All language subtitles for Planet Sex with Cara Delevingne S01E06

Right.

Hi. How are you?

I'm scared.

Have you ever had any Botox
or fillers?

Mm-mm. OK. All right.

You know, the most place where
people start is they do just a
little bit of Botox. Yeah.

I'm in the City of Angels chasing
that age-old cliche -

eternal youth and beauty.

Do you want to do any Botox today?

Hmm, good question.

Why do I feel like
I need to do this?

Well, we live in a world where
beauty, especially for women,

can lead to success, fame,
and money.

Yet today's beauty ideals

are almost
impossible to reach naturally.

When I was a teenager and I saw
these, like, billboards of myself,

which clearly were, like,
photoshopped and whatever,

I think it probably messes with your
head a little bit.

Cos if you look in the mirror
and you're like, "Wait,
I don't look like that at all."

Yes, you've got to be tall,
slim, yet curvy.

Definitely no wrinkles.

Oh, and it really helps to be white.

I started getting bullied in school,
in my community.

I want to know how we got here.

What forces shape our ideas
of what's gorgeous?

Can't I have both?

Could I and the world of beauty,
fashion and social media

be part of the problem?

People will literally destroy their
lives over trying to be beautiful.

And how can we hit back
and reclaim beauty for ourselves?

This is real modelling.

Ah!

Beauty is such a fun thing to be
able to play with,

but the point is, is that everyone
should be able to play with it.

Everyone should be able to
feel beautiful.

Oh, my God, I hate this one.

I...I. no, I didn't,

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 perfect they look

and just...just gorgeous.

And then what is that? What is that?

Oh, 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.

SHE LAUGHS LOUDLY

Look at that. What is that?

I mean, looking at these photos,

when I was younger I just definitely
felt more like I was out of place

and, like, wasn't, didn't belong.

Just a lot of rejection
when I started modelling

because I was too short,
or my eyebrows were too big.

Eyebrows were not a thing back then.

They would always try and bleach
them or stick them down

and they would
just never stick down.

You know, as a model, of course,
I mean, 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.

For a long time I've been a classic
example

of those elitist beauty standards.

Now I want to explore how
things are changing.

My journey starts in the world that
made me famous

and I'm meeting someone who is
challenging its very core.

This is Nyakim Gatwech,

aka Queen of Dark...

..a model who's had to fight tooth
and nail

to break into the fashion
industry.

Planet Sex marker selfie one.

Look so it's like...
But how do you do that?

You look...

But that's what I do.

I love it, I love it.

I mean, I have so many questions,

but first off, tell me
a bit about yourself.

I was born in a refugee
camp in South Sudan.

Came to America when I was 15

and I always knew that
I had a passion for fashion

but I didn't know how to go
about it.

I started getting bullied in school,
in my community.

Yeah, why?
And you know, at the grocery store.

Cos, you know,
just being different, you know,

just having this complexion, you
know, people started calling
me names.

I hated myself.

I didn't think I was beautiful.

I didn't think I'd fit in in this
beauty standard,

the western world standard.

It's not me.
It didn't look like me.

So... But that standard is bullshit.
Yeah.

It literally is bullshit.
It really is.

I know what she means.

As a young model, I saw very little
diversity on the catwalk.

When I first started every single
person down a runway

looked the same.

Looked the same. And it became like
this army-like girl.
Body type too.

Body type, everything.
That body type.

I think it's changing.
It's changing.

But not fast enough.

It's still not fair.

There's still not the same equal
opportunities. Exactly.

As recently as 2016,

over 75% of the models at all four
big fashion weeks -

London, Paris, New York and Milan -

were white.

Like, when did you first start
meeting agents

and what would the...
What was the look like?

I mean, what was that
experience like? Well...

I'd go see these agencies,
that's when there was like,

"Yeah, we already have a girl that
looks like you."

Literally they told me
the name of the girl.

Like, how was they saying there's
already someone that looks like you?

Like, there are too many white
people.

Hello, there's so many people that
look the same.

Are you ready? Are you serious?

Like, that makes no sense.
It doesn't make no sense.

That's when I was like, "You know
what?

If you really want to do this,
you have to create your own lane."
Yes.

Nyakim decided to bypass
the fashion industry

and their old-school ideas of beauty

and do it alone,

collaborating with photographers to
raise her profile

through self-funded shoots.

I got lucky enough and went
viral on Instagram, you know,

and I was able to take that
opportunity and I've been running
with it ever since.

She now has more than a million
followers on Instagram

and has starred in campaigns for
Savage X Fenty

as well as L'Oreal Paris.

Nyakim's now at the forefront
of what seems to be

some real change in the
fashion industry.

In Spring 2022,

48% of models appearing

in the four big fashion weeks
were non-white.

I don't want another little black
girl to go through the jou...
what I went through.

No. I want them
to just be accepted if they...

..if this is what they want to do.

Modelling gives you a platform where
you could use modelling

to inspire other people to
make a change.

I want to be somehow a little bit,

however tiny it is, some
change in this world.

That's what I want. That's always...
But I didn't think that.
Yeah, that's what I want.

And I didn't think that I have that.
But you've done it already, but
that's still the beginning.

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?
No!

Exactly.

She is the epitome of a supermodel,
of a superhuman,

of the type of person that is what
a model should represent.

How someone that sweet who's gone
through so much

has been treated like that

and ever thought the things
that she did.

It's completely insane.

Nyakim's tough journey is a stark
contrast to my own

and really brings home how
easy I've had it.

Modelling became an option
when, you know,

I didn't really have any others,
which sounds so spoiled.

My sister was a model, right,
and I, for me I was like,
"But I'm..."

My sisters were both really tall

and they were, like, classically
very beautiful looking.

I had an opportunity to work with
the same agency,

probably nepotism in so many ways.

That's also just being like a very
privileged white girl,

you know, that
I was able to even do modelling.

I had dropped out of school.

Like, the fact that I've, that was
my only available job was pretty
lucky.

I can't run away from the fact
that I fit

that narrow and exclusive idea of
what's beautiful.

But where do these so-called beauty
standards even come from?

Pepe, sit.

Well, what we find attractive
is at a basic level

down to evolution

our ancestors searched
for the healthiest partners

to make the healthiest babies.

In today's speedy dating world,
it's the same.

When meeting for the first time,

we're naturally drawn to the
physical signs of fitness

and fertility.

Oh, we're not meant to touch.

I'm so confused.

Am I meant to, like, kiss her hand
or what am I meant to do?
Start again.

I'm nervous.

In women, these include a young face

with big eyes and bow lips,

a tiny waist and child-bearing
hips.

In men, height,

broad shoulders and a strong jaw.

But what we find hot is about more
than just healthy genes.

It's also shaped by our environment.

What a list of bachelors.

Yeah, I know.

LAUGHTER

Ah, where am I going to
find my perfect partner?

Oh, wait.

This hairy little butthole behind
me.

Dr Carlota Batres studies faces.

She explores the relationship

between those we find attractive

and the culture we grew up in.

So I signed up to take
one of her tests.

Eeh! Should I be scared?

I'm going to show you some faces
today

and I'm going to ask you some
questions

about how you feel about
these faces.

I don't think
I 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 were right that we are
manipulating masculinity here.

Traditionally, more masculine
features include bushy eyebrows,

a wider nose, and a stronger chin.

Bigger eyebrows, yeah.

So, technically,
I have a man-y face.

You have masculine eyebrows, yes.

You'd think most people like me
would go for a more masculine face,

but the results were surprising.

So, 65% of the participants
in our sample chose

the more feminine face
as more attractive.

But these were participants
in the US.

Carlota's study involved both
male and female participants.

And the results differ depending
on what country they were from.

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 judgments

about future partners.

So, there's this link between
masculinity and health.

So if you're in a country
with higher health risks,

then there's a stronger preference

for the more masculine,
healthier face.

Right, so that explains why people
in low-health-risk countries,

like the US,
lean towards a more feminine face.

They don't have
to select for health.

OK, let's do another one.

Which one do you find
more attractive?

Oh, they're both very pretty.

SHE LAUGHS
Can't I have both?

Someone who has a wider face
and someone who has a smaller face.

I don't know, what are
their personalities like?

That one.

Well, like me, around two thirds
of US participants found the face

on the left more attractive.

But again, if we ran this
study in my home country,

we find that this face
is more attractive.

In developing economies, a fuller
face implies better access to food,

and therefore makes for a healthier,
more attractive mate.

I don't know, this really
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!

Yeah, well, so social media,
Internet... Fashion industry.

Social media. Yeah, exactly.

So, the faces that you're exposed to
lead to your preference of them.

Whoa, stop!
RECORD SCRATCH

Let me get my head around this.

Carlota's discovered that
what we find hot is shaped

by our surroundings -

and not just in terms of looking
for a healthy mate.

One huge influence on what
we find beautiful is familiarity -

the faces we see around us
most often.

So, familiarity is a
big influencer in 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.

And that has kind of big
implications for social media

and the fashion industry.

Because those ads and billboards
that are in our faces

don't just reflect, but also
influence what we find beautiful.

OK, so here's where I think we are.

Beauty is a 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 bonk-ability.

Now it's also about elite status,
power, and some big benefits.

And the stakes are high for the
winner judged the 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.

It's no wonder more people than
ever are enhancing their bodies

to reach the beauty ideal
in their country.

Meet Diana.

She was once
a Colombian beauty queen,

but natural looks were not enough.

Here, voluptuous women are adored.

But maybe not just because a curvy
figure is a sure sign of fertility.

There's also a darker side.

Many have surgically enhanced their
bodies to fit what's known

in Columbia as
the "narco aesthetic".

And what the narcos started,
the country copied.

Columbia is now eighth in the world
for plastic surgeries per person.

While Diana is the architect
of her own enhanced body,

it's often men calling the shots.

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.

But it's not just Columbia.

Today, cosmetic surgery is
big business everywhere.

In South Korea, a third
of 20-something women have

gone under the knife,

most to make their eyes look bigger.

Brazil boasts nearly 80,000 bum
enhancements each year.

Whilst in the UK, almost half
of plastic procedures

are boob-related.

But it's not all about surgery.

Injectables are booming, too.

Botox is so popular that the
government's banned it

for under-18s.

Truth be told,
I've thought about it myself.

So, that's why you find me here,

heading to a Beverly Hills
doctor's office.

Yeah, you should get
your boobs done, too.

Why would you do that?

What do you want me to say?

OFF-CAMERA: Nothing. Ride the
elevator 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'm thinking about
getting some Botox.

How old are you?
28, turning 29 this year.

Oh, yeah, we're the same age.
OK, OK. OK.

You know, it just...it's time.

It's time. Right. It's time.

Are you thinking about it?
I mean, I was not, I mean,

I don't know, always a little bit.

Cos it does feel like you get to
that age where you're like

"Oh, this is when people start
getting stuff done." Right.

And all your friends get it done,
and then, you're like,

"Oh, maybe I should." Yeah.

Do you feel like they are
celebrities who get stuff done

that don't talk about it enough?
Absolutely.

I think that's still the
normal right now. Yeah.

I think, you know,
I, at least for me,

I feel like we advocate, I advocate
towards being more open and honest.

And so, I think transparency,
in terms of your...

Transparency is key.
And, like, no judgment.

That's kind of why I wanted
to do this, cos I was like,

you know, "If I decided to get
stuff done, I'll do it on camera."

Known for its anti-aging effects,

Botox is a drug made from a toxin.

When injected, it causes
temporary muscle paralysis,

tightening the skin and causing
surface wrinkles to fade.

The effects only last
around 3-4 months -

but it's a quicker fix
than going under the knife.

So, will I go through with it?

I honestly don't know.

All right.

Have you ever had any Botox
or fillers? Mm-mm.

OK, all right, so, you know, I'm
not here to twist people's arms.

Does anything actually bother you
when you look in the mirror?

Yeah. OK. Wrinkles here.

Uh-huh. Erm, you know,
I don't really get them as bad here.

Botox came out in the '80s,

and it's there to treat
dynamic wrinkles.

Dynamic wrinkles are caused
by muscle movements that form in

repetitive areas like, like here.

And also, sometimes it happens
with more stress.

Like, if you're furrowing your
brow a lot, you get this little

"11" formation - which you start
to have the early roots of.

Can you do something about it?
Absolutely.

Botox administration in the brow -

so where we get these 11 lines -

has been shown to obviously improve
the 11s, but also, it's been shown

to reduce the incidents
of depression. Wow!

That's just the craziest thing
I've heard. Yeah.

Cos your body senses
you're not able to frown

or furrow your brow as much.

Erm, and for whatever reason,
you end up being happier.

All right, so we'll put
this blue screen down.

And we'll go ahead and
get a few photos.

I guess now's not the time
to pull a model face, is it?

Perfect. OK, cool.
Let's go right over here.

Everyone, this is not OK.
You look beautiful.

There's nothing wrong with this one.
There's a lot of bags there, doctor.

I mean, you know, some common areas
to get Botox, you know,

the forehead, the brow,
the sides of the eyes.

You know, most places where people
start is they do just a little bit

of Botox - yeah, just right there.

But look at these, doctor.

Why we get this under-eye, kind of,
darkness is it's because of

the veins underneath our eyes.

The skin gets very thin
as we get older.

You know, I was looking at
some footage of you, er,

when you were getting
some make-up done -

without make-up, I do see some
hollowing you have underneath.

I'll tell you two things
that my patients always tell me -

Botox is easier than they thought,

and they shouldn't have waited
as long as they did.

It's just one of those things, like,
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.

Hm. I totally get there's
pressure for women to get rid

of imperfections, but I'm not
sure my minor facial flaws

are bothering me quite enough
to be injected with poison.

Did you want to do any Botox today?

Not today. OK.

Not today, but we'll see.

I'm going to keep checking in,
but I think I'm good. Good.

Thanks for coming by.
Thank you for everything.

I don't really 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 now the future,
I just see little world leaders

who've just have Botox
since they were teenagers.

Is that weird?

So, I just feel like "fixing"
all these things isn't really

"fixing" what we need to fix,
which is the void within us

to want to be better, or want to,
like, change things about ourselves.

But what worries me most is that
while today's beauty standards

are almost unreachable without help,

there's still a lot of people
pretending they are all-natural.

The problem for me is that people
aren't as honest as they should be

about work 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."

But at least people are not
selling this idea that they are

that perfect with nothing.

Cos it's not fair.

It's not fair on me!
I want to know what's going on.

Like, no, but honestly, it's just
a lot for young girls, I think.

And I've spoken to - it's usually
my friends' younger siblings

or something, who are like,
"No, they're just like that."

Like, "I know I can work out that
much and my body could be like that.

"I know they are that beautiful,
and I'll never be like that."

And it's like, that's not true.

I know what it's like to be a model.

I know what it's like
to be in this industry

and having to sell people this idea,
this glamorous idea of what

this life is really like,
but it's not, like,

the thing we are selling.

But then, you add on top of it this
whole plastic surgery thing,

you're selling a lie.

The desire to change ourselves
in the pursuit of beauty

is growing and growing,

and some think social media
is making things worse.

It's rife with filters to
make us look more beautiful...

..virtually.

And it's in our faces all the time.

But is social media really
the bad guy?

Dr Jolanda Veldhuis
and Dr Mara Van Der Meulen

use brain scanners to investigate
just how social media influences

perceptions of body types
amongst teenage girls.

An impressionable group
who use socials a lot.

Going to slowly, slowly move you
a bit into the scanner.

Today, it's Lotte's turn.

Hey Lotte, are you ready?

THROUGH SPEAKER: Yes.

Lotte's task - to look at
pictures of bodies and rate

whether she thinks
they're normal or too thin.

She's then 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.

OK, here goes Lotte.

Let's play. First one.

So - oh, there she scored it
as being of normal weight

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's particularly interested
in how Lotte responds when

she and her peer group disagree.

She scours the scans for areas
of increased blood flow -

indicating brain activity
is ramping up.

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.

Which two regions?

Why, the bilateral insular and

the anterior cingulate cortex,
of course!

But, erm, what does that even mean?

Bilateral insular is, for example,
thought to be important

for experiencing empathy -
so thinking about how other people

are feeling - and the dorsal
interior singular cortex is also

important for processing feedback.

And this region is important,
for example, when thinking

about yourself, and thinking
about others, and also,

picking up events that are important
to you on a social aspect.

Whenever participants receive
feedback that is not in line with

their own opinion, the bilateral
insular and anterior cingulate

cortex are activated in
our participants.

And these regions are seen as
especially important in detecting

a violation of social norms.

Maybe making them think,

"If what I consider normal
is not actually normal,

"then how should I view
these models"?

Other people's opinions trigger
Lotte's brain into questioning

her own judgments.

And the more you do that,
the less comfortable you feel.

The combination of being exposed
to these ideal bodies,

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,

"OK, 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.

That's why social media where
peer feedback is everything

is so influential.

But the good news is
it works both ways.

If your friends prefer a
curvier body shape,

then after a while, so will you.

Social media isn't all bad,

you just need to watch
where you place your likes.

The user is not only
the consumer of the media,

but it's 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,

and I try to promote individuality
and self-acceptance.

But look at these images of me.

Despite the eyebrows and
the goofy faces, when I'm modelling,

I still represent that
old-school beauty standard.

OFF-CAMERA: Do you feel like
you're part of the problem?

I did feel part of the problem for
so long, and that's, kind of,

why I tried to move away from it.

There's nothing wrong
with beauty, but...

..I personally have - and I've
always had a bit of an issue

with the industry, which is fashion.

OK, I can't go into this either.

I can't shit on
the hand that feeds me.

Erm, no, I don't think there's
anything 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 OK.

People will literally destroy their
lives over trying to be "beautiful".

Very narrow definitions of beauty
in media and our culture

can make us spend money,
seek surgery, and feel inadequate.

And sometimes, the damage
can be quite extreme.

This is Johannesburg, South Africa.

Here, colonialism and apartheid
have seriously restricted ideas

about who is beautiful.

Lesego Make-up Tutorial -
scene eight, slate 11, take five.

Lesego Tlhabi is an award-winning
satirist using comedy

to confront beauty standards.

Her most popular character
is Coconut Kelz.

Howzit, guys, and welcome
to Coconut Kelz make-up tutorial.

A lot of you have asked me,

"Kelz, how can I achieve
your Caucasian glow?

"And how can I make myself have
make-up that will take me

"far away from my Africanness?"

Ew.

Anyway, so I've got four
foundation shades.

We've got African Migrant -
which we don't want to use!

We've got Meghan and Harry's Baby.

We've got OK-K-K -

and the one that I'll be using
today is White Privilege.

Lesego grew up in a mainly white
affluent suburb of Johannesburg.

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.

She noticed that even small
differences in skin tone

made a huge difference to
how you got treated.

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,

you get thought of as
more beautiful,

and you get more opportunities.

This kind of discrimination
is called colourism.

It's a preference for skin colour,

mostly within ethnic groups.

In South Africa, colourism has
its roots in colonialism -

the paler you were,
the higher your status.

But today, it exists in different
forms all over the world.

Lesego also hosts a popular podcast
- this time, as herself.

Hi!

Oh, my goodness, how are you?

I'm good, how are you?

Today, with journalist Zanele Mji,

she's tackling colourism within
the Black community head-on.

My romantic life at university
was nonexistent.

Like, just nonexistent.

And now, when I look back, only
when I look back do I understand

the role that colourism played.

You know, there were just
certain girls who were light,

petite, with straight hair, who,
if they were around,

you may as well be the wallpaper!

Erm, how did you deal with
those social dynamics,

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,

cos we love to go out together,
we love to spend time together.

But, like, there's this constant
thing that's happening. Yeah.

That other people are injecting
into our dynamic.

And I've talked a lot about
colourism with my dark-skinned

friends and I've 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 podcasts with

Coconut Kelz's satire and humour,

she delivers a powerful
double-punch to white privilege.

So, dab, dab, dab.

As you can see, oh, my goodness,

I'm already a different person.

They would not follow me around
the store if I had this colour.

There we go, I've got rid of any
signs of my Africanness.

Oh, that's beautiful.

And voila!

Ready for the covers of
any fashion magazine.

"Beautiful" - what does that mean?
Who made that up?

Beauty is such a fun thing
to be able to play with,

but the point is, is that everyone
should be able to play with it

and it shouldn't be this thing
that are only reached by

a certain amount of people.

Beauty should be
completely 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 in 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

yourself with different faces could
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?
Why did I think that?"

That that can actually change
the way that we perceive faces.

Knowledge is power.

So, instead of saying, "Well,
these biases shouldn't exist,"

understanding that they're there
so that we can combat them.

Now there's a group taking those
ideas out of our 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 the way.

And then, that gives
this space for audience.

University student Astelia
is in London's Trafalgar Square

to set up a ground-breaking
fashion show, The Real Catwalk.

This is where the models enter from.

It's a yearly event which rejects
mainstream standards

by modelling real people,

to show that no-one can dictate
what is and isn't beautiful.

Its campaign for more diverse
representation in fashion and beauty

has inspired similar body-positive
events around the world,

empowering people of all kinds.

For Astelia, though,
it's also personal.

I'd always had struggles with
my body and disordered eating.

Constantly in this spiral of,
like, self-hatred,

not feeling good enough
and trying to find self-worth.

I walked the runway, like,
in my bikini,

and I felt so powerful
and so beautiful.

I'd never been in a bikini before,
doing The Real Catwalk ever.

And from that moment, it completely
and utterly changed my life.

Astelia hasn't looked back since.

Hundreds of other people are here,
too, with all sorts of

body shapes and sizes.

Action shot!

Representing people as they are
and showing that everybody,

regardless of 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.

Bringing The Real Catwalk
to the streets shows just how

the world of beauty is
starting to shift.

It's inspired so many
across the globe

to claim beauty for themselves.

We're going against all of
these types of societal norms

and inherent pressures that are,
sort of, forced upon us.

We are protesting those issues,
and we are pushing those boundaries.

So, it is so much more
than just an event.

If everybody could move over here,
we're going to get us going!

CHEERING

It's not easy showing yourself
off in public...

CHEERING CONTINUES

..but being upfront about
challenging beauty norms

is the only way to get
things to change.

All bodies are beautiful no matter,
how different they are.

I just feel on cloud nine.

So many times in my life,
I've been told,

"You're not good enough.
you're not normal.

"You don't fit into the beauty
standards," and you feel left out.

You feel, like - I hide away,
hide my body, hide my lines

and my tubes, and actually,
no, I shouldn't hide.

You are beautiful.
You are gorgeous just as you are.

CHEERING

There were so many different
types of people here today.

There were people
celebrating their scars,

being outside of a gender binary,

their queerness, their curves.

Having everyone here with this
kind of celebration of people,

it's just incredible.

This is real modelling.

Ah! Sorry.

I'm so, so teary.

Well, I'm nearly at the end
of my journey to explore

female beauty in all its forms.

I've met extraordinary people
who are pushing boundaries

and opening up
incredibly rigid ideals.

But here in the US,
there's one more person who's

a huge part of changing
our understanding of beauty...

..and they've invited me
to hang out.

You know, I've never been
to Saks before. Really? Never.

Hi. Hello.

Welcome. Thank you very much.

Hi, Alfie.

This is author, influencer,
and activist Alok Vaid-Menon.

So, like... These are functional.

Those are stunning, functional.
Yeah.

As a nonbinary,
gender-nonconforming person,

Alok's been told they're ugly...

..by fools, obviously!

Is this your house? Yes, it's...

My living room's right over here.
These are my best friends.

This is your best friend.

I've been taking posing
practices all day.

Alok uses their talents to fight
back against the old-school

beauty standards that shaped
their early life -

and still permeate much of fashion,
the beauty industry,

and our society.

I can't wait to play
dress-up together,

here at Sak's Fifth Avenue.

For me, beauty is an everyday
practice of freedom.

And, yes, there are people
who are upset about it and say,

"Alok, 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'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?

So, how do you define beauty?

I think it's about
un-defining beauty.

We have such limited images of
the world of what it means

to be beautiful, that sometimes,
when I look at myself, I'm like,

"I've never seen anyone
in the world look like this".

"Un-defining beauty."
Why have any definition whatsoever?

And I completely agree with you,
because how much fun you can have

with clothes, but especially when
you don't stick to anyone's rules.

What it's really about
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-nonconforming is,

from a very young age,
I had to get over that fear.

Because if I live 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 very long time, and I...

It definitely redefined my idea
of what beauty was,

because for me,
I used to dress up constantly.

And I guess it also has something
to do with being in the public eye,

but that's why I love wearing black,
cos 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 eats away at
people's creativity in some ways.

Sure, 100%. Because you always have
to be editing, policing,

"What are people going to think?

"People are going to have issues
about what I'm doing,

"what I'm saying, who I am,
what I look like. So what?"

Like, I only look like what
I want to look like,

and no-one else really matters.
Yeah.

It's liberating. That is beauty.

So, the million-dollar question -

maybe the billion-dollar question -

is beauty and what we find
attractive genuinely

changing in our generation?

Is there a beauty
revolution under way?

Well, it seems so -
and I want to be a part of it.

So, let's join together and bring
on a more inclusive future.

I have a moral obligation,
because mothers will come up to me

with their young daughters and say,

"My daughter wants to model
because of you".

And I would go, "no, no, no.

"Please don't say that.
I will cry. Like, don't."

I think beauty is far more, like,
if you're a good person or not.

I meet people who are
so much more beautiful because

they are confident about themselves
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, and what you feel 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.

OFF CAMERA: Oh, my God! We did it!
Ye-e-es!

CHEERING