I'm not exactly sure, but after digging into all the data, it seems what people find attractive and what's fashionable for pictures or media are two completely different things.

I think the same goes for men. I've met a lot of guys who looked like they crawled out of a jailhouse, with cheap tattoos, a little belly, etc., and those aren't the kinds of guys you see on Abercrombie or Calvin Klein ads—but women found them deeply attractive.

I can't say much on body alterations without being a total hypocrite—I have tattoos out the whazoo and they're a whole lot more permanent than a Photoshopped picture, so, I kind of tend to stick with the, "As long as you aren't hurting anyone else," line of liberal thinking. The thing is, large, powerful (social) media companies are hurting people. It's not the individuals. It's the companies who curate the information that we see who've presented us with a very narrow worldview.

Instagram is a great example. I'm sure there are millions of people on Instagram taking very basic photos of themselves—but the algorithm spits out what's novel, fresh, new, different, unique, etc. Those people still exist, even if we don't see them.