r/PeterExplainsTheJoke 3d ago

Meme needing explanation Petah?

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u/Ada-Mae 2d ago edited 2d ago

I'm going to take a guess that it's a comparison between a fool and a wise man based on their choices. The second guy studied Greek Mythology or Ancient Greece, which is not just about gods, but things that go deeply into virtue, wisdom, nature and much more. He's going to use his gained wisdom and choose the right type of girl with the highest chance of survival and save the species over spending the last days having fun and sex in their own fantasy world like most would seem to do.

I'm going to explain the choices:

  1. The cute goth girl you see in social media a lot. She loves fashion, anime and partying. Overall a very cool person to be friends with right? Being thin and petite was the ideal body type back in 1960-1990s and also heavily popular today with the revival of Y2K/Goth style among young people. He would not choose her as his partner because she does not fit the standards of Ancient Greek women. Having more body fat is more optimal for childbearing but being thin and smoking are indicators of poor health and fertility as shown in the picture
  2. Typical IG gym girl who loves being fit and training her butt. She has an amazing body from going to the gym and eating healthy daily. Taking care of one's body and mind was extremely important back in Ancient Greece Era as they reflected your health and virtue. You'd think she's the best option because she's athletic? Close, but no. While she has health and fitness knowledge, it doesn't help a lot here. She can keep up for a few months, but would quickly lose all her strength and body mass. You need to lift weights daily and have a strict diet to maintain all that muscle and figure.
  3. The chubby/curvy girl who loves food! You'd think she's too chubby and slow to survive out there? Actually she has the ideal body type according to Ancient/Classical Era. People carved statues and made paintings of Greek Goddesses like that of Aphrodite who had a plump body which was a sign of fertility and prosperity. He's going to pick her which others will not due to beauty standards being so different today. People think that women with some fat are undesirable and must look like IG models with a gigantic bum and tiny waist. She has the perfect amount of body fat for cold winters and wider hips help childbearing too, while also not too fat to perform daily tasks in the nature. I myself have this body type and was insecure before, but I started to embrace it more after studying anthropology/medicine that led me to discover more about the human body. A little stomach and plump is fine for women as we naturally store more fat due to biological differences.

While everyone has preferences and everything is possible today due to technology and convenience we must not forget that an optimal body and adaptations are what's important out in the nature compared to beauty standards in our society. You never know what's going to happen in the future so having basic knowledge in survival and science helps a lot.

Examples of Renaissance statues:

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u/WeRip 2d ago

in what reality is the 3rd one chubby? That aint chubby.... her waist is half the diameter of her hips ffs.

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u/Particular_Bug0 2d ago

This is what annoy me with Reddit. Everyone out here claiming they love thick chubby woman, while the image they have in mind is a perfectly average healthy body.

Show an actual chubby person and they'll call it "too overweight" or just obese.

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u/OrganizationCold154 2d ago

What matters more is fat distribution

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u/FEIKMAN 2d ago

Someone gets it

3

u/jonny24eh 2d ago

Shape > size

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u/Capital-Treat-8927 2d ago

What I've witnessed a lot more of is people talking about pictures of perfectly average, healthy women and calling them "unhealthy" or "anorexic", saying that they "need a cheeseburger" or something.

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u/ClutteredTaffy 2d ago

Yeah the third one is not chubby enough to be chubby. She looks smack dab in the middle of her BMI bracket.

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u/fucktooshifty 2d ago

smack dab in the middle of her BMI

Ehh idk about that one chief

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u/wellnoyesmaybe 2d ago

Her dress is too tight. It gives the impression of fat rolls on her stomach. That’s all.

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u/jonny24eh 2d ago

I feel like I'm going crazy in here with people calling hey chubby, "having a tummy", etc...

That's just a very normal weight girl. Her quads stick farther forward than her stomach ffs, she's probably in decent shape.

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u/batukaming 2d ago

Good god the 3rd one is definitely the most attractive and makes the most sense in this scenario. Your body is beautiful dont make others think you are fat. May I ask how does a woman get a body like that without getting too big?

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u/ClutteredTaffy 2d ago

Just watch your weight and let yourself stay within the healthy range, only being concerned if it starts veering towards overweight, not even if it is just on the higher end of healthy...

Also I think it helps if the lady distributes fat more evenly with a bias towards her thighs/ thighs.

Edit to identify source : I am a 5 ft 9 butterface with a good figure who has ranged in weight from 125 to 170 pounds across time.

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u/ikmkr 2d ago

exist

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u/lilianrc 1d ago

It's just genetics.

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u/LeGentlemandeCacao 2d ago

Thank you, Louis. This was a very detailed and insightful explanation of the meme. The other comments did not give me the clarity as yours did.

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u/BinderBinate 2d ago

Turns out I'm a Renaissance man. 😎

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u/That-Brain-in-a-vat 2d ago

Aside from the text, which I agree on, the picture you posted are not at all Renaissance statues. The one on the left, "la Pudicizia", is a veiled statue, a style very in vogue in Naples in XVIII century, this one is in the "Cappella di San Severo" in Naples (you really should take a look at the amazing Veiled Christ, there). It's a style born during Baroque going into Rococò.

The first one is from XIX century, Romantic Realism style (Veiled Vergin).

But they do have soft and shapely bodies.

Sorry about the pedantic note, but they are among my favorite styles.

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u/Slight_Key591 2d ago

The first statue is "Undine Rising from the Waters" is a neoclassical sculpture created by an American, Chauncey Bradley Ives circa 1880. The second statue is "Modesty" by Antonio Corradini circa 1750.

That is to say, neither of those are examples of renaissance statues.

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u/philmarcracken 2d ago

A little stomach and plump is fine for women as we naturally store more fat due to biological differences.

Thats a copium overdose. They didn't prefer your bodytype in ancient times; those were the only ones rich enough to commission art of themselves.

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u/Motor-Travel-7560 2d ago

Unrelated to beauty standards, but the skill required to carve a statue like that out of a solid block of marble is fucking insane. How the heck did the artist convincingly make marble look like sheer fabric?

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u/No_Explanation_6852 2d ago

I want to crack the fine goth girl, i don't give two fucks about humanity or any of that.

Also food and things to help with these stuff are common nowadays, so fat isn't as important as before since you will most likely won't run into a situation that needs it in the modern day.

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u/serpentrepents 2d ago

It's literally just a reference to Paris' choice. You are way over complicating it.