Are Tall Women Actually the Beauty Standard? | When Being Tall Doesn’t Fit the Model Ideal

Beauty standards are constantly changing, especially for women. That's why we don't chase them. I mean, unless you want to run forever. But what we consider beautiful today isn't necessarily what people considered beautiful 50 years ago, 20 years ago, or even five years ago. Different body types and shapes, hairstyles and hair colors, eye shapes and eye colors, skin tones. Those have gone in and out of style and social media has made those shifts feel even more obvious. And when it comes to height, there's this idea that tall women are the beauty standard, especially because people look up to models. So today we're going to talk about this. We're going to discuss whether or not tall women are actually the beauty standard. And we're going to talk about how when many people say that tall women are the beauty standard, they're really only talking about one specific narrow image of tall women. So without further ado. Let's get into it. Good morning, everybody. You are currently listening to a tall girl's podcast hosted by a tall girl named India. I hope everyone who is tuning in today is doing super fantastic. Before I get into this episode, I do want to say, make sure you're following me on my socials at A Toll Girl's Podcast on Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest so that you can stay up to date on all of the latest podcast episodes and catch a glimpse of my everyday life. Also, feel free to leave me a review and let me know how tall you are. I'm genuinely curious. I also have a monthly newsletter. Make sure you subscribe to that. Everything is going to be linked in the description. Hope you guys are doing well today. As I said a bit earlier, this episode was inspired by a comment I actually got. under one of my TikTok videos. Also, make sure you're following me on TikTok at A Tall Girl's Podcast for more tall girl commentary. I post an episode every week, but on TikTok. I try my best. I try to do multiple times a week, three or four, maybe five times a week. So definitely follow me on there if you want more tall girl commentary more often. Now, I did a TikTok response video to this comment, but I found it interesting enough to consider doing a full length episode on it because I mean, on TikTok, I mean, yeah, it's like 10 minute videos, but you can really only talk on there for so long before people just decide to scroll away. You know what I mean? So I try to keep my videos on TikTok. About a minute-ish long, a minute or under, and then save the longer, more drawn out topics or discussions for the podcast episodes. So the original TikTok video that got the comment that inspired this episode was about trending body types and how tall women may not always fit into what's currently trending. And we may try to make ourselves smaller, both figuratively and literally to fit into whatever the standard, the trend might be for that time period. And someone commented under that video saying, I've always thought tall women were the standard. I look at models and top actresses and they're all pretty tall. When many people talk about tall women being the beauty standard, they often refer to or compare us to models because models are typically tall. But when they do, they're unknowingly talking about a very specific, very narrow image of a tall woman. So when we think about models, especially high fashion models and runway models, height is... one of the things that immediately comes to our mind because a lot of them are on the taller side. The height is one of the things that immediately stands out. And when we see models online or in the media, that could be reality shows, movies, television shows, social media, they're like a symbol or a representation of beauty and glamour and femininity even. They were honestly really glamorized and modeling as a career was glamorized, especially in like the late 1900s and early 2000s. I mean, America's Next Top Model was one of the biggest shows in the early, at least in the early 2000s because I remember I used to watch that show. Was it healthy for me to be watching that show at such a young age? Probably not, but it was a very popular show in the early 2000s. I personally think around that time period, that's when being a model was like the ultimate dream. Walking on runways, doing photo shoots, traveling. Working with some of your favorite brands, wearing your favorite brand's clothes for free, parties, meeting celebrities, meeting famous people, even potentially becoming famous, the glitz, the glam, all of that was extremely appealing. And for the most part, these models, though, I do argue or agree that over time, the type of the types of models, the types of people within the modeling industry are I think that over time it definitely became more diverse, but for the most part, especially late 1900s, early 2000s, there was a very specific body type that was sought after by modeling agencies and even like these shows on like the competitions like America's Next Top Model. The models or the people trying to become models They all had very similar body types. They were tall, yes, but they were also thin. They were thinner. They had long legs. They were conventionally attractive, or what most of society would consider beautiful. They were stunning, whether it was with makeup, without makeup, or... even, you know, if they had work done. Particularly in American and Western media, many of the models were also white or at least had a lighter complexion. The one, well, I will say the ones that were more so publicized, that's what you mainly see on your screen. Because yes, there were also like famous models who had darker skin back then or even now, but for the most part, a good chunk of them, a majority of them that were like heavily publicized or like basically shown in our faces were white or of lighter complexion. So I mean, over time, as you're constantly seeing this over and over and over again, you begin to associate that image, the tall, the thin, the long legs, the lighter complexion, conventionally attractive, things like that. You begin to associate all of that with glitz, glam. Beauty, femininity, the ideal. But what many of us didn't know at the time, now it's definitely talked about more, but what many of us didn't know at the time is how unhealthy, unsustainable, unrealistic, traumatic trying to keep these body characteristics, trying to keep these body features were. This is what led to my 2019 eating disorder. And this is a model's worst nightmare. Besides the fact that I have a commercial look, this is what's stopping me from being a high fashion model. So in the modeling industry, they take this when you go to the agency, they wrap it around your bust, measure you out. Oh, these got smaller. I think I'm 33. I thought it was 34. This is good. This is good. 27. This is kind of big. This is fab. The girls are usually like 24, 25. And then this was the problem, what got multiple rejections. When they hit my butt, it's just a little speed bump. There's nothing really there. Nothing there. My butt's too big. 39 inches. Models, need to have 34 inches preferred. So I'm literally five inches off or if you're leaning on it, but they'll still call you fat is 36. I remember I got as close as like 37 when I was having my eating disorder, but the eating disorder was so bad that all of a sudden I started binge eating and then I went up to 42. In my hips. When it comes to being a commercial model, the problem that comes is my height. I'm 6'1. I'm in an industry where they want you to spread across everything. They want you to be able to do e-commerce. They want you to be able to do beauty. They want you to be everywhere, right? But unfortunately, when you're 6'1, they don't even make clothes for our size. Despite the fact that they love my look and they tell me, like, you look like a model, it doesn't mean nothing because it's the clients. Yeah, there's, like, no winning. Too fat for high fashion. Too tall for commercials. So when people are talking about models, there's a bit of an aesthetic that is associated with it. We have Gigi Hadid, Bella Hadid, Alex Kansani, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, just to name a few. But we also have tall actresses and celebrities like Zendaya and Taylor Swift. Tall, thinner, and conventionally attractive. Not all, but certainly most. And A lot of the things that these people have in common is because, especially because they are celebrities, they are famous, they are earning probably a lot of money from the work that they're doing. And the thing is, these people are not your everyday person. They are not your average Joe, if you will. They have money, okay? They have a lot of money. They earn a lot of money from what they do, whether it's acting, singing, modeling, whatever it may be. So they have both the money And even the time to invest in their bodies and how their bodies look, does that make sense? So they have the money and the time to get the best quality food, right? They can afford the best quality food, the highest quality food. They can hire Personal chefs, they can hire personal trainers. They can hire, work with nutritionists, work with the best doctors out there. They even have money to get work done, whether that's the fillers and the Botox or just straight up legit surgery or paying makeup artists and so forth to get their makeup done and really highlight their features, hair, clothing, styling, all of that stuff. And again, as I said earlier, back to the, you know, getting work done, you'd be surprised how many of them actually have work done, though it looks extremely natural. But celebrity culture isn't necessarily reality. This is like a highly curated, highly selective group of women. So what you see from these folks can be very different from what you see when you go outside and touch some grass and like interact. with normal, regular, everyday people. Truthfully, tall women don't all look the same. There are short tall women and tall tall women. Some have athletic body types. We have different skin tones. Some of us have more plus size bodies. And I think that's where the beauty lies in tall women not looking the same. But when we look at the media, Again, television shows, reality shows, movies, social media. We see literally the same or very similar looks, similar body types, similar bodies. Over and over and over again. And because they're constantly pushed out and, you know, people, a lot of people, critics talking about how beautiful, amazing they are. They're associated with this glitz and glamorous life and all of that stuff. And we just see them being happy in all of these things. We're like associating their look, like these top models, these top actresses, female actresses, female models who are tall, We're associating their particular image with, oh, the life that I would want, this amazing life. Everybody thinks that they're beautiful. So they're beautiful. They're stunning. They're the beauty standard. Hence why there are so many video essays out there about, oh, why are people starting to look the same? Why does everybody look the same now? Because people. The general population, or at least the ones who have the money, are willing to go into debt. They're trying to get that look. They're literally getting work done surgically or however in order to look like these people, these celebrities, so they can eventually, not only hopefully achieve the life that that celebrity, actress, or whoever has, but also so people can see them as beautiful. They're ultimately chasing what is considered the beauty standard for that time period. And that last part is very important. time period. This is the part where trends come into play because bodies apparently body types or certain looks can be trends like it can be trending. For example being tall as a woman became trendy like it was literally trending. I did a whole episode on it about how tall women are trending on social media and you know people are like hyping up tall women saying that they're beautiful and all that stuff and then people are in the comments are like oh like now all of a sudden you think tall women are beautiful or... now people are accepting of tall women and oh like now y'all love tall women rightfully so because for the longest time and I mean even a little bit still to this day people were treating tall women as though they were legit monsters and being tall as a woman is just the worst possible thing that could happen and this that and the third now we're trending oh now tall women are amazing and beautiful it's crazy and now being thin is back quote unquote, back in style, right? Like we have the Ozempademic. A lot of these celebrities and big famous people, Serena Williams being one of them, are taking these GLP-1 drugs to lose weight and get smaller. And we're seeing them walk on red carpets and a lot of these people look scary. They look scary and they look unhealthy. Meghan Trainor and even Lizzo, they got a lot of backlash for when they went through rapid weight loss to get to the bodies that they're at currently when a lot of their music earlier like in the earlier days in the earlier part of their career like for example Meghan Trainor her song all about that bass like that was extremely popular because she wasn't no stick figure silicone Barbie doll you know she wasn't like a size zero or size two but now she's a size zero and a size two I thought you were talking about being all about that bass and now you rapidly like I don't know People have different health things. I don't know what's going on behind the scenes and so forth and why. And, you know, there's a lot of layers to it. But a lot of people did find that weird. We also have skinny talk. Liv Schmidt. I don't even need to go into her and into that whole thing. But we saw the rise of the skinny body type. after so many years of like the BBL era and the baddie era. That's also part of the reason why I did an episode on why tall women like are trying to be smaller because skinny and weighing the least possible weight and being the smallest you can be is now back. And so when we have those two trends there, the tall women being trending and now skinny talk and those epidemic and all that stuff, those two combined is kind of like the model body type in a way that we see in the late 1900s and early 2000s, or even as the tall girlie who was a model, 6'2 model, if I'm not mistaken, was talking about earlier. And so when we're seeing that the model body type is trending right now, people are like, oh, models are tall so why are tall women complaining about how people view them and how people see them and this that and the third because when people are thinking about models they're thinking about the ones that are mainly pushed in mainstream media and social media and so forth and they all have very similar looks very similar body types that it's not really taking into account what the everyday tall woman is going to look like because no one tall woman looks like the next one Tall women look different from each other. Many of us aren't built like that. Many of us don't look like that. That's why I did the episodes on, is being tall only acceptable when you're thin? And what it's like being a tall black woman. And even one of my previous episodes talking about how tall women are trying to be the smallest versions of themselves. That they can be. How people treat us and how people see us is going to be different than how people are viewing these top models, actresses, and so forth. And a large part of that has obviously like, there's like a lot of factors with like social status and money and stuff like that. But a lot of it also has to do with how they look. We look different than what people envision when they hear a model. Some of us, yes, look that way, but some also don't. We look very different from that. You know, when you see the everyday person, we're not going to look like how these models and celebrities look when they're walking across the runway or walking across the red carpet. You know what I mean? So are tall women the beauty standard? No, not traditionally when it comes to mainstream everyday beauty standards. And honestly, at this point, I don't even think there's one set beauty standard, okay? I mean, yes, beauty is subjective, but instead of beauty standards, there's beauty trends. What's currently trending right now? What are people gravitating towards? What's being talked about, publicized the most, and associated with the qualities and lifestyles that other people want? And the model ideal is that trend. And it's kind of like if you don't fit into that model ideal, things are a bit different. And that's what I can say. But of course, this is all just my opinion. But being tall is a blessing. Being tall and healthy is a blessing. Being tall and confident is a blessing. We should be able to appreciate our bodies for what they are without constantly worrying about Whether or not they fit into whatever body type is trending right now. Anyways, I think I'm going to end the episode here. Thank you so much for tuning in. I really appreciate it and I appreciate you. Of course, as always, feel free to hit me up on my socials and let me know what you thought about this podcast episode. Do you understand the gist of what I'm trying to say? Like, yes, tall women are beautiful. All tall women are beautiful. But when. a lot of people are talking about, Oh, tall models, models are tall, tall women are beautiful, dah, dah, dah, dah. Like, like, like you're literally talking about a specific image of a tall woman. And that's like that model aesthetic. Okay. Not every tall woman has that type of body. That's more so being pushed out into the media. And that's not to say, Oh, tall women of different body types, they can't be models. Yes, they certainly can be. Paris, right? She, um, She's the owner of Paris Style. It's a tall brand. She is a tall plus size model. It's very possible. But is her body type being pushed out in mainstream media? Or is it the Kendall Jenners, the Gigi Hadid's, things like that? Think about that for a second. So let me know your thoughts on that. Let me know your opinions. I would love to have a conversation about this. Hit me up in my DMs, comment, whatever it may be. Make sure you like, subscribe. wherever you're tuning into this podcast episode, and I will catch you guys in the next one. Good night and goodbye.