- Sia Cooper, an Instagram fitness influencer with 1.1 million followers, posted a series of edited pictures that showed what the "perfect" female body looked like throughout the decades.
- In the "Roaring 20s," women were considered more beautiful if they had a boyish look, while the 50s was all about curves.
- In today's era that Cooper called "Postmodern Beauty," she said celebrity culture means women are turning to plastic surgery to achieve their desired look.
- "Women are unhappier than ever with their appearance," she said.
- Cooper told Insider she's always been passionate about fighting the "ideal" body type that's pushed on social media, and helping women realize "perfection" doesn't exist.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Instagram fitness star Sia Cooper posted a series of edited pictures to her 1.1 million followers that emphasized the unrealistic beauty ideals women have been chasing forever.
She showed what the "perfect" female body looked like throughout the decades, from the "Roaring 20s" to the "Postmodern Beauty" era of today.
In her post, Cooper said the preferred body type in the 1920s was "all about boyish."
"Women even opted for short hair," she said. "Boobs and waists didn't matter and women felt liberated as they were."
The "Hollywood Era" of the 1950s idealized Marilyn Monroe's curves, because society didn't care so much about weight, Cooper said, "but a slimmer waist was ideal."
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8trn7gp6aG
The "Swinging 60s and 70s" was where the "twig" body style was introduced, she said, thanks to famous model Twiggy, so "women wanted a thin and girly, adolescent appearance."
Catwalks and supermodels became the ideal in the 80s, with Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford.
"Lean and tall legs and an athletic body type were ideal," Cooper said. "This was also when fitness started hitting big."
This led onto the 90s, which emphasized the androgynous look, followed by "Postmodern Beauty" today where "big boobs and butts and flat tummies are on the rise," Cooper said.
"Women also turn to plastic surgery to achieve their desired look," she said. "Women are unhappier than ever with their appearance."
It's easy to compare yourself to others on social media
Cooper used to struggle with comparing herself to the celebrities and Victoria's Secret models in magazines, fronting the idea of what women wanted to look like. She told Insider this obsession with being thin led to her developing bulimia at age 14.
"Today, I find myself sometimes comparing, but I stop myself in my tracks because I know better," she said. "If you have social media, chances are that you are or have dealt with it, too."
Cooper said speaking about body image has been something she's always been passionate about, and she's always fought the "ideal" body type that's constantly pushed on social media. She has been openly outspoken against causes she cares about on her Instagram such as excessive plastic surgery and "mom-shaming."
She said she wanted to open people's eyes to "how ridiculous our society" has become, expecting women to be thin with a big butt and full lips, then flip-flopping between favoring a super skinny physique or a curvier build every few years.
"I kept seeing the trend changing from thin back to thicker and back to thin again every 10 years or so," she said.
'No pills or nip-tucks needed'
Cooper added that trying to achieve perfection is damaging, because it simply doesn't exist. She was miserable when she was underweight at 105 lbs, and wanted to keep losing weight to try and chase this ideal she was never going to reach.
"We are literally starving ourselves for the impossible," she said. "Even when you reach your goal weight, you sometimes feel as if it's not good enough."
Further dangers are diet pills, diuretics, and over-exercising, which all hurt your health — not to mention plastic surgery. Beauty procedures can help boost someone's confidence in the short term, but the effect can soon start to wear off if it was just a quick fix solution. To be effective, surgery has to be a decision that's made as part of a long journey to build self-love.
Cooper had her breast implants removed over a year ago due to breast implant illness. She went under the knife initially to give her self-esteem a boost — something she now regrets.
"We need to learn to accept and cope the healthy ways such as balance, a good diet with fats, proteins, and carbs, and aiming for 30 minutes of activity a day," she said. "No pills or nip-tucks needed."
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