WST 383 Women’s StudiesThemed Class: The Female Body
Presentation Credit: Meghan Somers
“American women feel more negatively about their bodies than their counterparts in any other culture,” notes Margo Maine, author of Body Wars: Making Peace with Women’s Bodies.
Info from Backlash: The Undeclaired War Against Women, by S. Faludi (1991), New York: Doubleday
A timeline of female body image
Early Civilizatio
n
The Venus of Willendorf is a tribute to women and fertility. Women’s forms were celebrated and it is believed that standard of beauty was a woman with larger breasts and hips, ensuring fertility. Feminine features, including stomachs and buttocks were exaggerated in art forms.
Victorian Era
During the Victorian era, the ideal body type for women
was plump, fleshy, and full-figured. They wore
restrictive corsets, which made waists artificially tiny
while accentuating the hips and buttocks. These
corsets also caused a variety of health problems
with breathing and digestion.
1840’s
Actress Lillian Russell weighed
around 200 pounds in the
peak of her fame.
1890’s
“During the Victorian era the role of women ‘was defined largely on the basis of their appearance, and not on intellectual or
occupational grounds. The ideal Victorian woman was expected to be childlike, pale and indeterminate, passive, submissive,
mindless, genteel and nice.”
http://www.ulladulla.info/fhc/vicfashions.htm
The 20th Century
1910’s As feminism spreads,women are portrayed asbig and powerful. Theimages on magazinescovers show little menagainst larger, strongerfemales.
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Fall2000/Marcus/timeline2.htm#1890s
The 19th Amendment to the Constitution granting women the right to vote, is signed into law.
Tobacco companies begin to target women by claiming that smoking can help control weight.
1920
“By the 1920’s, the Victorian hourglass gave way to the thin flapper who bound her
breasts to achieve a washboard profile. After
World War I, active lifestyles added another dimension. Energy and vitality became
central and body fat was perceived to contribute to
inefficiency and was seen as a sign of self-indulgence.”
www.thesite.org/healthandwellbeing/mentalhealth/bodyimageandselfesteem/bodyimagetimeline
“Flappers helped to revolutionize the way women act and think by defying the traditional views of women.”
Modesty returns. Cleavage is viewed as obscene.
1930’s
At 5’2” and average
weight, Bette Davis is an American
Icon.
1930’s
Beauty standards focus on large breasts and pin-up
girls.
1950’s
1950’s, a thin woman with a large bust line was considered most
attractive. The voluptuous (size 14-16) Marilyn Monroe set a new standard for women who now needed to rebuild the
curves they had previously tried to bind and restrain.
Competitive athletics considered to be
dangerous for women.
Dieting becomes popular and skirt hems get shorter.
1960’s
Slenderness became the most important
indicator of physical attractiveness
following the arrival of model Twiggy. Twiggy was 5’7”, weighed 91 pounds, and had the
figure of a prepubescent boy.
1960’s
Twiggy
Women protest the Miss America
Pageant citing that it is demeaning toward women.
1960’s
The FDA approves Fenfluarmine an appetite
suppressant.
1970’s
In 1975 top models and beauty queens weighed only 8% less than the average woman. (Today they weigh 23% less, a
size achievable by less than 5% of today's female population.)
The 1970’s
Beginning in the 1970’s, there was an overall
increased emphasis on weight loss and body
shape in the content of popular women’s
magazines.
Karen Carpenter, a famous singer, dies
of heart failure
caused by anorexia.
1980’s
The 1980’s beauty ideal remained slim but required a more toned and fit look. Women could no longer just 'diet' into
the correct size; there was a new pressure to add exercise to achieve the
toned look.
The FDA takes Fenfluarmine (a diet drug) off the market because it is linked to heart
disorders.
1990’s
• Young Cindy Crawford considered the new “voluptuous” model.
The 1990’s body ideal was very slim and
large breasted, think Pamela 'Baywatch'
Anderson, an almost impossible
combination.
In the 1990’s FIVE MILLION American women suffer from eating disorders.
• In the 2000’s, that number doubles to over 10 MILLION
The 21st Century
2sportscars.comRubens
1600s
2000’s
• Models get much taller and impossibly thin
“The Holocaust Look” gets trendy.
• 2006 Spain outlaws models with BMI <18
2000’s
In an interview with 48 Hours, Mary-Kate Olsen compared her looks to her sister's saying, “I - are you kidding me? I look in the mirror and I'm like why do you look pretty and I look ugly?" Mary-Kate Olsen begins receiving treatment for an eating disorder.
Food for Thought
“When a man gets up to speak, people listen, then look. When a woman gets up, people look; then, if they like what they see, they listen.” Pauline Frederick
Early 2000’s
“I see my body as an
instrument, rather than an ornament.” ~Alanis Morissette
2000s-2010s
“You're damned if you're too thin,and you're damned if you're tooheavy. According to the press I'vebeen both. It's impossible to satisfyeveryone and I suggest we all stoptrying.”
--Jennifer Aniston
In a recent survey conducted by People magazine, 80% of
women stated that advertising and fashion magazines made them feel insecure about their
looks.
• A Glamour Magazine survey found that 97% of women had hateful thoughts about their bodes every day—on average 13 times per day.
“We have to have faith in ourselves. I have never met a woman who, deep
down in her core, really believes she has great legs. And if she suspects that she
might have great legs, then she's convinced that she has a shrill voice and
no neck.” ~Cynthia Heimel
“Black women don't have the same body image problems as white women. They are proud of their bodies. Black men love big butts.”
-Tyra Banks
• Adele beats the odds.
“Nobody objects to a woman being a good writer or sculptor
or geneticist if at the same time she manages to be a good wife, a good mother,
good-looking, good-tempered, well-dressed, well-groomed,
and unaggressive.” ~Marya Mannes
Mauritania's 'wife-fattening' farm
Prestige & Early Puberty
"We don’t need Afghan-style burquas to disappear as women.
We disappear in reverse—by revamping and revealing our
bodies to meet externally imposed visions of female beauty."
Robin Gerber
“Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth.”
-- Aesop
Whose body is it, anyway?
Created by Meghan SomersUpdated by Juliet Davis
Sources• http://www.thesite.org/healthandwellbeing/mentalhealth/
bodyimageandselfesteem/bodyimagetimeline • http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Fall200/Marcus/timeline2.htm • http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/22/earlyshow/leisure/
celebspot/main625389.shtml• http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/06/02/why-do-women-
hate-their-bodies/• http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/2011/02/shocking-body-
image-news-97-percent-of-women-will-be-cruel-to-their-bodies-today
• Music by Natalie Merchant, “Break your Heart” from Opehlia.