Big butt, big boobs, flat stomach, perfect skin, and the ever so desirable thigh gap: perfect, don’t you think? This is how society characterizes the ideal female body today. A woman wouldn’t have been perfect if they looked like this in past decades, however. Our vision of perfect constantly changes over time, and standards of beauty are reinvented.
BuzzFeed recently posted a video that shows over 3,000 years of ideal body types as determined by societies’ standards of beauty. It shows the perfect bodies of women from Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, the Han Dynasty, the Italian Renaissance, Victorian England, the Roaring Twenties, the Golden Age of Hollywood, the Swinging Sixties, the Supermodel Era, Heroine Chic, and finally Postmodern Beauty.
The changes in the way we see women throughout history is quite drastic. A women who fits the ideal standard of beauty of the Italian Renaissance, with a full body, rounded stomach, and pale face, would not measure up to the standards of perfection that exist today.
As the years progressed, the standards of ‘perfection’ became higher and harder to reach. The body style of a woman in Ancient Greece was viewed the same as a supermodel would be looked at today. The only difference is that the body styles before today were much easier to obtain and less harsh. But today women are constantly seeking plastic surgery to obtain the desired body. It seems wrong to expect something impossible. The desire to fit within this standard is stronger than ever, leaving women disappointed if they do not achieve their desired look.
The idea of a perfect body is shaped by what society thinks in that time. But who is to really say what is beautiful and what is not? This video proves that beauty standards are irrelevant. It doesn’t matter what society thinks because that way of thinking will soon fade. The perfect woman at this moment wouldn’t have always been called beautiful. Beauty standards come and go.
So remember ladies, you don’t need anyone to tell you you’re beautiful, and there is no need to feel bad if you don’t fit into the molded societal beauty standards. Ultimately they won’t matter anyway. All body types are beautiful and this video proves it. So be happy, be you, be-you-tiful. Watch the video below.