On Oct. 15, Olympic gymnast Suni Lee and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) player Angel Reese made history as the first professional athletes to walk the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show runway. This moment was about more than fashion; it signified a shift in American beauty standards from valuing extreme thinness to fitness.
Beauty ideals influence women and girls by controlling how they see themselves. Since the 1960s, the obsession with skinny bodies has pressured women to alter their appearance, sometimes through distressing or dangerous behaviors.
“When I was younger, I remember being told that ‘a moment on the lips is a lifetime on the hips,’ especially in the 2000s before there were diverse models,” Ava Picciano, senior, said. “It wasn’t glorified to have a different body type.”
Recently, there has been a shift toward celebrating strength instead of extreme thinness. Especially because of female empowerment and fitness influencers on social media, women are now more encouraged to eat healthy and work out.
“In middle school, I had a desire to be very skinny; now I think it’s more fitting to be as healthy as you can be,” Jasmin Rowell, senior, said.
This change can be seen as positive because promoting strength and health offers more benefits than encouraging extreme thinness and eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia nervosa. According to the Cleveland Clinic, being severely underweight can cause health issues such as fatigue, weakness, dizziness, lightheadedness, hair thinning or loss, irritability, apathy, depression, irregular menstrual cycles, fertility problems, low pulse and blood pressure.
However, even this new standard can have drawbacks. Not everyone has access to gyms, time to focus on fitness, or the genetics to meet the standard of what ‘fit’ is supposed to look like, even if they are healthy.
When health is defined by muscle tone or athleticism, many people will still develop body image issues. Whether it’s skinny or strong, no single ideal is attainable for everyone and can harm mental health.
Ava Cecchini, senior student athlete, believes that women should strive to be healthier to reduce medical complications and improve mood, but not just in order to meet the beauty standard.
“Don’t go off of how it looks, go off of how it makes you feel,” Cecchini said.
Despite changing beauty standards, many girls at Jupiter High School believe that Victoria’s Secret models should continue to feature a more diverse range of models that include everyone.
“It’s important to find the good in how your body is now,” Alicia Neal, senior, said.
