Planet Sex with Cara Delevingne (2022) s01e06 Episode Script
Do You Think I'm Hot?
1
All right.
- Hi.
- How are you?
I'm scared.
Have you ever had any
Botox or fillers? Okay.
Some common areas to get Botox,
where people start is, they
do just a little bit of Botox.
I'm in the City of Angels,
chasing that age old cliché,
eternal youth and beauty.
Do you want to do Botox today?
Good question.
This is such a loaded situation for me.
Why do I feel like I need to do this?
Well, we live in a world
where beauty can lead to
success, fame and money.
When I saw these billboards of myself,
which were clearly photoshopped,
it probably messes with
your head a little bit
'cause you're like, "Wait, I
don't look like that at all."
And for too long,
conventional attractiveness
has meant one homogenous thing,
razor-sharp cheekbones,
a super slender body
and a face like thunder.
Oh, and whiteness.
So much whiteness.
I started getting bullied
in school, in my community.
What's going on?
How did we get these beauty standards?
Can't I have both?
Have they become damaging?
And if so, how can we redefine right now
what's bonkerlicious and beautiful?
This is real modelling.
Beauty is such a fun thing
to be able to play with,
but everyone should be
able to play with it.
Everyone should be able to feel that.
Did you feel beautiful?
Oh, my God, I hate this one.
I know! As a child?
I No, I didn't feel
beautiful when I was young, no.
I felt very weird.
So, this is me and my
family. These are my sisters.
Look how pretty and happy
and lovely they look.
Just gorgeous. And then, what is that?
What is that?
God, you've got a bug
on your windscreen.
Like, who is that? Why?
If that came out of you,
you'd be scared, right?
That is my father's son. Look at that.
What is that? That is a boy.
I mean, looking at these
photos, when I was younger,
I just felt more like I was out of place
and like wasn't didn't belong.
So, just a lot of rejection
when I thought of modelling
because I was too short or
my eyebrows were too big.
They'd always try and bleach
them or stick them down,
and they would just never stick down.
Eyebrows were not a thing back then.
You know, as a model, of
course, there were parts of me
of course, I felt beautiful
sometimes or pretty,
but it was always through
the eyes of other people.
I know that in this film,
I'll have to take a
long, hard look at myself.
I'm white. I'm a size
and shape that sells.
And despite those early rejections,
I've had an easy route
into the fashion industry.
Today, I feel gross saying this,
I'm a pretty typical example of
our contemporary beauty standard.
But times are beginning to change.
This is Nyakim Gatwech,
aka "Queen of Dark,"
a model who's at the full front
of an emerging beauty revolution.
But she's had to fight
to the nail to get there.
Selfie 1C. A cam only. Take one. Marker.
- Would you do like a model face?
- How do you do that?
- I look like a clown, look crazy.
- You look crazy.
- That's what I do.
- I love it.
I mean, I have so many questions,
but first tell me about yourself.
I was born in a refugee
camp, not South Sudan.
Came to America when I was 15.
And, um I started getting
bullied in school, in my community,
- at the grocery store.
- Why?
Because just being different,
just having this complexion.
People started calling me names.
I hated myself. I didn't
think I was beautiful.
I didn't think I fitted
in this beauty standard.
The Western world standard is
not me. It didn't look like me.
- That standard of bullshit.
- Yeah.
- It literally is bullshit.
- It really is.
Like, when did you first
start meeting agencies?
What was that feedback?
- What was that experience like?
- Well
I go see these agencies.
That's when they was like,
"We already have a girl
that looks like you."
Literally, they told
me the name of the girl.
Like, how are they saying there's
someone that looks like you?
There were too many white people!
Hello? There are so many
people that look the same.
Are you serious? That makes no sense.
That made no sense.
That was when I was like,
"If you really wanna do this,
you have to create your own lane."
Yes.
Nyakim decided to bypass
the fashion industry
and that old-school ideas
of beauty, and do it alone,
collaborating with photographers
to raise her profile
through self-funded shoots.
I got lucky enough for
one buy on Instagram.
And then I was able to
take that opportunity,
and I've been running
with it ever since.
She's now got almost a million followers
and is starting campaigns
for Rihanna's label,
Savage X Fenty, plus loads more.
I don't want another black girl
to go through the shit
what I went through.
I want them to just be accepted
if they if this
is what they wanna do.
If they wanna be in fashion, I
want them to just be accepted.
Modelling gives you a platform
where you could use modelling
to inspire other
people, to make a change.
I wanna be somehow a little
bit, however tiny it is,
some change in this world.
- That's what I wanted.
- But I didn't think Yeah.
- That's what I want.
- And you've done it already.
But you're still just at
the beginning of all of that.
- Thank you.
- No, don't thank me. Thank you.
Do you think you're beautiful now?
Exactly.
She is the epitome of a
supermodel, of a superhuman,
of the type of person that is what
a model should represent, okay?
How someone that sweet
has gone through so much,
has been treated like that,
and ever thought the
things that she did?
It's completely insane.
Nyakim's story is so inspiring,
but sadly familiar to
anyone who doesn't fit
on narrow and exclusive
ideas of what's beautiful.
But how did we get to a place
where she and others
have had to fight so hard?
How did we get these
so cold beauty standards
in the first place, and
what exactly are they?
Stay. Yeah. Sit. Good boy.
What we find hot comes
from our ancestors' search
for the healthiest partners
to make the healthiest babies.
And we plant the physical
signs of fitness and fertility
along the way.
Oh, no, that's not I'm so confused.
Am I meant to kiss her
hand? What am I to do?
Let's start again.
I'm not this.
In women, these include a young face,
with big eyes and bow lips,
a tiny waist and childbearing hips.
In men, height, broad
shoulders and a strong jaw.
But what we find hot
isn't just about genetics.
You've also got to throw in our
culture and experiences as well.
So how much does this affect
what we find beautiest?
- What a list of bachelors!
- Yeah, I know!
Ah, where am I gonna
find my perfect partner?
Oh, wait! This hairy
little boho behind me.
Dr Carlota Batres
explores the relationship
between who we find attractive
and what culture we grew up in.
So I signed up to take one of her tests.
Should I be scared?
I'm gonna show you some faces today,
and I'm gonna ask you some questions
about how you feel about these faces.
I don't judge people very
well, so let's see what happens.
Carlota takes computer-generated faces,
manipulates certain features,
then asks people to rate them.
So, who do you find more attractive?
I would tend to usually go
for the more masculine man.
You are right that we are
manipulating masculinity here.
Traditionally, more masculine features
include bushy eyebrows, a
wider nose and a stronger chin.
They got eyebrows, yeah.
Technically, I have a manly face.
You have masculine eyebrows, yes.
So, 65% of the
participants in our sample
chose the more feminine
faces more attractive.
But these were participants in the US.
If I would've run the study in
my home country of El Salvador,
I would've found that the
majority of participants
find the more masculine face attractive.
This is not because
people in El Salvador
have a thang for bushy eyebrows.
Subconsciously, our brains
are making snap judgements
about future partners.
So there's this link
between masculine and health.
If you're in a country
with higher health risks,
there's a stronger preference
for the more masculine healthier face.
But it's a trade-off.
You get top-notch genes,
but less commitment,
or so the science says.
More masculine men are
less likely to get married.
More masculine men have
higher rates of infidelity.
And so, if you're looking
for a long-term relationship,
- Marry a woman.
- you are
No, I mean God, humans are so simple.
- Let's do another one.
- Which one is more attractive?
Oh, they're both very
pretty. Can't I have both?
Someone has a wider face, and
someone has a smaller face.
I don't know. What are
their personalities like?
That one.
The majority of the US participants,
like you, found this
face as more attractive.
But, again, if we run this
study in my home country,
we find that this face
is more attractive.
In developing economies,
a fuller face implied
more access to food
and therefore, better health.
I don't know. This makes
me annoyed, this game.
But in the US, it's the opposite.
What in the US
leads to viewing malnourishment
as maybe more attractive.
- Modelling. Fashion.
- Yeah. So social media, Internet
- Social media, yes.
- Exactly.
So the faces that you're exposed to
lead to your preference of them.
Whoa. Stop the sequence,
please, editors.
This feels like a massive
idea that nearly got away.
So the faces you see most often
influence your concept of what's hot?
Dr Carlota, spell it out.
Yeah, so familiarity is a big influence
on what it is that we find attractive.
So the faces around us, the
way that those faces look,
is what we end up finding attractive.
And the way that the
faces around us look
is influenced by culture.
Okay, so here's where I think we are.
Beauty is the mix of
ancient fertility signals
and specific cultural preferences.
These then spread through the media
to become the template we all aspire to.
No longer is beauty
about basic bonkability,
now it's also about elite, status,
power and some big benefits.
And the stakes are high for the ones
who are judged the
world's most beautiful.
Fame, riches, and possible
motion-picture fame
are the prizes.
Welcome to the concept of beauty bias,
aka pretty privilege.
Women on trial are 35%
less likely to be convicted
if they're beautiful.
People judged attractive
earn on average 10% more
than their colleagues.
And in the US and Europe,
conventionally handsome politicians
attract around 20% more votes.
So it's no wonder
that people take extreme
measures in the pursuit of beauty.
Colombia, hottest women in the world.
So say the tourists at the least.
Here the relationship
between beauty and success
is especially obvious.
Meet Diana.
She was once a Colombian beauty queen.
But natural looks were not enough.
I decided to have surgery
because I had a self-esteem issue.
I wasn't pleased with my body.
Once I took the
decision, my life changed.
I've had breast enlargement,
liposuction and a butt augmentation.
I also had lip fillers
and a nose job.
Diana surgically-enhanced body
is known in Colombia as
the "narco aesthetic."
It's understood that narco aesthetic
comes from the gangsters
and Colombian narcos.
One of their works of art is
the construction of their women.
Women are part of the
full narco macho package.
And what the narco
started, the country copied.
Colombia is now eighth in the world
for plastic surgeries per person.
Men want to make a lot of money
to get the prettiest women.
For them it's like a prize.
It's men that take women
to the plastic surgeon
and ask the surgeon
to enlarge the breasts.
They ask for a bottom this size,
and it's like they're making dolls.
Women have been designated
as the object for show
the luxury item
and the construction of
the silicone filled body.
It's big business in Colombia,
and the narcos were the pioneers of it.
You might think,
"Why would women go along with this?"
Well, in a fiercely patriarchal society,
it's a way for some women to get ahead.
I can say that my life
had a 180 degree turn.
I went from being a nobody to
becoming an empowered woman.
And there's also been a financial change
because I've had new opportunities
for publicity campaigns.
In Colombia, only 20% of the population
go on to higher education.
So women have found
that being objectified
is a way to climb and
achieve a type of life.
For me, plastic surgery and
beauty is not about vanity now,
it's a way of life.
Today plastic surgery is big
business all over the world.
In South Korea, a tide of
women in their late 20s,
have had a cosmetic procedure.
Most to make their eyes look bigger.
Brazil boasts nearly 80,000
bum enhancements each year.
And the US?
Well, in 2021, more
than 11 million people
had some sort of cosmetic procedure.
Boob jobs and liposuction,
the most common operations.
You'd think that those
who already conform
the so-called beauty standard
might be immune to this,
but we are almost the worst.
It's so crazy because most models
are the most "beautiful seeming people,"
but the most insecure.
Sometimes judgemental,
sometimes just very
judgemental about themselves,
so paranoid, like,
worry about their body
and what they look like all the time.
It's exhausting.
I feel so much admiration
for people who have so much
confidence in themselves.
And I do, sometimes, or
at least I pretend I do.
But otherwise, in my mind,
it's always this old
this old story that I told myself,
like, "I am not enough,"
or I think in some way
Here's the thing. The
pressure to look a certain way
gets to me too.
How could I not consider some
way to alter myself, like Botox?
I don't know. Don't add me.
Everyone around me does it.
And it's starting to
feel weird that I don't.
That's why you find me here,
entering a Beverly
Hills doctor's office.
Yeah, you should get
your boobs done too.
Why would you do that?
- What do you want to say?
- Nothing.
like a normal person. Geez.
I thought it would be full
of older ladies, but no.
- You look gorgeous.
- Thank you. So do you.
- What are you in for today?
- I came about getting some Botox.
- How old are you?
- 28, turning 29 this week.
- Okay, we're the same age.
- Okay.
You know, it's just It's time.
- It's time.
- You're right.
- Are you thinking about it?
- I mean, I was
No I don't know.
I'll wait a little bit
cause it does feel you get to that "age"
you're like, "This is when people
start getting this stuff done."
And all your friends get it done,
and you're like, "Maybe I should."
Do you feel like there are
celebrities that get stuff done
- that don't talk about it?
- Absolutely. That's still very
- the normal right now
- Yeah.
I think, you know,
we at least for me,
I feel like we advocate, I advocate
towards being more open and honest.
And so I think transparency in terms
Transparency is key,
and, like, no judgement.
That's why I wanted
to do this. I was like,
"If I decided to get stuff
done, I'll do it on camera."
Definitely.
All right.
Have you ever had any Botox or fillers?
Okay, all right. So, um I'm
not here to twist people's arms.
Does anything actually bother you?
Yeah. I look in the mirror
and if there's something
I'll find something to feel bad about.
I would ask, when someone was
photoshopping my body or face,
"Whoa, were they photoshopping and why?"
It's unrealistic standards in
terms of the fashion industry.
But yes, can you do something
about it? Absolutely.
All right, so I'll put
this blue screen down.
And we'll go ahead, and
we'll get a few photos.
I guess now's not the time
to pull a model face, is it?
Great. Perfect.
Okay, cool. Let's go right over here.
Everyone, this is not okay.
- You look beautiful.
- There are a lot of bags there.
I mean, you know, some
common areas you get Botox,
you know, the forehead, the
brow, the sides of the eyes.
Where people start is, they
do just a little bit of Botox.
- Yeah, just right there.
- But look at these, doctor.
You know, I was looking
at some footage of you
while you were getting some makeup done.
Without makeup, I do see
some hollowing you have.
I'll tell you two things
my patients always tell me.
It was easier than they thought.
They shouldn't have waited so long.
If you look in the
mirror every single day,
and a single thing bothers
you for more than six months,
if you could do something about
it, just do something about it.
I can't lie. It is tempting.
Do you want to do Botox today?
- Not today.
- Okay.
Not today, but we'll see.
I'll keep checking in.
- But I think I'm good.
- Good.
- Thanks for coming by.
- Thank you for everything.
I appreciate all the interesting
bits and pieces you gave me.
My pleasure. Yes.
You never know. I will see you around.
- Thank you, doctor.
- Come back anytime.
I don't know what I took away from that
apart from "I'm scared."
I'm terrified for the future
and what's being normalised in
terms of the way people look.
If I imagine the future, I
see all these white leaders
who've had Botox since
their teens. Is that weird?
So I just feel like
"fixing" all these things,
is it really fixing what we need to fix,
which is the void within us
to wanna be better, wanna, like,
change things about ourselves?
The problem for me is that people
aren't as honest as they should be
about what they get done.
And I don't know, and I'm not saying
anyone in particular,
but I do wish someone
would stand up and say,
"Look, I've had this
done, and this is why."
You don't even have to go
into what it is you have done,
but at least people are
not selling this idea
that they are that perfect with nothing.
'Cause it's not fair.
I just think with the rise in
popularity of plastic surgery,
and how popular Instagram is,
and how many people think,
you know, one in three girls,
feel worse about themselves
because of Instagram or
social media. It's not okay.
The desire to change
ourselves in pursuit of beauty
is growing and growing.
And a lot of fingers are
pointing at social media.
It's rife with filters that
can make us all look beautiful.
Virtually. And it's
enough faces all the time.
But is social media bad for us?
Or can it be a force for good?
Dr Jolanda Veldhuis and
Dr Mara van der Meulen
are studying whether social media
affects what we find attractive.
And like all good brain scientists,
they're gonna stick their
subjects in a scanner.
Today it's Lotte's turn.
I'll just slowly move
your bed into the scanner.
- Okay, see you.
- Hey, Lotte. Are you ready?
Yes.
Lotte's task is to look
at pictures of bodies
and rate if she finds them normal
or too thin.
She's been shown what
other people her age,
her peer group, think.
As she does this, Jolanda
and Mara watch closely
for what's happening inside her head.
Okay, here goes, Lotte.
Let's play. First one.
So, there she scored it as being normal.
And now she will see the peer feedback.
And peer feedback stated
that it is a too thin model.
Lotte's hit with 60 different images
and has three seconds to judge each one.
So now it's very interesting to see
what is happening in Lotte's brain.
Dr Mara is particularly
interested in how Lotte responds
when she and her peer group disagree.
When our participants thought
that models looked normal,
but the peer feedback was,
"No, this model is too thin,"
that was when we noticed
the strongest activation
of these two regions.
Maybe making them think about
"Okay, but if what I consider
normal is not actually normal,
then how should I view these models?"
Lotte's brain is forcing her
to question her own judgements.
And the more you do that,
the less comfortable you feel.
That's why social media, where
peer feedback is everything,
is so influential.
Okay, there it goes.
We have the combination of being
exposed to these ideal bodies,
to all these beautiful women
and how amazing they look,
and we also know what our
peers think of these bodies.
So that makes it very difficult
for adolescents to form
their opinions themselves.
Because you know what your peers think,
you might start to wonder,
"Okay, how should I think
about these ideal bodies?"
If you think people look too thin,
but your peers all say "normal,"
you tend to fall into line
and cherish skinny too.
But it works both ways.
If your friends prefer
a curvier body shape,
then after a while, so will you.
Which means you really need to watch
where you place your likes, folks.
The user is not only the
consumer of the media,
but is also the creator.
Social media offers also
a platform to discuss
what we think is healthy,
what we think is normal,
but also what we think is
like a realistic body image.
I use social media a lot,
and I try to promote
individuality and self-acceptance.
But look at these images of me.
Despite the eyebrows and goofy faces,
I'm still that old-school
beauty standard.
Do you feel like you're
part of the problem?
I did feel part of the
problem for so long,
and that's why I've tried
to move away from it.
There's nothing wrong
with beauty, but
I personally have
I've always had a bit
of an issue with
the industry which is fashion.
Okay, I can't go into this
No, there's nothing wrong with beauty.
Beauty has been sold as this one thing,
about, like, being skinny
and all these things,
and when you meet people whose lives
have been destroyed by "beauty,"
it's horrifying,
especially when you're part of
that industry. It's not okay.
People will destroy their lives
over "trying to be beautiful."
Our craving for beauty is harming us.
It makes us spend money, seek
surgery, and feel inadequate.
So what now?
Well, I believe there's
a new beauty revolution
starting to happen,
and I want to be a part of it.
Let's go find the people who
aren't changing themselves
but changing the world around them.
This is Johannesburg, South Africa,
where colonialism and apartheid
have deeply shaped ideas
about who and what's beautiful.
Lesego makeup tutorials.
Scene 8, slate 11, take 5.
Lesego Tlhabi is an
award-winning satirist
using comedy to confront
beauty standards.
Her most popular
character is Coconut Kelz.
How is it, girls? And welcome to
Coconut Kelz's makeup tutorial.
A lot of you have asked me,
"Kelz, how can I achieve
your Caucasian glow?
And how can I make myself have makeup
that will take me far away
from that Africanness?"
Eww. Anyway, so I bought
four foundation shades.
We've got African Migrant,
which we don't wanna use.
We've got Meghan and Harry's Baby.
We've got Oh, KKK.
The one that I'll be using
today is White Privilege.
Growing up in an affluent
suburb of Johannesburg,
Lesego noticed how small
differences in skin tone
made a huge difference
in how you got treated.
It's known as "colourism."
My formative years were very much me
being one of only three
black girls in my class.
For me, that was the
first time I realised
that anything close to blackness
was not seen as beautiful.
Unfortunately, in a
black-majority country
and Asian-majority countries,
the closer you are to whiteness,
you get treated better.
You get thought of as more
intelligent and beautiful,
and you get more opportunities.
Lesego also hosts a popular podcast.
This time as herself.
- Hi.
- Hi.
Oh, my goodness. How are you?
- I'm good. How are you?
- Good.
Today with journalist Zanele Mji,
she's tackling colourism head-on.
My romantic life at
university was nonexistent.
Like, just nonexistent.
And now when I look back,
only when I look back
to understand the role
colourism played
You know, there were just
certain girls who were liked,
petite, with straight hair,
who, if they were around, you
may as well be the wallpaper.
How did you deal with
those social dilemmas
in terms of being the darker girl
and having some of the conversations
maybe with your light-skinned friends?
It's like such a painful thing
that divides us as friends
'cause we love to go out
and spend time together,
but there's this constant
thing that's happening,
that other people are
injecting into our dynamic.
I've talked a lot about colourism
with my dark-skinned friends,
and never discussed it with
my light-skinned friends.
Why do you think colourism
is the unspoken "ism"?
I think people get uncomfortable
with admitting their privilege.
They just do
I guess it must be
tricky for black women
to admit their own privilege
because it's not a position
they're put in often.
But I think we're getting to a place
where, as black women, we actually
need to start owning that stuff.
Lesego wants to bring
issues around colourism
to the widest possible audience.
And by mixing authentic
and impactful podcast
with Coconut Kelz' satire and humour,
she delivers a powerful double
punch to white privilege.
So, tap, tap, tap.
As you can see, oh, my goodness,
I'm already a different person.
They wouldn't follow me around the store
if I had this colour.
There we go. Got rid of
any signs of Africanness.
Oh, that's beautiful.
Oh, my goodness, I look like
Queen Elizabeth's daughter.
This is beautiful.
And, voilà, ready for the
covers of any fashion magazine.
Some choose to fight
particular forms of
beauty discrimination.
But here in the US
I've come to hang out
with a very special person
who wants to change our understanding
of beauty itself.
- No, I've never been to Saks before.
- Really?
- Hi!
- Hello!
- Welcome.
- Thank you very much.
- Hi, Alfie.
- A pleasure.
This is author, influencer,
and activist Alok Vaid-Menon.
- So shoes
- These are functional.
- Those are stunning functional.
- Yeah.
As a non-conforming
transfeminine person,
Alok's been told they're ugly,
by fools, obviously.
But it's inspired them to rethink beauty
in a radical new way.
- Is this your house?
- Yes, it's
My living room is over
here. This is my best friend.
I've been thinking posing
back. This is all day.
We're playing dress-up
at Saks Fifth Avenue.
For me, beauty is an
everyday practice of freedom.
And yes, there are people
who are sad about it
and say, "You should shave"
or "You should do this."
Or "Life would be easier." And
that's all irrelevant to me.
In fact, if anything, it sh
it's testament to the
power of this beauty.
Is the purpose of beauty
to make people comfortable,
or is the purpose of
beauty to be yourself?
I think it's about undefining beauty.
We have such limited
images of the world,
of what it means to be beautiful
that when I look at myself,
I'm like, "I've never seen anyone
in the world look like this."
"Undefining beauty."
Why I have any definition whatsoever?
I agree with you, how much
fun you can have with clothes,
especially when you don't
stick to anyone's rules?
What is really bad is
the fear of being seen.
I think most people are petrified
with people looking at them.
And one of the luxuries of
being gender non-conforming
is, from a very young age,
I had to get over that fear
because if I lived my life
being concerned about
other people looking at me,
I wouldn't exist.
It's so liberating because
now I genuinely feel
like I'm only getting
dressed for myself.
I've been in the fashion
industry for a long time, and I
It definitely redefined
my idea of what beauty was
because for me I used
to dress up constantly.
It has something to do with
being in the public eye,
but that's why I love wearing
black, 'cause I like to hide.
- Right.
- I like to not stand out as much.
I like to kind of be
Yeah, more hidden, I suppose.
I think fame
- It's a way of people's creativity.
- Sure, a hundred percent.
Because you always have
to be editing, pleasing.
People are gonna have issues
about what I'm doing and saying,
who I am, what I look like?
So what? Like, I only look
like what I wanna look like.
- And no one else really matters.
- No.
- It's liberating.
- That is beauty.
Beauty is such a fun thing
to be able to play with.
But everyone should be
able to play with it,
and it shouldn't be this thing that
that is only reached by a
certain amount of people,
or, like, the way that people
You know what I mean?
Beauty should be universal,
and everyone should
be able to feel that.
But how do we get to the promised land,
where we all feel beautiful?
Well, remember that science bit
about familiar faces being attractive?
It seems all you gotta
do to love more faces
is see more faces.
The more different faces
that we're exposed to,
the more different and varied
what we find attractive is, right?
So one of the positive things
that is happening right
now on a lot of ad campaigns
is just seeing a greater
diversity of people.
And that is going to influence
and start normalising more
of a range of attractiveness.
So depending on your environment,
the same person can change
what they find more attractive
within just three days.
So let me get this right.
Just a few days of surrounding ourselves
with different faces and bodies
would change what you
find attractive? Wow.
Diversity in our media, on
our TVs, on our billboards,
that's the key to our beauty
revolution right there.
People's attitudes are changing
and in fact I hope that with
things like series like this,
that bring knowledge about these biases,
about "Well, why did I think
this?" or "Why did I think that?"
that that can actually change
the way that we perceive faces.
Knowledge is power.
So instead of saying, "These
biases shouldn't exist,"
understanding that they're
there so that we can combat that.
Now there's a group taking those ideas
out of ad campaigns
and into the world
loudly displaying an
inclusive new vision
of what's hot and happening.
Line the models up there,
so they're out of the way.
And then that gives
this space to audience.
University student Astelia is
in London's Trafalgar Square
to set up a groundbreaking
alternative fashion show,
The Real Catwalk.
This is where the models enter from.
It's a yearly worldwide event
bringing body positivity to the street
to campaign for more
diverse representation
in fashion and beauty.
For Astelia, though, it's also personal.
I've never been in a bikini before
during The Real Catwalk, ever.
I never thought I was good
enough or pretty enough.
Never thought I was skinny enough,
have big enough boobs, everything.
I got bored of the way that I felt
every time I looked in the mirror.
So I said, "I'm gonna switch
up. I'm gonna change it."
Astelia hasn't looked back since.
Hundreds of other people are here too
with all sorts of body shapes and sizes.
Representing people as they are
and showing that everybody
regardless how they are,
can be and is beautiful.
Beauty is an expression of the
self, not an expression of the body.
We're torturing ourselves. We
need to put our bodies out there
and show that we are real,
we are normal, we are worthy,
no matter what you look like.
If everybody could meet over
here. We're gonna get started.
It's not easy showing
yourself off in public.
Yeah!
But it proves we're all hot
despite what we're led to believe.
All bodies are beautiful no
matter how different they are.
I just feel on cloud nine.
I told myself, "You're not good enough.
You're not normal. You don't
fit into the beauty standards."
And you feel like that, you feel like
I hide away. Hide my
body, my lines, my chips.
And I should be, "No, I shouldn't hide.
You're beautiful. You're
gorgeous just as you are."
The people that came today
are so brave and so courageous.
They felt like they could do this,
and bear all and be themselves.
You can all see how much
representation is needed
'cause everyone is so bloody beautiful.
These are real people,
and this is real modelling.
It's all about me, not about you.
So, the million-dollar question,
maybe the billion-dollar question,
is beauty or what we find attractive
genuinely changing in our generation?
Is there a beauty revolution underway?
Well, it seems so.
And I wanna be a part of it.
So let's join together
and bring on a more inclusive future.
I have a moral obligation
because mothers would
come up to me and say,
"My daughter wants to
model because of you."
And I would go, "No. No,
please, don't say that.
I will cry. Like, don't."
I just I think beauty is far
more if you're a good person or not.
I meet people who are
so much more beautiful
because they're self-confident
no matter what you look like,
skin, shape, hair, colour,
whatever, where you're from.
That is beautiful. It's
about what makes you happy.
It's about what makes you
feel confident or sexy.
Not what about you
turns other people on,
it's about what makes you turn
yourself on about yourself.
That for me is the
most interesting part.
- All right, that's the end!
- Yes!
All right.
- Hi.
- How are you?
I'm scared.
Have you ever had any
Botox or fillers? Okay.
Some common areas to get Botox,
where people start is, they
do just a little bit of Botox.
I'm in the City of Angels,
chasing that age old cliché,
eternal youth and beauty.
Do you want to do Botox today?
Good question.
This is such a loaded situation for me.
Why do I feel like I need to do this?
Well, we live in a world
where beauty can lead to
success, fame and money.
When I saw these billboards of myself,
which were clearly photoshopped,
it probably messes with
your head a little bit
'cause you're like, "Wait, I
don't look like that at all."
And for too long,
conventional attractiveness
has meant one homogenous thing,
razor-sharp cheekbones,
a super slender body
and a face like thunder.
Oh, and whiteness.
So much whiteness.
I started getting bullied
in school, in my community.
What's going on?
How did we get these beauty standards?
Can't I have both?
Have they become damaging?
And if so, how can we redefine right now
what's bonkerlicious and beautiful?
This is real modelling.
Beauty is such a fun thing
to be able to play with,
but everyone should be
able to play with it.
Everyone should be able to feel that.
Did you feel beautiful?
Oh, my God, I hate this one.
I know! As a child?
I No, I didn't feel
beautiful when I was young, no.
I felt very weird.
So, this is me and my
family. These are my sisters.
Look how pretty and happy
and lovely they look.
Just gorgeous. And then, what is that?
What is that?
God, you've got a bug
on your windscreen.
Like, who is that? Why?
If that came out of you,
you'd be scared, right?
That is my father's son. Look at that.
What is that? That is a boy.
I mean, looking at these
photos, when I was younger,
I just felt more like I was out of place
and like wasn't didn't belong.
So, just a lot of rejection
when I thought of modelling
because I was too short or
my eyebrows were too big.
They'd always try and bleach
them or stick them down,
and they would just never stick down.
Eyebrows were not a thing back then.
You know, as a model, of
course, there were parts of me
of course, I felt beautiful
sometimes or pretty,
but it was always through
the eyes of other people.
I know that in this film,
I'll have to take a
long, hard look at myself.
I'm white. I'm a size
and shape that sells.
And despite those early rejections,
I've had an easy route
into the fashion industry.
Today, I feel gross saying this,
I'm a pretty typical example of
our contemporary beauty standard.
But times are beginning to change.
This is Nyakim Gatwech,
aka "Queen of Dark,"
a model who's at the full front
of an emerging beauty revolution.
But she's had to fight
to the nail to get there.
Selfie 1C. A cam only. Take one. Marker.
- Would you do like a model face?
- How do you do that?
- I look like a clown, look crazy.
- You look crazy.
- That's what I do.
- I love it.
I mean, I have so many questions,
but first tell me about yourself.
I was born in a refugee
camp, not South Sudan.
Came to America when I was 15.
And, um I started getting
bullied in school, in my community,
- at the grocery store.
- Why?
Because just being different,
just having this complexion.
People started calling me names.
I hated myself. I didn't
think I was beautiful.
I didn't think I fitted
in this beauty standard.
The Western world standard is
not me. It didn't look like me.
- That standard of bullshit.
- Yeah.
- It literally is bullshit.
- It really is.
Like, when did you first
start meeting agencies?
What was that feedback?
- What was that experience like?
- Well
I go see these agencies.
That's when they was like,
"We already have a girl
that looks like you."
Literally, they told
me the name of the girl.
Like, how are they saying there's
someone that looks like you?
There were too many white people!
Hello? There are so many
people that look the same.
Are you serious? That makes no sense.
That made no sense.
That was when I was like,
"If you really wanna do this,
you have to create your own lane."
Yes.
Nyakim decided to bypass
the fashion industry
and that old-school ideas
of beauty, and do it alone,
collaborating with photographers
to raise her profile
through self-funded shoots.
I got lucky enough for
one buy on Instagram.
And then I was able to
take that opportunity,
and I've been running
with it ever since.
She's now got almost a million followers
and is starting campaigns
for Rihanna's label,
Savage X Fenty, plus loads more.
I don't want another black girl
to go through the shit
what I went through.
I want them to just be accepted
if they if this
is what they wanna do.
If they wanna be in fashion, I
want them to just be accepted.
Modelling gives you a platform
where you could use modelling
to inspire other
people, to make a change.
I wanna be somehow a little
bit, however tiny it is,
some change in this world.
- That's what I wanted.
- But I didn't think Yeah.
- That's what I want.
- And you've done it already.
But you're still just at
the beginning of all of that.
- Thank you.
- No, don't thank me. Thank you.
Do you think you're beautiful now?
Exactly.
She is the epitome of a
supermodel, of a superhuman,
of the type of person that is what
a model should represent, okay?
How someone that sweet
has gone through so much,
has been treated like that,
and ever thought the
things that she did?
It's completely insane.
Nyakim's story is so inspiring,
but sadly familiar to
anyone who doesn't fit
on narrow and exclusive
ideas of what's beautiful.
But how did we get to a place
where she and others
have had to fight so hard?
How did we get these
so cold beauty standards
in the first place, and
what exactly are they?
Stay. Yeah. Sit. Good boy.
What we find hot comes
from our ancestors' search
for the healthiest partners
to make the healthiest babies.
And we plant the physical
signs of fitness and fertility
along the way.
Oh, no, that's not I'm so confused.
Am I meant to kiss her
hand? What am I to do?
Let's start again.
I'm not this.
In women, these include a young face,
with big eyes and bow lips,
a tiny waist and childbearing hips.
In men, height, broad
shoulders and a strong jaw.
But what we find hot
isn't just about genetics.
You've also got to throw in our
culture and experiences as well.
So how much does this affect
what we find beautiest?
- What a list of bachelors!
- Yeah, I know!
Ah, where am I gonna
find my perfect partner?
Oh, wait! This hairy
little boho behind me.
Dr Carlota Batres
explores the relationship
between who we find attractive
and what culture we grew up in.
So I signed up to take one of her tests.
Should I be scared?
I'm gonna show you some faces today,
and I'm gonna ask you some questions
about how you feel about these faces.
I don't judge people very
well, so let's see what happens.
Carlota takes computer-generated faces,
manipulates certain features,
then asks people to rate them.
So, who do you find more attractive?
I would tend to usually go
for the more masculine man.
You are right that we are
manipulating masculinity here.
Traditionally, more masculine features
include bushy eyebrows, a
wider nose and a stronger chin.
They got eyebrows, yeah.
Technically, I have a manly face.
You have masculine eyebrows, yes.
So, 65% of the
participants in our sample
chose the more feminine
faces more attractive.
But these were participants in the US.
If I would've run the study in
my home country of El Salvador,
I would've found that the
majority of participants
find the more masculine face attractive.
This is not because
people in El Salvador
have a thang for bushy eyebrows.
Subconsciously, our brains
are making snap judgements
about future partners.
So there's this link
between masculine and health.
If you're in a country
with higher health risks,
there's a stronger preference
for the more masculine healthier face.
But it's a trade-off.
You get top-notch genes,
but less commitment,
or so the science says.
More masculine men are
less likely to get married.
More masculine men have
higher rates of infidelity.
And so, if you're looking
for a long-term relationship,
- Marry a woman.
- you are
No, I mean God, humans are so simple.
- Let's do another one.
- Which one is more attractive?
Oh, they're both very
pretty. Can't I have both?
Someone has a wider face, and
someone has a smaller face.
I don't know. What are
their personalities like?
That one.
The majority of the US participants,
like you, found this
face as more attractive.
But, again, if we run this
study in my home country,
we find that this face
is more attractive.
In developing economies,
a fuller face implied
more access to food
and therefore, better health.
I don't know. This makes
me annoyed, this game.
But in the US, it's the opposite.
What in the US
leads to viewing malnourishment
as maybe more attractive.
- Modelling. Fashion.
- Yeah. So social media, Internet
- Social media, yes.
- Exactly.
So the faces that you're exposed to
lead to your preference of them.
Whoa. Stop the sequence,
please, editors.
This feels like a massive
idea that nearly got away.
So the faces you see most often
influence your concept of what's hot?
Dr Carlota, spell it out.
Yeah, so familiarity is a big influence
on what it is that we find attractive.
So the faces around us, the
way that those faces look,
is what we end up finding attractive.
And the way that the
faces around us look
is influenced by culture.
Okay, so here's where I think we are.
Beauty is the mix of
ancient fertility signals
and specific cultural preferences.
These then spread through the media
to become the template we all aspire to.
No longer is beauty
about basic bonkability,
now it's also about elite, status,
power and some big benefits.
And the stakes are high for the ones
who are judged the
world's most beautiful.
Fame, riches, and possible
motion-picture fame
are the prizes.
Welcome to the concept of beauty bias,
aka pretty privilege.
Women on trial are 35%
less likely to be convicted
if they're beautiful.
People judged attractive
earn on average 10% more
than their colleagues.
And in the US and Europe,
conventionally handsome politicians
attract around 20% more votes.
So it's no wonder
that people take extreme
measures in the pursuit of beauty.
Colombia, hottest women in the world.
So say the tourists at the least.
Here the relationship
between beauty and success
is especially obvious.
Meet Diana.
She was once a Colombian beauty queen.
But natural looks were not enough.
I decided to have surgery
because I had a self-esteem issue.
I wasn't pleased with my body.
Once I took the
decision, my life changed.
I've had breast enlargement,
liposuction and a butt augmentation.
I also had lip fillers
and a nose job.
Diana surgically-enhanced body
is known in Colombia as
the "narco aesthetic."
It's understood that narco aesthetic
comes from the gangsters
and Colombian narcos.
One of their works of art is
the construction of their women.
Women are part of the
full narco macho package.
And what the narco
started, the country copied.
Colombia is now eighth in the world
for plastic surgeries per person.
Men want to make a lot of money
to get the prettiest women.
For them it's like a prize.
It's men that take women
to the plastic surgeon
and ask the surgeon
to enlarge the breasts.
They ask for a bottom this size,
and it's like they're making dolls.
Women have been designated
as the object for show
the luxury item
and the construction of
the silicone filled body.
It's big business in Colombia,
and the narcos were the pioneers of it.
You might think,
"Why would women go along with this?"
Well, in a fiercely patriarchal society,
it's a way for some women to get ahead.
I can say that my life
had a 180 degree turn.
I went from being a nobody to
becoming an empowered woman.
And there's also been a financial change
because I've had new opportunities
for publicity campaigns.
In Colombia, only 20% of the population
go on to higher education.
So women have found
that being objectified
is a way to climb and
achieve a type of life.
For me, plastic surgery and
beauty is not about vanity now,
it's a way of life.
Today plastic surgery is big
business all over the world.
In South Korea, a tide of
women in their late 20s,
have had a cosmetic procedure.
Most to make their eyes look bigger.
Brazil boasts nearly 80,000
bum enhancements each year.
And the US?
Well, in 2021, more
than 11 million people
had some sort of cosmetic procedure.
Boob jobs and liposuction,
the most common operations.
You'd think that those
who already conform
the so-called beauty standard
might be immune to this,
but we are almost the worst.
It's so crazy because most models
are the most "beautiful seeming people,"
but the most insecure.
Sometimes judgemental,
sometimes just very
judgemental about themselves,
so paranoid, like,
worry about their body
and what they look like all the time.
It's exhausting.
I feel so much admiration
for people who have so much
confidence in themselves.
And I do, sometimes, or
at least I pretend I do.
But otherwise, in my mind,
it's always this old
this old story that I told myself,
like, "I am not enough,"
or I think in some way
Here's the thing. The
pressure to look a certain way
gets to me too.
How could I not consider some
way to alter myself, like Botox?
I don't know. Don't add me.
Everyone around me does it.
And it's starting to
feel weird that I don't.
That's why you find me here,
entering a Beverly
Hills doctor's office.
Yeah, you should get
your boobs done too.
Why would you do that?
- What do you want to say?
- Nothing.
like a normal person. Geez.
I thought it would be full
of older ladies, but no.
- You look gorgeous.
- Thank you. So do you.
- What are you in for today?
- I came about getting some Botox.
- How old are you?
- 28, turning 29 this week.
- Okay, we're the same age.
- Okay.
You know, it's just It's time.
- It's time.
- You're right.
- Are you thinking about it?
- I mean, I was
No I don't know.
I'll wait a little bit
cause it does feel you get to that "age"
you're like, "This is when people
start getting this stuff done."
And all your friends get it done,
and you're like, "Maybe I should."
Do you feel like there are
celebrities that get stuff done
- that don't talk about it?
- Absolutely. That's still very
- the normal right now
- Yeah.
I think, you know,
we at least for me,
I feel like we advocate, I advocate
towards being more open and honest.
And so I think transparency in terms
Transparency is key,
and, like, no judgement.
That's why I wanted
to do this. I was like,
"If I decided to get stuff
done, I'll do it on camera."
Definitely.
All right.
Have you ever had any Botox or fillers?
Okay, all right. So, um I'm
not here to twist people's arms.
Does anything actually bother you?
Yeah. I look in the mirror
and if there's something
I'll find something to feel bad about.
I would ask, when someone was
photoshopping my body or face,
"Whoa, were they photoshopping and why?"
It's unrealistic standards in
terms of the fashion industry.
But yes, can you do something
about it? Absolutely.
All right, so I'll put
this blue screen down.
And we'll go ahead, and
we'll get a few photos.
I guess now's not the time
to pull a model face, is it?
Great. Perfect.
Okay, cool. Let's go right over here.
Everyone, this is not okay.
- You look beautiful.
- There are a lot of bags there.
I mean, you know, some
common areas you get Botox,
you know, the forehead, the
brow, the sides of the eyes.
Where people start is, they
do just a little bit of Botox.
- Yeah, just right there.
- But look at these, doctor.
You know, I was looking
at some footage of you
while you were getting some makeup done.
Without makeup, I do see
some hollowing you have.
I'll tell you two things
my patients always tell me.
It was easier than they thought.
They shouldn't have waited so long.
If you look in the
mirror every single day,
and a single thing bothers
you for more than six months,
if you could do something about
it, just do something about it.
I can't lie. It is tempting.
Do you want to do Botox today?
- Not today.
- Okay.
Not today, but we'll see.
I'll keep checking in.
- But I think I'm good.
- Good.
- Thanks for coming by.
- Thank you for everything.
I appreciate all the interesting
bits and pieces you gave me.
My pleasure. Yes.
You never know. I will see you around.
- Thank you, doctor.
- Come back anytime.
I don't know what I took away from that
apart from "I'm scared."
I'm terrified for the future
and what's being normalised in
terms of the way people look.
If I imagine the future, I
see all these white leaders
who've had Botox since
their teens. Is that weird?
So I just feel like
"fixing" all these things,
is it really fixing what we need to fix,
which is the void within us
to wanna be better, wanna, like,
change things about ourselves?
The problem for me is that people
aren't as honest as they should be
about what they get done.
And I don't know, and I'm not saying
anyone in particular,
but I do wish someone
would stand up and say,
"Look, I've had this
done, and this is why."
You don't even have to go
into what it is you have done,
but at least people are
not selling this idea
that they are that perfect with nothing.
'Cause it's not fair.
I just think with the rise in
popularity of plastic surgery,
and how popular Instagram is,
and how many people think,
you know, one in three girls,
feel worse about themselves
because of Instagram or
social media. It's not okay.
The desire to change
ourselves in pursuit of beauty
is growing and growing.
And a lot of fingers are
pointing at social media.
It's rife with filters that
can make us all look beautiful.
Virtually. And it's
enough faces all the time.
But is social media bad for us?
Or can it be a force for good?
Dr Jolanda Veldhuis and
Dr Mara van der Meulen
are studying whether social media
affects what we find attractive.
And like all good brain scientists,
they're gonna stick their
subjects in a scanner.
Today it's Lotte's turn.
I'll just slowly move
your bed into the scanner.
- Okay, see you.
- Hey, Lotte. Are you ready?
Yes.
Lotte's task is to look
at pictures of bodies
and rate if she finds them normal
or too thin.
She's been shown what
other people her age,
her peer group, think.
As she does this, Jolanda
and Mara watch closely
for what's happening inside her head.
Okay, here goes, Lotte.
Let's play. First one.
So, there she scored it as being normal.
And now she will see the peer feedback.
And peer feedback stated
that it is a too thin model.
Lotte's hit with 60 different images
and has three seconds to judge each one.
So now it's very interesting to see
what is happening in Lotte's brain.
Dr Mara is particularly
interested in how Lotte responds
when she and her peer group disagree.
When our participants thought
that models looked normal,
but the peer feedback was,
"No, this model is too thin,"
that was when we noticed
the strongest activation
of these two regions.
Maybe making them think about
"Okay, but if what I consider
normal is not actually normal,
then how should I view these models?"
Lotte's brain is forcing her
to question her own judgements.
And the more you do that,
the less comfortable you feel.
That's why social media, where
peer feedback is everything,
is so influential.
Okay, there it goes.
We have the combination of being
exposed to these ideal bodies,
to all these beautiful women
and how amazing they look,
and we also know what our
peers think of these bodies.
So that makes it very difficult
for adolescents to form
their opinions themselves.
Because you know what your peers think,
you might start to wonder,
"Okay, how should I think
about these ideal bodies?"
If you think people look too thin,
but your peers all say "normal,"
you tend to fall into line
and cherish skinny too.
But it works both ways.
If your friends prefer
a curvier body shape,
then after a while, so will you.
Which means you really need to watch
where you place your likes, folks.
The user is not only the
consumer of the media,
but is also the creator.
Social media offers also
a platform to discuss
what we think is healthy,
what we think is normal,
but also what we think is
like a realistic body image.
I use social media a lot,
and I try to promote
individuality and self-acceptance.
But look at these images of me.
Despite the eyebrows and goofy faces,
I'm still that old-school
beauty standard.
Do you feel like you're
part of the problem?
I did feel part of the
problem for so long,
and that's why I've tried
to move away from it.
There's nothing wrong
with beauty, but
I personally have
I've always had a bit
of an issue with
the industry which is fashion.
Okay, I can't go into this
No, there's nothing wrong with beauty.
Beauty has been sold as this one thing,
about, like, being skinny
and all these things,
and when you meet people whose lives
have been destroyed by "beauty,"
it's horrifying,
especially when you're part of
that industry. It's not okay.
People will destroy their lives
over "trying to be beautiful."
Our craving for beauty is harming us.
It makes us spend money, seek
surgery, and feel inadequate.
So what now?
Well, I believe there's
a new beauty revolution
starting to happen,
and I want to be a part of it.
Let's go find the people who
aren't changing themselves
but changing the world around them.
This is Johannesburg, South Africa,
where colonialism and apartheid
have deeply shaped ideas
about who and what's beautiful.
Lesego makeup tutorials.
Scene 8, slate 11, take 5.
Lesego Tlhabi is an
award-winning satirist
using comedy to confront
beauty standards.
Her most popular
character is Coconut Kelz.
How is it, girls? And welcome to
Coconut Kelz's makeup tutorial.
A lot of you have asked me,
"Kelz, how can I achieve
your Caucasian glow?
And how can I make myself have makeup
that will take me far away
from that Africanness?"
Eww. Anyway, so I bought
four foundation shades.
We've got African Migrant,
which we don't wanna use.
We've got Meghan and Harry's Baby.
We've got Oh, KKK.
The one that I'll be using
today is White Privilege.
Growing up in an affluent
suburb of Johannesburg,
Lesego noticed how small
differences in skin tone
made a huge difference
in how you got treated.
It's known as "colourism."
My formative years were very much me
being one of only three
black girls in my class.
For me, that was the
first time I realised
that anything close to blackness
was not seen as beautiful.
Unfortunately, in a
black-majority country
and Asian-majority countries,
the closer you are to whiteness,
you get treated better.
You get thought of as more
intelligent and beautiful,
and you get more opportunities.
Lesego also hosts a popular podcast.
This time as herself.
- Hi.
- Hi.
Oh, my goodness. How are you?
- I'm good. How are you?
- Good.
Today with journalist Zanele Mji,
she's tackling colourism head-on.
My romantic life at
university was nonexistent.
Like, just nonexistent.
And now when I look back,
only when I look back
to understand the role
colourism played
You know, there were just
certain girls who were liked,
petite, with straight hair,
who, if they were around, you
may as well be the wallpaper.
How did you deal with
those social dilemmas
in terms of being the darker girl
and having some of the conversations
maybe with your light-skinned friends?
It's like such a painful thing
that divides us as friends
'cause we love to go out
and spend time together,
but there's this constant
thing that's happening,
that other people are
injecting into our dynamic.
I've talked a lot about colourism
with my dark-skinned friends,
and never discussed it with
my light-skinned friends.
Why do you think colourism
is the unspoken "ism"?
I think people get uncomfortable
with admitting their privilege.
They just do
I guess it must be
tricky for black women
to admit their own privilege
because it's not a position
they're put in often.
But I think we're getting to a place
where, as black women, we actually
need to start owning that stuff.
Lesego wants to bring
issues around colourism
to the widest possible audience.
And by mixing authentic
and impactful podcast
with Coconut Kelz' satire and humour,
she delivers a powerful double
punch to white privilege.
So, tap, tap, tap.
As you can see, oh, my goodness,
I'm already a different person.
They wouldn't follow me around the store
if I had this colour.
There we go. Got rid of
any signs of Africanness.
Oh, that's beautiful.
Oh, my goodness, I look like
Queen Elizabeth's daughter.
This is beautiful.
And, voilà, ready for the
covers of any fashion magazine.
Some choose to fight
particular forms of
beauty discrimination.
But here in the US
I've come to hang out
with a very special person
who wants to change our understanding
of beauty itself.
- No, I've never been to Saks before.
- Really?
- Hi!
- Hello!
- Welcome.
- Thank you very much.
- Hi, Alfie.
- A pleasure.
This is author, influencer,
and activist Alok Vaid-Menon.
- So shoes
- These are functional.
- Those are stunning functional.
- Yeah.
As a non-conforming
transfeminine person,
Alok's been told they're ugly,
by fools, obviously.
But it's inspired them to rethink beauty
in a radical new way.
- Is this your house?
- Yes, it's
My living room is over
here. This is my best friend.
I've been thinking posing
back. This is all day.
We're playing dress-up
at Saks Fifth Avenue.
For me, beauty is an
everyday practice of freedom.
And yes, there are people
who are sad about it
and say, "You should shave"
or "You should do this."
Or "Life would be easier." And
that's all irrelevant to me.
In fact, if anything, it sh
it's testament to the
power of this beauty.
Is the purpose of beauty
to make people comfortable,
or is the purpose of
beauty to be yourself?
I think it's about undefining beauty.
We have such limited
images of the world,
of what it means to be beautiful
that when I look at myself,
I'm like, "I've never seen anyone
in the world look like this."
"Undefining beauty."
Why I have any definition whatsoever?
I agree with you, how much
fun you can have with clothes,
especially when you don't
stick to anyone's rules?
What is really bad is
the fear of being seen.
I think most people are petrified
with people looking at them.
And one of the luxuries of
being gender non-conforming
is, from a very young age,
I had to get over that fear
because if I lived my life
being concerned about
other people looking at me,
I wouldn't exist.
It's so liberating because
now I genuinely feel
like I'm only getting
dressed for myself.
I've been in the fashion
industry for a long time, and I
It definitely redefined
my idea of what beauty was
because for me I used
to dress up constantly.
It has something to do with
being in the public eye,
but that's why I love wearing
black, 'cause I like to hide.
- Right.
- I like to not stand out as much.
I like to kind of be
Yeah, more hidden, I suppose.
I think fame
- It's a way of people's creativity.
- Sure, a hundred percent.
Because you always have
to be editing, pleasing.
People are gonna have issues
about what I'm doing and saying,
who I am, what I look like?
So what? Like, I only look
like what I wanna look like.
- And no one else really matters.
- No.
- It's liberating.
- That is beauty.
Beauty is such a fun thing
to be able to play with.
But everyone should be
able to play with it,
and it shouldn't be this thing that
that is only reached by a
certain amount of people,
or, like, the way that people
You know what I mean?
Beauty should be universal,
and everyone should
be able to feel that.
But how do we get to the promised land,
where we all feel beautiful?
Well, remember that science bit
about familiar faces being attractive?
It seems all you gotta
do to love more faces
is see more faces.
The more different faces
that we're exposed to,
the more different and varied
what we find attractive is, right?
So one of the positive things
that is happening right
now on a lot of ad campaigns
is just seeing a greater
diversity of people.
And that is going to influence
and start normalising more
of a range of attractiveness.
So depending on your environment,
the same person can change
what they find more attractive
within just three days.
So let me get this right.
Just a few days of surrounding ourselves
with different faces and bodies
would change what you
find attractive? Wow.
Diversity in our media, on
our TVs, on our billboards,
that's the key to our beauty
revolution right there.
People's attitudes are changing
and in fact I hope that with
things like series like this,
that bring knowledge about these biases,
about "Well, why did I think
this?" or "Why did I think that?"
that that can actually change
the way that we perceive faces.
Knowledge is power.
So instead of saying, "These
biases shouldn't exist,"
understanding that they're
there so that we can combat that.
Now there's a group taking those ideas
out of ad campaigns
and into the world
loudly displaying an
inclusive new vision
of what's hot and happening.
Line the models up there,
so they're out of the way.
And then that gives
this space to audience.
University student Astelia is
in London's Trafalgar Square
to set up a groundbreaking
alternative fashion show,
The Real Catwalk.
This is where the models enter from.
It's a yearly worldwide event
bringing body positivity to the street
to campaign for more
diverse representation
in fashion and beauty.
For Astelia, though, it's also personal.
I've never been in a bikini before
during The Real Catwalk, ever.
I never thought I was good
enough or pretty enough.
Never thought I was skinny enough,
have big enough boobs, everything.
I got bored of the way that I felt
every time I looked in the mirror.
So I said, "I'm gonna switch
up. I'm gonna change it."
Astelia hasn't looked back since.
Hundreds of other people are here too
with all sorts of body shapes and sizes.
Representing people as they are
and showing that everybody
regardless how they are,
can be and is beautiful.
Beauty is an expression of the
self, not an expression of the body.
We're torturing ourselves. We
need to put our bodies out there
and show that we are real,
we are normal, we are worthy,
no matter what you look like.
If everybody could meet over
here. We're gonna get started.
It's not easy showing
yourself off in public.
Yeah!
But it proves we're all hot
despite what we're led to believe.
All bodies are beautiful no
matter how different they are.
I just feel on cloud nine.
I told myself, "You're not good enough.
You're not normal. You don't
fit into the beauty standards."
And you feel like that, you feel like
I hide away. Hide my
body, my lines, my chips.
And I should be, "No, I shouldn't hide.
You're beautiful. You're
gorgeous just as you are."
The people that came today
are so brave and so courageous.
They felt like they could do this,
and bear all and be themselves.
You can all see how much
representation is needed
'cause everyone is so bloody beautiful.
These are real people,
and this is real modelling.
It's all about me, not about you.
So, the million-dollar question,
maybe the billion-dollar question,
is beauty or what we find attractive
genuinely changing in our generation?
Is there a beauty revolution underway?
Well, it seems so.
And I wanna be a part of it.
So let's join together
and bring on a more inclusive future.
I have a moral obligation
because mothers would
come up to me and say,
"My daughter wants to
model because of you."
And I would go, "No. No,
please, don't say that.
I will cry. Like, don't."
I just I think beauty is far
more if you're a good person or not.
I meet people who are
so much more beautiful
because they're self-confident
no matter what you look like,
skin, shape, hair, colour,
whatever, where you're from.
That is beautiful. It's
about what makes you happy.
It's about what makes you
feel confident or sexy.
Not what about you
turns other people on,
it's about what makes you turn
yourself on about yourself.
That for me is the
most interesting part.
- All right, that's the end!
- Yes!