Hi, I'm Anna Marie Cox and this is with friends like these.

We've been talking about good intentions this season of the show.

In this episode, we're going to dive into one that's deliciously complicated body positivity.

That seems like a good thing, right?

Everyone knows we're held to impossible beauty standards.

Everyone knows the ideal shape is impossible to achieve.

Everyone knows you shouldn't be ashamed of your body.

Everyone advertises.

Know this.

And those come out.

If you're a woman like myself, you don't always feel like the masterpiece you are.

Feeling comfortable and confident in your clothes is almost impossible when your body is always

changing.

Maybe a period started and now you can't fit into yesterday's jeans.

Maybe you grew a human inside your body, pushed it out of your body and your stomach

is really good at bending radical messages into harnesses or in this case, girdles.

If I understand this ad correctly, I am being held to impossible beauty standards and that

is bad.

But also, if I want to conform to impossible beauty standards, here is a big girdle thing

that will literally make me conform to impossible beauty standards.

Know if ads like this actually worked, if they were about what they say, they're about,

there wouldn't be ads like this.

...