The obsession with thinness didn't just appear out of nowhere-and it's not just about beauty, body image, or "health."

In this episode, I'm unpacking the deeper history of diet culture, female body standards, and the social conditioning that taught women to shrink themselves-physically, emotionally, and culturally. From historical ideals of discipline and restraint to the racial roots of the modern thin ideal, we're digging into how thinness became tied to morality, self-control, and worth.

This is a conversation about appetite, power, control, and the quiet rules women have been taught to follow without ever questioning them.

So the real question is... when did thinness stop being about beauty-and start being about obedience?

Are. You. Ready?

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Sources & References:

Core Books & Foundational Texts

Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth (1991)

Bordo, Susan. Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body (1993)

Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish (1975)

Strings, Sabrina. Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia (2019)

Historical Context: Appetite, Religion & Discipline

“Gluttony.” Encyclopaedia Britannica

“How the Seven Deadly Sins Began as ‘Eight Evil Thoughts.’” History.com

Forcen, Fernando E. “The Practice of Holy Fasting in the Late Middle Ages.” Journal of Religion and Health (2015)

Bynum, Caroline Walker. “The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women.”

Victorian Femininity & Bodily Control

Murray, E. Food and Femininity in Victorian Literature (2022)

Coar, L. “Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice: The Victorian Woman’s All-Consuming Predicament.”

Krondl, M. Fashioning Gendered Appetite in the Victorian Age (2022)

“Did Corsets Harm Women’s Health?” New York Academy of Medicine

Racism, Fatphobia & the Thin Ideal

Strings, Sabrina. Fearing the Black Body (NYU Press)

“How Racism Created the Thin Ideal.” UC Irvine School of Social Sciences

Review of Fearing the Black Body. UCLA Center for the Study of Women

Weight Stigma & Social Bias

“The Burden of Weight Stigma.” American Psychological Association (2022)

“Weight Stigma.” National Eating Disorders Association

Giel et al. “Weight Bias in Work Settings – A Qualitative Review.”

National Academies / NCBI — Weight stigma and labor market outcomes

Social Media, Wellness Culture & Modern Thinness

Munro et al. “Diet Culture on TikTok” (2024)

Davis et al. “#WhatIEatInADay on TikTok” (2023)

Weber. “TikToxic Effects of ‘That Girl’ Content” (2025)

Germic. Digital Wellness Culture & Womanhood (2025)

“Why ‘Skinny’ Culture Is Back.” University of Colorado Anschutz (2026)

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Apple Podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beauty-unlocked-the-podcast/id1522636282

Spotify Podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/show/37MLxC8eRob1D0ZcgcCorA

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Follow Us on TikTok & Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

YouTube:

@beautyunlockedspodcasthour

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Intro/Outro Music:

“Fame Inc” by Savvier — https://icons8.com/music

The beauty industry wasn't built on beauty-it was built on control.

In this episode, I'm breaking down how beauty became gendered, why women were expected to invest in appearance, and how men were deliberately kept outside of it. From the rise of modern masculinity to the rebranding of men's grooming, skincare, and cosmetic procedures, I unpack how these standards were constructed and why they're now expanding.

So what does it really mean when men are finally brought into a system women have been expected to navigate for decades?

Are. You. Ready?

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Sources:

Fortune Business Insights — Men’s Grooming Products Market Size & Forecast

Barclays / Cosmetics Business — Growth Trends in Men’s Beauty Spending

Beauty Matter — Men’s Beauty Market: Steady Growth, Different Dynamics (Michael Gilman insights)

The Guardian — Dr. Fay Bound-Alberti on male beauty standards and appearance

Vogue — Rise of Male Cosmetic Procedures (“Brotox” and aesthetic treatments)

American Society of Plastic Surgeons — Male Cosmetic Procedure Statistics

Market Growth Reports — Men’s Grooming Market Consumer Behavior & Social Media Influence

****************

Leave Us a 5* Rating, it helps the show!

Apple Podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beauty-unlocked-the-podcast/id1522636282

Spotify Podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/show/37MLxC8eRob1D0ZcgcCorA

****************

Follow Us on TikTok & Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

YouTube:

@beautyunlockedspodcasthour

TikTok:

tiktok.com/@beautyunlockedthepod

****************

Intro/Outro Music:

“Fame Inc” by Savvier — https://icons8.com/music

Why does looking "effortless" cost so much?

In this episode, I'm breaking down the myth of low-maintenance beauty and why "natural" is often anything but. From aristocrats who had other people do the work for them to today's hyper-curated "clean girl" aesthetic, what looks effortless is usually carefully constructed behind the scenes. I'll get into how this illusion became a class signal, who it actually benefits, and who gets left out.

Because in beauty culture, effort doesn't disappear...it just gets edited out.

Are. You. Ready?

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Sources & Further Reading:

Class, Taste, and Beauty

Bourdieu, Pierre. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste (Harvard University Press).

Lemire, Beverly. Dress, Culture and Commerce (Palgrave Macmillan).

History of Beauty & Cosmetics

Peiss, Kathy. Hope in a Jar: The Making of America’s Beauty Culture (Metropolitan Books).

Jones, Geoffrey. Beauty Imagined (Oxford University Press).

Beauty, Labor, and Sociology

Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth (HarperCollins).

Waring, Marilyn. If Women Counted (University of Toronto Press).

Modern Beauty & Digital Culture

Tolentino, Jia. Trick Mirror (Random House).

Elias, Ana Sofia et al. Aesthetic Labour (Palgrave Macmillan).

****************

Leave Us a 5* Rating, it helps the show!

Apple Podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beauty-unlocked-the-podcast/id1522636282

Spotify Podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/show/37MLxC8eRob1D0ZcgcCorA

****************

Follow Us on TikTok & Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

YouTube:

@beautyunlockedspodcasthour

TikTok:

tiktok.com/@beautyunlockedthepod

****************

Intro/Outro Music:

“Fame Inc” by Savvier — https://icons8.com/music