If we are constantly told the same thing over and over again, we eventually start to believe in it even though it’s not true. This is how brainwashing and propaganda work. While you may associate these things with authoritarian countries or history lessons, we may be subjected to it more than we realize.
A woman on TikTok is pointing out that we have actually been brainwashed and manipulated to think that certain famous women were fat even when they weren’t. She gives examples of what she thought was a fat person when she was young because the media told her so. But looking at the same photos, videos and shows now, the TikToker can’t believe she viewed them as plus-sized.
More info: TikTok
Woman on TikTok shared which women she considered to be fat when she was a child but now realizes she was manipulated to think that
Image credits: roseybeeme
Rosey Blair, who goes by the nickname roseybeeme on the internet, is a plus-size woman who enjoys fashion and sharing her outfits with her 180k followers on Instagram and 253k followers on TikTok.
On TikTok, Rosey not only shares her fashion finds or outfit ideas for certain occasions, but also comments on how the media or the general population has a distorted view of what is considered a fat person.
Image credits: roseybeeme
As the woman explained to BuzzFeed, during quarantine, she rewatched some of the childhood movies she enjoyed because she thought she was represented in them through plus-size characters. Because she was a chubby kid, it meant a lot to her to see her body portrayed in shows she enjoyed watching.
However, what she thought were her plus-sized role models were not the size she remembered them to be. Rosey was surprised at how her own view changed and after making the videos, she realized she wasn’t the only one to have had such misconceptions.
During quarantine, Rosey rewatched some of her favorite childhood movies
Image credits: roseybeeme
Because she was plus-sized all her life, a lot of those movies include what she considered to be chubbier characters
Image credits: roseybeeme
If you look through the comments under these videos, you will see that many people are confused how they ever considered the actresses that were portrayed as chubby in movies and TV shows fat. They came to a scary realization that they were conditioned to believe in that as children because they didn’t know better.
They also agreed that being manipulated into thinking those bodies they were seeing on TV were disgusting led them to hate their own bodies. It doesn’t help that, as Rosey noticed, “that the time in a woman's life when the media scrutinizes a woman most is when she transitions from an adolescent body into a woman's body. These women were being compared to their 18-year-old bodies when they were in their late twenties and beyond. It's sort of disgusting when you really think about it.”
Rosey’s theory is that all these women had round faces so they were just viewed as bigger. Full cheeks were associated with more body fat, regardless of whether there was any. And because round-faced actresses were there to represent plus-size people, actual plus-size actresses showed up on the screen pretty rarely.
Another theory that could explain why people thought normal-sized women were fat comes from the comment section. Some people had an interesting observation that they were comparing the ‘chubby’ girls to other actresses, singers and TV personalities who were super skinny. You may say they were dangerously skinny.
Suddenly Rosey, realized those women weren't that fat, or fat at all, as she was led to believe
Image credits: roseybeeme
Image credits: roseybeeme
And the reason for that was because it was the trend back in the day. It’s a weird concept, but bodies have trends just like clothes or makeup does.
According to Science Of People, who tracked down the body trends throughout centuries, in the Italian Renaissance era, a woman’s body was considered beautiful if she had full curves and a rounded stomach, but in the Victorian era, while a woman was supposed to be full-figured, her waist must have been cinched.
The TikToker started looking for more examples and found that social media in general constantly body-shamed women for not being super skinny
Image credits: roseybeeme
Image credits: roseybeeme
In the '90s, the desired look was an extremely thin figure, almost concealing the fact that you are a woman. People really liked for women to look frail and almost ill. The look was named ‘heroin chic’ and it was characterized by pale skin, dark circles under the eyes and emaciated features, as if the person was using drugs.
In the 2000s, we were all about the thigh gap and even if it wasn’t anatomically possible for you to have it, women would starve themselves to acquire it. In current days, women are expected to have a flat stomach, but curvy hips, as well as thin legs, but a prominent bottom, continuing with unrealistic expectations.
Rosey noticed that all along, she was misremembering round-faced women as being plus-sized
Image credits: roseybeeme
Image credits: roseybeeme
But our views have changed and there could be a lot of reasons for that. The Body Positivity Movement probably plays a big role in that. People have also started to realize that they have to take care of their health and it matters more than how a body looks when it’s healthy.
It could be that trends from the past, when a fuller or more athletic figure was desired, are coming back because somehow we haven't gotten rid of the idea of viewing bodies as fashion accessories. So now, when we look at what was said about certain women a couple of decades ago, it is pretty shocking and Rosey shows how unnecessary and pointless it is.
You can watch the first video in the series here
The goal would be to at least not shame people who can’t or don’t want to follow the trend and who don’t fit into the beauty standard. On the other hand, if we got rid of beauty standards, there wouldn’t be a reason to shame people all together.
What are your thoughts on the topic and we also would like to know if you've experienced the same revelation as Rosey and her viewers did. Did you consider any of the women mentioned to be fat in the past? What do you think changed in your mind that makes you see them differently? Let us know in the comments!
People in the comments came to the same realization and gave even more examples of who they wrongly remember as fat
