Diverse Group of Models Portray the Changing Ideal Female Body Types Throughout History

Eugene Lee Yang of BuzzFeedVideo has created an interesting visual narrative regarding the history of ideal female bodies and how these standards of beauty changed throughout the centuries. Yang used a diverse group of models to portray examples from such eras as Ancient Egypt (c. 1292-1069 B.C.), where “[w]omen are shown as slender, with high waists and slim shoulders.” to current day (c. 2000s to Today) where “[w]omen should be skinny, but healthy; they should have large breasts and a large butt, but a flat stomach.”

This video shows over 3,000 years of women’s ideal body types as determined by their societies’ standard of beauty.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.