Welcome back to Nicky at Night!!!This week we are back with another video essay-- very in line with the "Epidemic of Escapism" episode, but this time I really wanted to hone in on this idea of "wellness" or "glow-up culture" on the internet.Lately, it has really felt like Body Standards are regressing. With the rampant use of things like Ozempic, and this return of "trend dieting". People are manufacturing these subcultures like the "Pink Pilates Princess" to sell you a product. I think it has contributed to a LOT of really dark and scary body standards returning that can be very unhealthy for young people0:00 - Intro3:32 - Disclaimer4:44 - Skinny vs Healthy9:02 - The History of Body Standards12:50 - Beauty vs Health Standards18:33 - The Marketing of "Hotness"24:25 - Ozempic & Body Positive Role Models31:!4 - My problem with "glow-up" culture35:44 - Closing Arguments#videoessay #bodystandards #bodypositivity #commentary
Chapter 1: What are the current trends in body standards and wellness culture?
Is it just me or are body standards regressing? What was once this get slim fast supplements of the 90s has now become this rampant abuse of Ozempic. The jazzercise girl has become the pink pilates girl or this rampant return of trend dieting. Skinny Talk, 75 Hard, Winter Arc, Summer Glow Up Challenge, Beach Body Fat Burn.
And then, oh, they're coincidentally selling you a course on how to do that. They have a partnership with some fitness brand. And of course, you just have to get that matching workout set, the yoga mat, the standing club, and of course, the $300 a month gym membership. your body has become a product. They have to convince you to hate something about yourself so that you see it as a problem.
So then, oh, they just happen to sell a solution. It has trapped you in this never ending cycle. And this is the cult of glow up culture. It's veganism one month, then carnivore diet the next month. Soul cycle, then Pilates, then, oh my God, I want a dancer body like Tate McRae, but then, oh my God, I want to be skinny like Bella Hadid.
This cycle never ends because solving the problem is not monetizable. Instead, they have to convince you it's sea moss, then bone broth, and it's this cleanse or that cleanse. They are trying to sell you on the idea of one thing being a solution to a lifestyle problem. when really all you need is a little bit of consistency and discipline.
Get 1% better every day, and in 100 days, you will be where you want to be. But they don't do that, because there is a lot more money in making you chase this idea of a fictional body type, this subjective idea of perfection. And it's so sad to me to see these body standards regressing in our culture after we just had some years of really positive improvements.
So why did these toxic body standards come back? What holds this cult of glow-up culture together in mainstream media? Well, that is exactly the question we set out to solve here today. Welcome back to Nicky and I. I'm your host, Nicky Reardon.
And this week, we're really talking about this idea of glow-up culture, wellness, grind set, all of these things that I think are really essentially built off of the idea of trying to play into your own insecurities to... convince you that you have a problem and then sell you a solution to that problem.
And how this is something that has plagued our society for a very long time, as I'll talk about the history of, but also like is really, really coming back in major ways. And really what's fascinating, I think, is that we're seeing this like repackaging of things that have already existed in the past. Right.
Like I think one of the best examples in current culture is like the Ozempic craze and this sort of like heroin chic look and hyper thin, like it feels so reminiscent of the nineties and two thousands. And like, How also I think like TikTok has perpetuated this and selling you products and this lifestyle idea, blah, blah, blah.
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Chapter 2: How do skinny and health relate and why is this a misconception?
She's so healthy. And she's by definition, not healthy. Like she has a heart condition. She has a disability sticker on her car because like if she goes walking too long, like it's it is bad for her heart, right? So like, this is like this big misconception and like a scary thing of this idea of like,
Thinness equals hotness and hotness equals health when these three are three completely separate things, which is terrifying to me. And another really fascinating thing about this is the ideal body type, in quotes, is always changing. And I'll give you multiple examples of this. From the 15th century to the 17th century during the Renaissance period, the ideal body was to be plus size.
They called it plump a lot of the time because it showed that you were of higher social status than the peasants. You had more money to have excess food. You didn't have to work some job in the field or in the sun or labor anymore. that would cause you to lose weight.
There was also these interesting like health things that like doctors at the time used to think about that like pregnant women should be as plump as possible because they have to give as many nutrients to the baby. So if somebody is trying to have a child or expecting child, they would eat all the time and blah, blah, blah. And like that was considered hot. That was the ideal body.
That is why in Renaissance paintings, you can look at these kings and queens and they are like very, they're plump. And that would not be the hot body standard of today, right? You swing to the 18th century or 19th century. This is when the corset era really, really brings in, right? It is so hourglass. It's not even just about like having a tiny waist. They would have these
massive train skirts like like six foot train dresses behind them and it was like to have this one specific shape it wasn't even necessarily about like thinness or thickness it was like you had to be both in this perfectly specific way and like we're gonna create these fabrics and literally like break your own ribs and do damage your organs to fit that and then think of the 20th century right in the 1920s we have the flapper that is like short hair it's very a lot more tomboyish but kind of still like pixie girl
completely different from any of the things we just talked about. Then in the 40s and 60s, we have this post-World War I, World War II era, where the ideal body type became this domestic woman. Think very Marilyn Monroe. Like, she's skinny, but she's voluptuous. She has a cinch waist, but is wearing padded bras and big dresses and an apron. And then you can go to the 70s and 80s.
It's now the jazzercise era, right? It was like this lean and muscle-toned bodies were the ideal body. Then... 90s and 2000s, it's heroin chic, those low rise jeans, low, low, low rise jeans. And then 2010s, it's curvy, but fit, you know, the BBLs, but you have a flat stomach and the huge lips like think Kylie Jenner lip challenge.
Think Kim Kardashian with that paper magazine shoe where she's like popping champagne on her butt. And I also think of an interesting side note discussion is like, we really need to have conversations about the way we label some of these body types.
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Chapter 3: What is the history of changing body ideals through the centuries?
And it's interesting that, like, it's not this, like, direct line of whiteness, but almost, like, selling you on this idea of, like, the idea of beauty is being as close to this
specific thin white girl as possible um or that this idea of like the way you should look is this person and oh my god they'll have to be all happen to be these skinny white girls like i don't know what it is exactly feel free to leave comments about like your theories about exactly as to why this is and why it has been marketed this way all the time both in terms of people participating in it but also the brands who like do this is so fascinating to me
Because there is for sure some element of racial identity baked into this in some way. Or also I think maybe it's, this is just me spinning theories. Again, this is an opinion episode. Pretty much being white is like the only ethnicity where you don't have a culture at all.
So like a lot of times like they kind of manufacture these ritualistic experiences or, you know, eating a certain way or doing a certain challenge or like doing a certain thing because they don't have any sort of like
cultural foundation that just is doing that for them already anyways do you know i'm saying like and again i don't really know i could be wrong these are just my theories another thing that i have really found fascinating when thinking about this is like why is gen z so motivated by hotness and why do we need a stupid fucking saying or slogan to convince us to do something that is good for us it's winter arc and summer glow up challenge and beach body burn then 75 hard like
What the fuck are you saying? What are you saying? You're just coming in with a new name for working out? Duh, duh. And wow, working out and eating right is good for you? This is not groundbreaking science, right? But being hot and selling this idea of new hotness is so monetizable. And it's fascinating.
We live in a world where it is arguably more monetizable to be hot than it is to be talented or smart, right? Like at the very least, you could make the argument that like you have to be both in some way. But there are so many people who have built these massive careers. I think of really just like I look this way and you want to be like me. So do this thing that I'm doing.
And that's why this podcast does so well. I'm just kidding. It's because I'm talented, hot and smart. You know what I mean? Like it's just when you're the whole package, like things come easily to you. But on a serious note, like it is just so fascinating to me. And I think again, like a very fascinating thing that we're going to, and I want to make a video about this.
I just haven't figured out how to do it yet. It's like this world that we live in is so based off of, quantity of attention over expertise. You know what I mean?
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Chapter 4: How does marketing exploit body standards and wellness culture?
Be proud of that. Own that. It is not a fucking manifestation. You know what I mean? Like, this is my issue with this whole thing of spirituality. And I don't think it's a coincidence that at the same time there is this increased discussion of things like manifestation and spirituality. there's also this increased discussion of imposter syndrome. Like I think that these things are linked.
I think that people are constantly looking at things outside of ourselves to validate some sort of feeling, whether that's accomplishment, whether that's a lack of accomplishment, whether that's self-esteem, whatever. Yeah, you might've wrote it down on a vision board, but at the end of the day, like you fucking worked hard for it and be proud of that. Be proud of that.
You don't need to like talk about the affirmation or whatever, which brings me to like my closing arguments for this. And I would like to make it very clear. Fitness is a good thing. It is a great thing. It is important for your physical health. It is important for your mental health. And even just having things in your life that build routine is so important. However, the...
problem with it, my problem with it, and I hope the takeaway from this video, is that we keep pushing these one-size-fits-all ideas. Whether that be the in-body type or manufacturing this subculture to feel like you need to be XYZ or to be that girl.
It is doing these things in the wrong way or at the very least taking 1% of the equation and telling you that's why the problem was solved when it was one of many, many factors. Many, many, many, many factors. Especially when it's things, I mean, I even talk about things like this in like skincare. You see this all the time too when it's like, that is so genetics-based. It is just genetics-based.
Like someone might look at me and be like, oh my God, Nick, you have great skin. I had to go on three full rounds of Accutane for three years, right? It was miserable. I was peeling my skin off like a lizard, right? You might think I look great and I could tell you my skincare routine, but most of that is because I did fucking Accutane. It was a hormonal imbalance that like needed to be corrected.
And I had to go through three full treatments of it, three nine month cycles of it, and that fixed it. But on the surface, you might be like, oh my God, wow, I need a skincare routine, right? That is not correct. And it would be very monetizable for me to tell you my skincare, right? Like I can make a video like that. You know, I can talk about this product and that product and blah, blah, blah.
But like that is not real. That's not the truth. It's just what makes money. And I do like in concessions I would like to make to this idea of like fitness culture and wellness and culture. I do really understand the idea of trying to make it a collective experience to make it feel more tangible and relatable. And I do think that works for a lot of people.
I mean, even just friends I have, I know who are like really struggling to working out and they got into some sort of group fitness class and that really motivated them to go. And they love the idea of like going with a friend and now it's this, you know, creating this idea of a third space, which is a very rare thing in our culture right now and blah, blah, blah.
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Chapter 5: Why is glow-up culture considered a marketing scam?
And then you blah, blah, blah, right? That is literally what like exposure therapy is. It is psychologically proven that you can get over fears and anxieties and mental blocks by... taking them into these tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny increments, and then just increasing all the time over time. It's also like how you build muscle, even biologically, right?
You lift 20 pounds, and then you lift 25 pounds, and you lift 30 pounds, blah, blah, blah, right? And these challenges, this wellness, this glow-up culture is not geared towards that. It's all like, this is how you're going to lose eight pounds in two weeks. And like, that's terrifying. It's also kind of unhealthy. So with that, this was the cult of wellness, the cult of glow-up culture.
I hope that my point of like not trying to be belittling to anybody or anybody who enjoys these things. Again, this you do you, girl. You do you. I'm just saying like these overarching problems that I see as a culture and this regression of body standards, I think we're really moving towards. So please don't forget to subscribe. Follow me on Spotify. Please, please, please.
And I will see you all next week. Bye.