The Incredible Shrinking Woman
For centuries, women have struggled to meet the criteria of the “ideal” female body, not only to win the affections of men, but to hold a certain status in society. The interesting thing is that until just recently, the ideal female body type has grown smaller and smaller with the passage of time. You may wonder if the body type itself sends a message, or if it’s what women have done with their figures throughout the ages that is more important. Actually, it’s a little of both.
Bigger Was Better
If you’ve ever taken an art history course, you’ve no doubt come across paintings depicting rotund women just lying around their boudoirs, content to be doing absolutely nothing. Prior to the twentieth century, the most desirable females were considerably overweight, at least by today’s standards. The super-skinny woman, by contrast, symbolized someone who had fallen on hard times. In those days, any woman without an ounce of extra fat was most likely some type of laborer, probably desperately poor, and possibly in ill health—not the kind of girl that the ideal man of the era was hoping to snag for his very own.
Prior to the twentieth century, excess fat on a woman was a sign of health and wealth. Thin women were getting lots of exercise serving these “healthy” ladies.
During this time, the perfect lady was supposed to sit idly and wait for her man to stop by for some intimate relations; indolence was admired. Think about this in terms of today’s world: If your overweight sister spent the day on the couch waiting for her boyfriend to come over, you’d take one look at her body language and think, “She is the laziest person I’ve ever known.” And since laziness isn’t considered a good thing in today’s society, you’d be making quite a negative judgment about her. Had your sister been born 200 years ago, not only would you approve of her behavior, you’d probably be emulating it.
Workouts for the Wealthy
By the 1920s, fortunes were being made by various barons of industry. These wealthy folks started to take up hobbies like tennis, golf, and swimming. The exercise gave them a more athletic physique than wealthy folks had in past generations. Suddenly, thin was in—it was proof that one was well off enough to be engaging in a healthy lifestyle (and specifically, partaking in expensive activities).
During this era, makeup was also becoming widely available. Women could hide their flaws and play up their best assets with cosmetics, making their eyes and lips look innocent or sultry and adding a fake flush of excitement to their cheeks with rouge. Movies were also becoming popular, and women were beginning to mimic the behaviors of Hollywood actresses. And thanks to those movies, and to magazines and the excesses of the Roaring Twenties, women from all walks of life were interested in dressing fashionably. Even the plainest Jane could now doll herself up and learn to bat her eyelashes and strut like a starlet.
One more development of the early twentieth century was the flapper. She was thin, had short hair, and displayed wildly flirtatious body language. Average women didn’t exactly mimic this behavior, but the flapper planted the seeds of sexual curiosity in many minds—male and female alike—and probably contributed to a more casual attitude about sex among certain segments of the population.
Magnificent Monroe
By the 1950s, Marilyn Monroe had become the new “It” girl. Her behavior set the new standards for the “ideal” woman—blonde, buxom, and very sexual. Monroe’s body language was a mixture of innocence and overt sexuality. Just watch one of her movies and you’ll see her big, wide eyes, her plump pout, and her suggestive body movements. What was the message behind Monroe’s nonverbal cues? “I may look innocent, but deep down, I’m all woman.”
Interestingly, by today’s standards, Monroe would be a size 14, which would make her a “full-size” actress. However, her personality and nonverbal gestures were so unique and powerful that if she were around today, she might set a new standard for beauty.
Waif a Minute
In the 1960s, Twiggy was the model, and she set a whole new standard for the ideal woman: she was so small, she was almost child sized. In fact, with her big eyes and pouty lips, she looked just like a little kid. Twiggy was so thin and tiny, she completely defied the ideal female body types that went before her.
Unlike the previous “ideal” women, Twiggy wasn’t chesty and she didn’t have curves. She was clearly very pretty, yet tomboyish—hence, the androgynous look was born. Suddenly, women wanted to have a masculine body that looked somewhat feminine—like a little boy’s body.
So what was the underlying unspoken message of the Twiggy-like body? It was a statement somewhere along the lines of, “I’m a woman-child. Maybe I’m innocent, maybe I’m not.”
Thin Today
The androgynous, you-can-never-be-too-thin body type took hold in the 1970s. Women would starve themselves to achieve skeletal frames. What did their body language say to others? “I care so much about my appearance I’m willing to forgo the basic elements of survival.” As with every “ideal” body type, the super-thin woman was viewed as being sexual, even though she was completely devoid of curves of any type.
In the 1980s, fitness gurus decided that women shouldn’t simply be thin—they should also be fit. The aerobics craze was born and the ideal body type conveyed the message, “I’m totally into my health.”
Nowadays, there’s a definite swing back toward the naturally feminine body type—curves, breasts, and plump rear ends are desirable once again. But more importantly, women are starting to demand acceptance of their bodies just as they are. That’s an important step in the right direction, since every cultural group has its own definition of beauty. An African-American woman and a Caucasian woman, for example, have different ideas of what constitutes the “ideal” body. For the most part, they don’t aspire to achieve each other’s goals in that regard, which takes some of the pressure off of trying to reach physically impossible standards.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, the ideal androgynous body evolved to include large breasts. The skinny body with a huge bosom almost screams, “I have achieved what is almost physically impossible. I’m perfect!” Of course, the popularity of breast implants has played a big role in the development of this ideal body type.
