Author: Brett Wilbur
Dating back to the 1680's, cases of anorexia and bulimia have been recorded. Eating disorders were recognized and the first formal medical condition of anorexia was diagnosed in London by Dr. Richard Morton. Unfortunately, many women in today society suffer from eating disorders in order to maintain a certain body image. Different from the 1900's when Rubenesque women were considered beautiful regardless of the different body shape and size. The rubenesque figure was considered the ideal body image and a volumptuous woman's body was considered a sign of good health. In today's society, the rubenesque woman would be considered to be suffering from obesity. The article by Brett Wilbur, "Talking about body image is good...really believing it is hard", describes how the idea of what woman's body should look like has changed throughout history. The time line below include some examples of how woman's body image have changed from decade to decade.
1900s-1920s
An Image to Heal
Author: Jill S. Zimmerman
Dating back to the August 1905 Ladies Home Journal, the average measure was (38-27-45). The Gibson Girl of this era, made famous by the paintings of Charles Dana Gibson, replaced the full feminine figure of the 1800s. This figure’s was a slimmer and more athletic Gibson Girl. However, in today’s standards the Gibson Girl would be considered chucky. The Gibson Girl was considered the image of beauty until WWI. The Flapper Girl then became the new image of beauty. In the early 1900's, our culture saw a shift from a plump voluptuous female form to a thinner frame with less curves. The new female ideal of the 1920's was named "The Flapper" whom were thin, had a natural shape waistline, and were represented by Progressive Era women. People began to diet and sports became a popular pastime. Exercising began to be viewed as a healthy activity to enhance the body. Commercial advertisements began to portray what an ideal female body image should look like. The look of the late 1920's was termed "the new slender look" and it began with the fashion designers of that time. The new image for females was far different then the ideal woman from only twenty years earlier. Attention was drawn away from curves (bust and hips) and to a more toned-down look. The look was flat-chested with narrow hips and waist. In the 1920s, woman's anxieties skyrocketed, especially since the perfect flapper's body was small, slim, and flat. Fad diets were in, self-induced vomiting, and laxative abuse were becoming much more common. Advertisers took advantage of woman's insecurities about themselves to talk about weight-loss equipment, fad diets, and much more. The message was that if a woman slims down they would be beautiful and happy.
1930s
The 1930s saw the return of the fuller bust, slender waist, with emphasis on legs. The picture on the right is the actress know as the "Oomph girl", Ann Sheridan. Many of our culture today would deem Sheridan as overweight because of her full shape. Sheridan’s sister thought of her as beautiful enough to send in a picture of her in a bathing suit to Paramount Studios. Paramount was sponsoring the "Search for Beauty" contest which carried, as the prize, a screen test and a small part in a movie. Sheridan won the contest and was signed to a contract at the age of 19. The ideals for women and standards of beauty have taken a turn in the opposite direction in more recent decades.
1940s In the 1940s, women became voluptuous and curvaceous. The 1940's brought another change to the ideal female
body image, seen in the female movie stars as well. The look of the 1940's was more glamorized and sensual. The despair of the Depression had dwindled and the winning of WWII was near. This brought a new hope and new prosperity to Americans. The ideal female body image then changed to become more glamorous and to have a more sensual appeal. This new image was very pronounced: a higher bust, defined waist, and rounded hips. Women also began wearing heavier make-up to attain the "glow", the look of perfection, desired at that time. No woman more than Betty Grable represented this image of a new, glamorous, sensual hope with curves. She was the pin-up girl of this time period, a musical star with legs so famous they were insured with Lloyds of London for $1,000,000. Betty Grable quickly became a favorite with the GI servicemen of WWII.
1950s
In the 1940s and 1950s, women were wearing girdles and push-up bras or foam “falsies” to enhance their breast line. Slender legs also became fashionable in the 1940s as hemlines rose to save fabric during World War II. Following the war, women returned from jobs supporting the war effort to their domestic lives. Fuller shapes became the accepted norm for housewives and mothers. During the late 1950's the ideal female body image was that of a blonde, German, Elke Sommer. Most likely, in today's standard of the ultra-thin body type, Ms. Sommer would be considered chubby or overweight. Elke was an European sex symbol with her full lips, high cheek bones and sky-high hair. This film star was also one of the most popular pin-up girls of the sixties, and posted twice for Playboy.
1960s
The 1960s most favoritable body image was thin and un-curvaceous, idealized models were waif-like women, and muscle-bound. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was a '60s trendsetter with her signature Chanel suits and pillbox hats. She had the ideal body for high fashion at that time: At 5’7’’ and 120 to 130 pounds, she was a muse for designers. Mattel even created a Jackie O-inspired line of clothing for Barbie, making it clear that everyone wanted to look like Jackie O. While beautiful women are slimmer, average women are heavier than they were in the 1950s. Thus the discrepancy between the real and ideal is greater. Therefore, girls would attempt to achieve impossible beauty standards that were produced through much media trickery. For example, photo cropping, airbrushing, composite bodies, and body doubles.
1970s
During the early 1970s, the model Twiggy started a trend that consisted of an extremely slim figure. Twiggy started taking a large amount of slimming pills, never ate, and had bulimia. The singer Karen Carpenter began her battle with anorexia nervosa. She died in 1983 from heart failure related to the disease. America began to pay more attention to eating disorders after this unfortunate loss. Beginning the late 1970s, a new, more athletic look became popular as increasing numbers of women began to participate in sports and regular exercise. Fitness centers and group exercise activities such as aerobics became popular among women.
1980s-1990s
In the 1980s, the prevailing look among top fashion models not only remained ultra-thin, but it became increasingly anorexic in the last decades of the century. By the late 1980s, the average model looked like a waif and weighed 23 percent less than the average American woman. During the 1980s and 1990s, eating disorders were widely discussed, but they were primarily associated with white, middle-class, and educated girls and young women. Although there was some evidence linking eating disorders with depression and with a history of sexual abuse, these disorders were often associated with high-achieving and driven personalities. Rates of eating disorders appeared to be lower among women of color. To some extent this reflected the different standards of beauty and ideal body types between white women and women of color. Health advocates in the 1980s and 1990s pointed out that non-white women’s experiences with discrimination and abuse based on their race and sex were important, but neglected, contributors to disordered eating habits among women of color. Thus, the prevalence of eating disorders among diverse populations of women may have been underestimated.
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