24 - Beauty Standards Are Killing Women

Rebecca joins Rachel with a heavy but honest take: beauty standards aren’t just annoying — they’re emotionally and physically harming women. They unpack Western beauty ideals, global pressure to look “mixed,” and how women are expected to be both effortlessly beautiful and highly accomplished. From makeup with questionable ingredients to plastic surgery, pretty privilege, and dating dynamics, the conversation dives into how much of modern life is shaped by appearance — whether we admit it or not. They also wrestle with the contradiction: if beauty standards are harmful, why do so many of us still participate? From makeup as a “quick fix” for confidence to the deeper internal work no one wants to do, they explore personal choice vs societal pressure, online hate, and what it means to be a “bad feminist.” The episode ends on a quieter note — maybe the goal isn’t to escape beauty standards entirely, but to question them, loosen their grip, and occasionally walk outside exactly as you are.--Follow the host Rachel Yu on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Rebecca Kaplan on ⁠Instagram⁠ Follow the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠