WST 383 Women’s Studies
Themed 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
Civilization
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
1840’s
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.
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
th
20
The
Century
1910’s
As feminism spreads,
women are portrayed as
big and powerful. The
images on magazines
covers show little men
against larger, stronger
females.
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Fall2000/Marcus/timeline2.htm#1890s
1920
Tobacco
The 19th
companies
Amendment
begin
to to
the
Constitution
target women
granting
by claiming
women
thatthe
smoking
right to vote,
can help
is signed
control
into law.
weight.
“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.”
1930’s
Modesty returns. Cleavage
is viewed as obscene.
1930’s
At 5’2” and
average
weight, Bette
Davis is an
American
Icon.
1950’s
Beauty standards focus on
large breasts and pin-up
girls.
1950’s, a thin woman
with a large bust line
was considered most
attractive. The
voluptuous (size 1416) 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.
1960’s
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.
Twiggy
1960’s
Women protest the
Miss America
Pageant citing that
it is demeaning
toward women.
1970’s
The FDA approves
Fenfluarmine an appetite
suppressant.
The 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.)
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.
1980’s
Karen Carpenter, a
famous singer, dies
of heart failure
caused by anorexia.
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.
1990’s
The FDA takes Fenfluarmine
(a diet drug) off the market
because it is linked to heart
disorders.
• 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
st
21
The
Century
1600s
2000’s
Rubens
2sportscars.com
• 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 too
heavy. According to the press I've
been both. It's impossible to satisfy
everyone and I suggest we all stop
trying.”
--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 Somers
Updated by Juliet Davis
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Sources
http://www.thesite.org/healthandwellbeing/mentalhealth/
bodyimageandselfesteem/bodyimagetimeline
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Fall200/Marcus/timeline2.ht
m
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/22/earlyshow/l
eisure/celebspot/main625389.shtml
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/06/02/whydo-women-hate-their-bodies/
http://www.glamour.com/healthfitness/2011/02/shocking-body-image-news-97-percentof-women-will-be-cruel-to-their-bodies-today
Music by Natalie Merchant, “Break your Heart” from
Opehlia.