The History of Skinny | How Diet Culture Shaped the Way Women See Their Bodies

Why are bodies getting smaller while the pressure on women keeps getting bigger?

In this eye-opening teaching, Alisa Keeton explores the cultural, emotional, and spiritual history behind “skinny” and how thinness became more than a body type—it became a value system.

From social media and celebrity culture to the rise of GLP-1 medications, this conversation unpacks the modern obsession with shrinking ourselves and asks a deeper question:

Who are you becoming?

For most of human history, thinness was not the beauty ideal. Curvier bodies once represented health, abundance, wealth, and freedom from hard labor. So what changed?

In this episode, Alisa traces the major cultural shifts that tied thinness to morality, status, control, and virtue—and reveals how these beliefs still shape the way women see themselves today.

This conversation is not about pursuing a smaller body. It’s about healing the deeper spiritual and emotional roots beneath body obsession and learning to live free in the body God created.

The gospel does not call us to become thinner versions of ourselves. It calls us to become more like Christ.

Because the most important question is not:
“How do I look?”

But:
“Who am I becoming?”

00:00 Introduction
02:15 Why Women Feel Pressure to Be Thin
06:40 The Historical Origins of “Skinny”
13:25 How Thinness Became Tied to Morality and Worth
20:10 Celebrity Culture, Social Media, and GLP-1 Medications
28:45 What the Bible Actually Says About Gluttony
35:30 Why Behavior Change Without Heart Healing Fails
42:10 God’s Design for Diversity
49:15 Who Are You Becoming?
54:30 Final Encouragement

✨ Looking for more faith-based workouts, Bible studies, and wellness support? Join RW+ and access hundreds of workouts, monthly challenges, and Christ-centered resources to help you love God and your body:
www.revelationwellness.org/membership/

Connect with Revelation Wellness:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/revelationwellness/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/revelationwellness/

#DietCulture #BodyImage #TheHistoryOfSkinny #ChristianPodcast #FaithBasedWellness #revelationwellness #christianwellness #BodyFreedom #RevelationWellness #WomenAndBodyImage