Snapshot · Fin vs History
In medieval Western Europe, the ideal female beauty included the highest possible hairline (plucked back), a tiny mouth, and small hands — effectively the opposite of most modern beauty standards.
Where this was said
At 23:35 · chapter starts 23:32
The Dark Ages arrive with a brutal irony: when religion declared vanity a sin, the beauty standard became 'look as ugly as possible'. For men this meant genuine ugliness as a virtue; for women it manifested as the medieval ideal of a tiny mouth, small hands, and an enormous forehead achieved by plucking the hairline back as far as possible. The hosts spend a delightful tangent imagining builders leering at women's foreheads, Fin noting Harry Maguire would have thrived as a medieval woman. Then the Islamic Golden Age arrives, and geography makes beauty standards diverge dramatically: while Christian Europe raced toward ugliness, Northwest Africa's Berber people developed leblouh — older women physically punishing girls who refused to eat, forcing them to consume up to 20 litres of camel milk and 2 kilos of millet mixed with butter daily. The hosts calculate this at nearly 21,000 calories — exceeding a sumo wrestler's intake — and marvel at its distance from any beauty standard they can conceive of.
Among the Berber people of Northwest Africa, obesity was the beauty ideal — so 'fatteners' force-fed girls as young as five up to 20 litres of camel milk and 2 kilos of millet with butter daily. Nearly 21,000 calories. More than a sumo wrestler.
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