The perfect body type, what is it really? The perfect body type feels like the technology of smartphones; they constantly keep changing and are hard to keep up with. They also take a while to get used to and when you do, there is already a new type that's trending. It's good to live a healthy lifestyle and get our bodies in shape, but striving for the perfect body type can sometimes feel like a fool's errand. Just like cell phones, it's best to stick to the one you like and when you feel it's time, you can change it when you are ready. But why do perfect body types constantly change? Who makes these decisions?
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PeopleTranscript
00:00Having the perfect body type is something that many people have strived for.
00:04Who hasn't looked in the mirror and wanted to change what they see?
00:07But what's considered perfect today might not be seen that way tomorrow.
00:10Here's why the perfect body is always changing.
00:12Differences between generations cause many disagreements over politics, economics, and,
00:17of course, beauty standards.
00:19According to a study by Beautycon Media, 82 percent of individuals between the ages of
00:2313 and 34 agree that their physical and digital identities are, quote, one and the same.
00:28Young people have grown up seeing themselves through pictures posted to social media, and
00:32that looking glass has no doubt changed their relationship to their bodies.
00:35While some may see this as a problem, Beautycon's study found that people's relationship with
00:39social media actually increases the diversity of aesthetic standards.
00:43Younger generations don't believe that beauty is just about what society is telling them
00:46to look like.
00:47Bodies are becoming more owned by their owners, and that puts into question whether or not
00:51an ideal body even exists.
00:54We've all heard the saying that opposites attract.
00:56However, according to several studies, that's not actually true.
00:59Researchers at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and the University of Kansas found that students
01:03preferred to spend time with like-minded people rather than those with opposite views.
01:07It turns out that humans are more attracted to what they're already comfortable with.
01:10There's a phenomenon known as the mere exposure effect, in which people simply like others
01:14who are familiar to them.
01:16So it's not unheard of for people to have a preference for partners that resemble their
01:19family.
01:20Take a good look at her.
01:21That's what Sarah's gonna look like.
01:23Hi!
01:24Hi!
01:25This is my mom!
01:26Hi, so nice to meet you!
01:30This apparent phenomenon isn't limited to just families.
01:33Friends, peers, and neighbors also feed into our senses of familiarity and can make us
01:37feel comfortable.
01:38It's part of why everybody has a different idea of what an attractive body looks like.
01:42After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
01:44That's not to say that people can't find unfamiliar bodies attractive, but in general, they often
01:48gravitate towards what they already know.
01:51Along with the mere exposure effect, the media also plays a big role in our lives.
01:55For example, if we see a certain image broadcast over and over again, it becomes familiar to
01:59us.
02:00It seems nearly impossible to be unaffected by the media and what images are promoted
02:03on screens and on the printed page.
02:05With that in mind, it's no secret that Hollywood often focuses on thin women equating their
02:09skinniness with beauty.
02:11We don't want you to lose weight, we just want you to be healthy, you know, by eating
02:16less.
02:17What's harmful, though, is that this focus can skew perception of the norm, so it's important
02:20to remember that media outlets show what they think people want to see.
02:23As people's priorities shift, advertisements have started promoting more diverse body types,
02:28and that's something we can all get on board with.
02:31Most studies on beauty and body image focus on Western countries, but that's only one
02:34part of the world.
02:36There are cultures like the Chamané of the Bolivian Amazon that value women for having
02:39heavier body weights, as noted by a 2014 study.
02:42Similarly, other cultures focus on completely different aspects of the body altogether.
02:47For example, Padang women in Myanmar and Thailand wear brass rings around their necks to make
02:51them appear longer, as long necks are considered ideal in their culture.
02:55And even within the United States, the culture has shifted dramatically in the last hundred
02:58years.
02:59The quintessential corset-wearing Gibson girl that dominated the late 1890s and early 1900s
03:04might have had an hourglass figure.
03:06Not many people would apply that same label to Kim Kardashian, for example, even though
03:09she has a similar silhouette.
03:11Clearly, there's a lot that goes into people's perceptions of beauty.
03:15The way people lived their lives could understandably influence their outward appearances.
03:19One notable historical example is the flapper era of the 1920s.
03:23Flappers were known for drinking alcohol, going to parties, and having more lifestyle
03:26freedom than their elders.
03:28The way they presented themselves with their straight, slim bodies appeared to be a rejection
03:32of the Victorian images of corseted beauty.
03:34Looking back at this era, it might seem that flappers and their contemporaries considered
03:38twig-like bodies the ideal.
03:40But while the flappers' draped dresses and short hairstyles are thought of as fashionable
03:44today, they were considered rebellious and even immoral at the time.
03:47The United States was so scandalized by these young women showing their skin that many states
03:51tried to make their fashion illegal.
03:53Virginia, for one, tried to ban any dress that showed off more than three inches of
03:57a woman's throat.
03:58While the image of a puffed-up bureaucrat chasing women around with a ruler might be
04:02hilarious, it seems ridiculous that something so tame to modern Americans would be considered
04:06so counter-cultural to those of the past.
04:09It's not just health that's tied to beauty standards, but also a person's economic and
04:13social class, something that's been true around the world throughout human history.
04:17For example, during the Renaissance, having excess fat on the body was associated with
04:20power, success, and wealth.
04:22No wonder the paintings of the era depict large bodies.
04:24That must have been nice.
04:25But that isn't the case in contemporary American society, in which slender bodies tend to be
04:29the ideal body type.
04:31That's because food is plentiful and abundant for most people, and obesity has been linked
04:35to health problems.
04:36So it follows that those with more money have access to doctors, foods, and exercise
04:40regimens that help them stay skinny.