Inside Out

The Weird History of Beauty Standards

Author AP MV Season 1 Episode 9

Beauty feels personal—but its standards have been anything but.
In this episode, we take a wild ride through the strange, often brutal history of beauty: from lead-based face paint in Renaissance Europe to corsets, colonial skin ideals, 90s waifs, and social-media filters.

Why did people in one era worship pale skin? Why did another idolize fragility? How do these histories ripple into the pressures we feel today?

Join me as we unpack the weird, surprising, and powerful stories behind what it means to be “beautiful.”

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