Woman's Shocking Video Highlighting Impossible Beauty Standards Goes Viral
A woman has quantified beauty standards for women—and the math isn’t adding up.
A video on TikTok posted by Heidi Becker (@heidsbecker) has gone viral after she ran through a long list of must-dos and must-haves for women—all of which are simply not possible in a 24-hour day. Since the video was posted, it has resonated with other women who feel they are holding themselves to impossible standards, receiving over 4 million views and 656,400 likes.
“Twenty thousand steps a day, seven days a week…1,400 maximum calories daily; eight hours of rest every night and eight hours of work every day of the week; five-to-nine routine before the nine-to-five grind,” Becker said in the video. “Add in two nights a week to socialize, but don’t drink too much alcohol.”
A woman looks at herself in the mirror. A video on TikTok has gone viral after a woman put a new spin on beauty standards for women.
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Becker continued: “For your hot girl walks, you’ll need these sneakers and the latest athletic wear to make sure that you’re hot. For luscious locks, buy these products. To maintain your diet, how about these vitamins? And to stay energized, get these supplements, so you can have the energy to complete your routine—to achieve maximal beauty.”
The way Becker ran through the list, some people believed she was giving actual instructions as to how to be “hot” or successful as a woman. Her tone echoed other influencers giving their biggest beauty tips. But as Becker went on, her message became clear: she said marketing ensures we are “consumed by what we can consume.” In this “race,” she said, the finish line keeps moving further away.
Newsweek reached out to @heidsbecker for comment via TikTok.
Viewers in the comments were deeply affected by Becker’s words, noticing a similar monologue within themselves.
“The way I started to take mental note, like, ‘Mhm, OK, 20,000 steps’…and then it hit me as you kept going,” @rivasjen wrote.
“This perfectly sums up what goes on in my brain after scrolling for too long,” @god_enthusiast wrote.
“Crying on my bedroom floor because I finally heard what’s inside my head at all times, out loud,” @maee0319 wrote.
Arguably the most pointed aspect of Becker’s rant was the way the numbers didn’t add up; how certain things seemed to contradict themselves. Some commenters picked up on this immediately.
“Restrict your calories (energy) and then buy these supplements so you have energy,” @itsfackinkate wrote.
“And all of this costs so much money, but you need to save money and have a certain amount in your 401k by [the time] you’re 30, but also life is short, and you need to experience the world,” @eeeeejae wrote.
Most in Becker’s comment section agree—modern beauty standards are a beast, and social media is feeding it, but some voices are growing more powerful in their dissent.