documentary The Vow and Sarah was written about in the New York Times.) This really excited me because I listened to their podcast while researching YOU BELONG TO ME.
I also had a great event with Raegan Revord out in L.A. at Annabelle’s Book Club. Raegan is the actress who played “Missy” on Young Sheldon, the spin off of The Big Bang Theory. I didn’t know her as an actress —I only knew Raegan at first as a book person. She’s 17 now, but three years ago she started her own online book club called Read with Raegan; she’s been busy getting her platform of 1.7 million followers to read along with her monthly book picks. (She chose the Falling Girls and Where Are You, Echo Blue? as book picks in the past). She and I had a great conversation at Annabelle’s Book Club-a store in LA started by Annabelle Chang when she was 16. Now Annabelle is 18 and goes to Stanford.
I really love going to L.A. It’s so dreamy with the palm trees and the incredible weather. The dry air. Mexican restaurants. We picked lemons, went on a hike in the canyon, got delicious ice cream in West Hollywood admired some gorgeous drag queens. I got to spent time with my niece and my daughter, my brother and my best friend. When I go to L.A. I feel like I’m in a magical world.
My Dabble Into The Wellness to MAHA Pipeline
I’ve been doing a satellite radio tour for YOU BELONG TO ME with NPR affiliates and podcasts. It’s been a great experience, and I’m so thrilled that my publisher is putting the effort into promoting my book. Authors don’t always get this kind of treatment and to be honest, I was surprised that they hired an outside publicist to do this. I’ve never had this experience. I’m not the lead book by any means, (Lead title gets all the marketing budget), but I appreciate that they’re making an effort to sell my book. I have nightmare stories for you that one day I’ll tell. But let’s just say this isn’t always the case.
Most of the spots have been NPR affiliates, but two weeks ago I was on a more obscure AM radio talk show. When I looked up the show online, I saw Suzanne Somers had once been a guest. I loved Suzanne Somers. Who didn’t? But wasn’t she the person who did alternative treatments instead of chemo when she had cancer… and who had liposuction when she was selling the ThighMaster?
The conversation started out well enough until the host started going off topic talking about the red dye in M&M’s.. which… okay, sure, I know there are studies showing that red dye is a carcinogenic and some studies which showed it made some kids hyper.
But then the host went on a diatribe about fluoride in the water, and then the next thing I knew, she declared: “RFK Jr. is going to save us from all of this!”
She was completely serious.
That’s when I realized I may have accidentally entered the MAHA universe.
MAHA is short for the Make America Healthy Again movement, a right-wing outcry that stands for “health freedom” and believes that the country has been poisoned by everything from vaccines to hormones to fluoride in the water.
As someone who has been a “wellness" person all my life—I worked in a health food store in the early 90s, I regularly see an acupuncturist for my sinuses, and I see a reiki master once a month—I wrote You BELONG TO ME to explore how wellness and makeup companies are using cult-like tactics to influence teenagers. There are reports about concerned doctors who’ve seen an uptick of teens fixating on their health, how teens are using anti-aging products in ridiculously high numbers and how social media is spurring anxiety in teenage girls.
I don’t think we need to be more healthy—if anything we need to take the focus off health. I see my own daughter stressing out about skin quality and “glassy skin” and the line between her eyebrows when she squints. She’s 16!!! We need to give these kids a second to breathe from the bombardment of images and “wellness advice” they’re getting non stop online.
I tried to be polite to the host while also maintaining my integrity. I’m for vaccines. I think a little fluoride in the water is fine. And I have M&M’s in the freezer, okay?!
Hope you’re all having a good week despite this horrible person in the WH trying to kill us all. Thank you for reading my newsletter.
Watch The Righteous Gemstones. You won’t regret it.
Love,
Hayley