What if the way you see your own body isn’t really “your” idea at all?
In this episode of The Social Mosaic, we trace a line from the colonial exhibition of Sarah Baartman to “Instagram Face,” skin‑smoothing filters, Ozempic vlogs, and “self‑care” surgery culture. We look at how beauty standards are engineered by colonial histories, medical institutions, and now by algorithms—and what it does to us when we start to believe that our bodies are projects, problems, or trends.
Drawing on thinkers like Michel Foucault, bell hooks, Sara Ahmed, and Rosalind Gill, the episode explores:
* Algorithmic beauty: how platforms quietly decide what a “good” face and body look like
* Colorism, skin‑lightening, and the afterlives of colonialism in the beauty aisle
* The long shadow of Sarah Baartman and the racial politics of curves, lips, and “Instagram bodies”
* Discipline, “choice,” and cosmetic self‑harm in a culture that moralizes thinness and “glow‑ups”
* How resistance narratives—fat liberation, disability justice, queer and trans aesthetics—get co‑opted into content and branding
* Why there are no tidy answers, and why anger, discomfort, and refusal might still be honest starting points
This isn’t a “10 tips for body positivity” episode. It’s an invitation to sit in the discomfort, notice whose stories are shaping how you see your body, and ask what it might mean to refuse.
The Social Mosaic is a podcast about power, identity, and justice.
If this episode stirred something—anger, relief, confusion, curiosity, I’d love to hear from you.
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