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?****************Sources & References:Core Books & Foundational TextsWolf, 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.comForcen, 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 ControlMurray, 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 MedicineRacism, Fatphobia & the Thin IdealStrings, Sabrina. Fearing the Black Body (NYU Press)“How Racism Created the Thin Ideal.” UC Irvine School of Social SciencesReview of Fearing the Black Body. UCLA Center for the Study of WomenWeight Stigma & Social Bias“The Burden of Weight Stigma.” American Psychological Association (2022)“Weight Stigma.” National Eating Disorders AssociationGiel et al. “Weight Bias in Work Settings – A Qualitative Review.”National Academies / NCBI — Weight stigma and labor market outcomesSocial Media, Wellness Culture & Modern ThinnessMunro 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)****************Leave Us a 5* Rating, it helps the show!Apple Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beauty-unlocked-the-podcast/id1522636282Spotify Podcast:https://open.spotify.com/show/37MLxC8eRob1D0ZcgcCorA****************Follow Us on TikTok & Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!YouTube:@beautyunlockedspodcasthourTikTok:tiktok.com/@beautyunlockedthepod****************Intro/Outro Music:“Fame Inc” by Savvier — https://icons8.com/music
