[Talking Body Episode 2] The origins of our *impossible* beauty standards (+ where do we go from here?)

{NAME}, will you join me in a little thought experiment?   Here goes…   Imagine witnessing someone telling an innocent little girl that she needs to look a certain way to be considered beautiful.   … To shrink in some areas and expand in others, follow the trends, put herself in uncomfortable or downright unhealthy situations— not for any good reason, simply because that’s just the way it is.   You’d be outraged. You might even step in and come to her rescue, defending her right to be and look however she dang well pleases.   But that situation I described is what happens to each and every one of us.   And it’s not necessarily from one person telling us how we should look — but from our society and the cultural standards that comes with it. Throughout history women's bodies have become the canvas on which society paints its desires.  It’s the same age old (often unspoken) standards that prompted me to attend my first Weight Watchers meeting at 8 years old.   The same standards that push the average American woman to spend thousands of dollars a year on beauty products.   The same set of impossible standards that tell us we’re not enough and the only solution is to restrict ourselves through never-ending diets, Spanx, and surgeries.   In [this week’s episode of the Talking Body podcast](, we’re digging into the origins of our culture’s obsession with feminine beauty — how we define it, where it stems from, and how it’s shown up in history.   Professor Phillippa Diedrichs, a psychologist who specializes in how we view our bodies is joining me in exploring these social influences and more importantly…   How we can redefine for ourselves what it means to be beautiful, whole, perfect, and more than enough.   Because while the age of foot binding and corsets might be obsolete, the narrative that made them possible is still alive and well.   [Head over here to tune into Episode 2 of the Talking Body podcast ](   ALL my best, Amy        If you are not interested in receiving emails about the Talking Body podcast, [click here]( and I will be sure to remove you from future announcements.  To update your information, click the link below: [Update your Information](  Amy Porterfield, Inc. 6339 Charlotte Pike #920 Nashville, Tennessee 37209 United States