Gen Z Were Struggling To Wrap Their Heads Around ’00s Beauty Standards, So Lizzo Came In To Share An Important Message
When older people used to talk about life in their times, the youth could roll their eyes, safe in the knowledge that these were just memories obscured by the passage of time. But for the last two decades, the combination of the internet and digital photos has made seeing the past more straightforward than ever before.
So when Generation Z learned what some considered “thick” (or “thicc,” to use modern parlance) in the early 2000s, many expressed outright disbelief at the body standards of the time. So American rapper Lizzo made a TikTok that ended up going viral to educate the youth on body issues and how society talks about them.
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Body standards do change, but we often forget what different labels meant even a decade ago
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Younger internet user shared their disbelief at what people thought “thick” was in the 00s
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So older users had to show them screenshots of older media to prove their point
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Lizzo put out a TikTok giving gen z some advice on how to look at body image discourse
Image credits: lizzo
“So right now there’s a thread on Twitter. A reminder of the women we used to consider thick in the 2000s and this is LisaRaye. As you know, LisaRaye is beautiful. In the early 2000s, she was considered the definition of thick. Another one of our 2000s thick icons is J.Lo, whose booty was super duper duper praised for being juicy and big and thick and dump-truckish.”
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“As well as these video vixens right here who were notoriously known for being thick, to the point they thought their bodies were fake, people were accusing them of having fake bodies back in the early days. However, I noticed in the comments that people don’t believe these tweets. There are people who are like, ‘Y’all just be saying anything. This isn’t true. This isn’t thick.’ And it’s important to note that a lot of these people were not born yet. Or they were babies in this era.”
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“I’m not here to convince you that beauty standards were different. And I’m not here to convince you that this was considered fat in the early 2000s and that this beautiful body was considered unhealthy in the early 2000s. What I am here to do is just remark on how quickly the conversation in culture can change. All it takes is 20 years to completely erase an ideal, a thought, a pattern, a behavior, and the way we treat people. The way we talk about people. And that’s important to remember moving forward. To avoid erasure and also to get rid of some of this toxic behavior that we praise in culture now.”
Image credits: lizzo
“It doesn’t take much to reshift a narrative and to change a paradigm. Being an early pioneer in the body-positive movement and watching it evolve to body neutrality is humbling. It’s an honor. Watching the definition of thick go from J.Lo to Beyoncé, to Tacarra, to Precious Lee has been a dream to watch. This is a reminder that there’s always going to be a new conversation. There’s always going to be a new fight, and every movement offsets the next movement. The status quo is meant to be pushed, it’s meant to be evolved. So, if you feel like the outlier, or if you feel like you’re not like everybody else, keep being yourself and watch the world catch up with you.”
You can watch the full video here
@lizzoFUN FACT: EVERYBODY IS A BODY✨♬ original sound – lizzo
Commenters shared their appreciation for her words and gave some more examples
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Woman in her 50's here....Those that feel (and felt) it necessary to put ANY label on women that looked normal should be ashamed of yourselves. There's no reason to be calling women thick or fat or whatever the buzz word of the day is. How about we, as a society of men and women, just leave women alone to live their lives as healthy as they can and leave it at that. Stop with the body shaming.
I was a teenager in the late 80’s/90’s and was bullied at school for being fat and disgusting. I was a UK size 12 (American 8 I think). The only difference was that the other girls were starving themselves and eating toilet paper to try and stay skinny, while I was actually eating real food. As a result I’ve had body dismorphia for most of my life. These things stay with you, especially if you’re an impressionable teen who just wants to fit in.
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In the UK being called "Thick" has nothing to do with body shape. "Thick" has been an insult to call someone absolutely stupid for far longer than I can remember... Elaborated on in many ways too. Such as, "He's as thick as two short planks of wood!" or, "She's so thick you couldn't any thicker!" or. "as thick as a brick" and so on...
In the early 2000, TV shows such as Friends and Ally McBeal were extremely popular. The actresses were contractually forced to starve themselves to a size 0 or got fired. The pressure on women to present an undersized version of femininity is still real. Hollywood still enforces this to a lot of its female stars who seem to become smaller and blonder with every new movie. However, the Kardashians and other "influencers" have added a countermovement towards oversized feminity. (Should we praise them for it?) I have a feeling that these days, you are shamed if you have neither - just a normal mid-weight body. After all, not everyone has the time or the money to go to the gym daily.
I don't believe we should praise the Kardashians and their ilk. They set a standard for female beauty that cannot be achieved by the overwhelming majority of women without multiple cosmetic surgeries. Even THEY didn't achieve it without multiple cosmetic surgeries. That's not a standard; it's a mutation.
Load More Replies...
Woman in her 50's here....Those that feel (and felt) it necessary to put ANY label on women that looked normal should be ashamed of yourselves. There's no reason to be calling women thick or fat or whatever the buzz word of the day is. How about we, as a society of men and women, just leave women alone to live their lives as healthy as they can and leave it at that. Stop with the body shaming.
I was a teenager in the late 80’s/90’s and was bullied at school for being fat and disgusting. I was a UK size 12 (American 8 I think). The only difference was that the other girls were starving themselves and eating toilet paper to try and stay skinny, while I was actually eating real food. As a result I’ve had body dismorphia for most of my life. These things stay with you, especially if you’re an impressionable teen who just wants to fit in.
Load More Replies... In the UK being called "Thick" has nothing to do with body shape. "Thick" has been an insult to call someone absolutely stupid for far longer than I can remember... Elaborated on in many ways too. Such as, "He's as thick as two short planks of wood!" or, "She's so thick you couldn't any thicker!" or. "as thick as a brick" and so on...
In the early 2000, TV shows such as Friends and Ally McBeal were extremely popular. The actresses were contractually forced to starve themselves to a size 0 or got fired. The pressure on women to present an undersized version of femininity is still real. Hollywood still enforces this to a lot of its female stars who seem to become smaller and blonder with every new movie. However, the Kardashians and other "influencers" have added a countermovement towards oversized feminity. (Should we praise them for it?) I have a feeling that these days, you are shamed if you have neither - just a normal mid-weight body. After all, not everyone has the time or the money to go to the gym daily.
I don't believe we should praise the Kardashians and their ilk. They set a standard for female beauty that cannot be achieved by the overwhelming majority of women without multiple cosmetic surgeries. Even THEY didn't achieve it without multiple cosmetic surgeries. That's not a standard; it's a mutation.
Load More Replies...
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