‘No smile lines’: Women Share Impossible Beauty Standards That Are So Outdated They’re Over It

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Briana Viser • Writer and Editor
Jan 22, 2024 4:00 PM EST

It's the year 2024. Feminism has taken many faces through the ages. It nascently started about practical, tangible laws like the right to vote, divorce, or work. It began to transition to social justice, with demand for equal income, workplace equality, and to tone down our sexualization at every instance. 

Warriors of suffering as we are, we have endless gripes to express in outrage. Another symptom of the patriarchy is the ridiculous beauty standards that have unfortunately been following us through history. Men wanting to dictate how we should look isn't new, ladies. From foot binding, to corsets, there's always been some sort of image of beauty. The truth is that there's nothing wrong with the way women look, and for every 10 beautiful women I see there's about 1 good-looking guy. I allow you to indulge in the hilarity of Redditors here to rip beauty standards a new one. 

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  • 01
    Posted by u/Alternative_Wave_542 23 hours ago What's the dumbest beauty standard you've ever heard of?
    via u/Alternative_Wave_542
  • 02
    6teeee9 20 hr. ago no SMILE LINES??? back in the day we were told we were prettier if we smiled and now its UGLY???
    via u/6teeee9
  • 03
    ChickenHead1450 · 19 hr. ago Oh I was just mentioning that under another comment. At 24, I'm starting to have smile lines and I got told not to smile too much. Sorry, for being happy I guess?
    via u/ChickenHead1450
  • 04
    tammigirl6767 17 hr. ago edited 14 hr. ago And then, if you don't smile, I hear that random men will tell you you should smile. I smile, whenever I feel like it, lines be damned!
    via u/tammigirl6767
  • 05
    lovin_da_dix 22 hr. ago Foot binding
    via u/lovin_da_dix
  • 06
    Royal Albatross 19 hr. ago It's bizarre: "What do you find in women?" "Broken feet"
    via u/RoyalAlbatross
  • 07
    nola_throwaway53826 17 hr. ago It's so messed up. Supposedly the whole thing started because a Chinese emperor found tiny feet very attractive.
    via u/nola_throwaway53826
  • 08
    IndependentFormal 705 17 hr. ago Can't run away from abuse when you can hardly walk!
    via u/IndependentFormal705
  • 09
    JayReddt 18 hr. ago Modern shoes, especially high heels aren't great either. Our feet shouldn't be shoved into that. We all have experienced mild foot deformity because of it.
    via u/JayReddt
  • 10
    Refenestrator_37 17 hr. ago This was the first thing that came to my mind. There are lots of stupid beauty standards, but this is the only one that I can think of which literally involves crippling someone in order to make them "pretty"
    via u/Refenestrator_37
  • 11
    Content-Lettuce1306 21 hr. ago Buccal Fat Removal .
    via u/Content-Lettuce1306
  • 12
    Mean_Negotiation5932. 20 hr. ago Sad seeing Erin Moriarty led to this. She's really pretty without all the surgery
    via u/Mean_Negotiation5932
  • 13
    IWearBones138__ · 20 hr. ago I have yet to see one person look better after having this procedure done. Hollywood has made a trend of making women uglier and theyre just lining up for it.
    via u/IWearBones138__
  • 14
    Aurelie1973 19 hr. ago HATE this look - it make people look old and emaciated. And, from what I understand, it cannot be reversed. NO THANKS.
    via u/Aurelie1973
  • 15
    Remarkable_Thing6643. 20 hr. ago Every once in a while there will be some dumb viral challenge on Chinese social media to prove how skinny you are. One time it was the earbuds challenge where you have to be able to wear wired earbuds like a belt. Another it
    via u/Remarkable_Thing6643
  • 16
    earbuds like a belt. Another it was the A4 challenge where you have to hold a sheet of paper in front of your stomach and your waist has to be smaller than that. There's one where you have to stick things in the grove of your collarbone. When I'm in
    via u/Remarkable_Thing6643
  • 17
    your collarbone. When I'm in Asia I always feel like a whale and I have to shop the "big" stores. I'm a size 6 for reference
    via u/Remarkable_Thing6643
  • 18
    myhairs reddit - 19 hr. ago I saw a tiktok of a girl who went clothes shopping during a trip to Thailand. If I am remembering correctly, she was around a size 8. She was told she needed to shop in a
    via u/myhairsreddit
  • 19
    needed to shop in a specific area for plus sizes. The store names in the area were outrageous. "Fat Girl," "Fat Cow," "Fluffy Bunny," etc. And the sizes still only went up to like a 10 or something like that. It was the wildest thing. I know it's
    via u/myhairsreddit
  • 20
    wildest thing. I know it's not as prevalent in these countries to be overweight or obese like in the West, but it was still quite shocking.
    via u/myhairsreddit
  • 21
    Square_Director4717. 16 hr. ago Similarly, when I was fully in my kpop phase, there were trends like this, but for a "small face." Like holding a CD in front of your face, and you'd want it to completely cover it.
    via u/Square_Director4717
  • 22
    monkeyballs2 - 21 hr. ago Well soo I know for some situations its a godsend that this is available.. but generally it currently fashionable and considered beautiful, to get veneers, on healthy teeth.
    via u/monkeyballs2
  • 23
    The process of shaving down natural healthy teeth to glue prettier teeth on, is strange.
    via u/monkeyballs2
  • 24
    samit2heck 20 hr. ago Men who say body hair is unhygienic... and don't shave their own pits.
    via u/samit2heck
  • 25
    Look-Its-a-Name - 20 hr. ago White people want to be tanned, people with high skin pigmentation want to be pale. It's completely idiotic how we each want what the others have.
    via u/Look-Its--Name

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patriarchy clueless relationships feminism lol love silly beauty dumb reddit thread beauty standards Reddit funny dating
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