YouTube drama is a ceaseless cycle of mostly self-perpetuated madness. If it weren’t enough that tabloids exploit the daily lives of regular celebrities, the young internet sensations of YouTube have taken to opening themselves even further to the interruptions of the public eye, and more importantly the unregulated public comment. Which, in a sense, is an admirable thing to willingly do. The trouble is the declining mental health of these sensations as a result. It’s become a noticeable trend among many YouTubers to spiral more and more out of control on the drama scale the longer they expose themselves and their personal lives so publicly—Onision, anyone?

An acceptance of an excessive amount of limelight is obviously bound to have mental health consequences, but considering recent events surrounding YouTuber Eugenia Cooney, the mental consequences have evolved much further than dramatic attention seeking or mere occasional emotional upsets. Cooney, who is most known for her style vlogs and makeup tutorials, has recently had a petition started against her continuing to produce YouTube videos. Why? Because she is suspected by many fans and critics alike to be suffering from severe anorexia. Fans of Cooney who have signed the petition claim that they would like to see her continue to live, as they enjoy her content so much and are legitimately concerned for her well-being as a person. Still, other signers contend that Eugenia is setting a horrendous example for her fan-base of teenage and young-adult women through promoting her unhealthy lifestyle as a standard of beauty.

Cooney has responded to both sides of the argument in a recent video published on November 13; she insists on a number of things. The first being that she is absolutely fine in terms of nutritional health, and does not foresee herself having a run in with death short of some unnatural occurrence. Secondly, that her teeny-tiny figure is just her natural body type. And finally, that she does not promote or advertise her body or her nutritional lifestyle through her video content in any way. This last assertion is crucial, as it is the only thing that onlookers can absolutely prove. While it would be a painstaking effort to search through several years’ worth of content to find proof of this assertion, it is indeed possible, and most long-time audience members of Cooney’s videos will back her up on this particular claim. The first two claims, however, cannot really be validated or invalidated from the perspective of an outsider.

So what does this idea mean that members of a public audience can now begin to petition people’s self-expression and career performances based on their body type? It means we have a lot of progress to make. Of course, the idea of concern over someone’s well being is never something to be discouraged, but the way this concern is handled must become more careful, less public, and less inhibiting. The fact that an improvable aspect of a young woman’s health had the potential of costing her a highly developed and finessed career only reinforces the idea that women, in publicly presenting themselves, are examined as physical bodies, rather than as working minds. And if we learn anything, it must be that this must be stopped.