Outlouders, enjoy this free bite of Mia Freedman. Catch the full conversation — Oh Sh*t. We Let Creeps Decide Our Beauty Standards — at 5 pm TODAY. Not a subscriber yet? Put matters right HERE.
When a newsletter has the internet in a chokehold, you better believe that Mia Freedman has to unpack it.
And so it is with the recent Substack from Jameela Jamil. Writing from what Jamil calls the "funeral of the body positivity movement," she posits a theory that is as provocative as it is dark: that the obsession with extreme thinness, hairlessness, and agelessness isn't just about vanity — it’s a standard designed to mimic the aesthetics of children.
Jessie and Holly join Mia to dive deep into the sinister framework of the 'sexy baby' trope, questioning why grown women are taught to spend their lives trying to get back to a body they had at thirteen.
Is the 'Epstein-ness' of this current cultural moment exposing a wider fetishisation of youth among the world's most powerful men? Or is Jamil's critique of the homogenised look of our favourite female stars—from Sabrina Carpenter to Taylor Swift—unfairly judging their "sparkly underpants" choice?
"Your body is not meant to look the same at 28 as it did at 18." Is it time to reclaim our waistlines, our wrinkles, and our right to look like grown-ass women? Mia has thoughts — and we're pretty sure you do too.
Remember, this is your free sample of today's subs episode. The full debrief drops for subscribers at 5pm.
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