The History of Fat Part 2 - This is Not a Repeat - 20th Century Body Image

This post is a continuation of my study of the ideal in beauty through the ages.  

In this post I will be focusing on the 20th century and some of the major changes that occurred in society's ideal for women's bodies.

The first two decades of the 20th century saw much of the same for women.  Very tight corsets were still being used to try and achieve that perfect Gibson Girl, hourglass figure.  And bustles were still being used to achieve the perfect "S" shaped figure.

Toward the end of World War I; however, something began to change.  Women had needed, during the war, to take over a lot of the roles that men had traditionally dominated.  In other words they began to work outside the home.  They worked hard for the war effort and covering for the jobs that had been vacated by the men who were off fighting.  At the same time, they continued to work equally hard to care for their home and family.  

During all of this, most women began to see that the way they were dressing (restrictive corsets and body-shapers) was completely impractical.  During the war when times were lean and a lot had to be sacrificed, vanity and body obsession were given the heave.  The women buckled down and did what they had to do to get themselves and their families through.

When the war ended, the women were NOT ready to go back to the incredibly binding clothing that shaped them into an ideal.  Instead...

The Flapper was born.

As is usually the case, it was the young women who REALLY grabbed on to this new body image and beauty shift.  Suddenly young women everywhere were "bobbing" their hair and wearing clothing that didn't require a bustle or extra padding.  In fact it was just the opposite.    

For decades women had been padding and squeezing their bodies into a curvaceous shape.   But the Flapper look was SO streamlined and straight that very few women could achieve the look on their own.  So they began pulling everything into a straight line with the help of girdles and "straight corsets" that flattened those pesky bumps and curves.

Throughout the 30's the ideal shape stayed much the same.  Women began regularly wearing trousers in the 1930's which continued the desire for the more boyish straight and narrow body shape. 

But toward the end of the decade a bit more curve had again entered the body ideal; especially when compared with the Flapper "straight and flat" ideal.  

Also during the 30's the bra, as we know it today, came into wide-spread use, again helping to add a few more curves into the stream-lined silhouette.   

 By the time World War II broke out women were regularly working outside the home (at least until they got married) and going to college (at least until they got married).

This time around when war came women had less of a transition from the home to the workplace/munitions factory.  Women got into the war effort with gusto and took over for the many jobs left vacant.  They also enlisted in the army and worked as army nurses, fighting and dying alongside their male comrades.  

This new role for women created a strange new dichotomy for the cultural beauty ideal.  On one hand you had the ideal woman being portrayed as tough and resourceful, with a traditionally masculine look; (short hair, military bearing) a woman who gave little thought to beauty.

While on the other hand you had this very curvaceous, extremely (stereo-typically) feminine, flirty girl being portrayed in all the pin-ups, of which the soldiers were so fond!

The body ideal then during this time tended to run much more toward the curvaceous than in the past two decades, while at the same time, a woman was expected to be fairly athletic and able to work hard.

By the end of the war everyone was anxious to go back to "normal" and pretend that the atrocities of WWII had never happened.  This resulted in women being overwhelming forced back into the home and and a return of the very feminine look of the hourglass figure.  

And here; of course, the epitome of 1950's sexiness and beauty, Marilyn Monroe.  Marilyn herself is an interesting study in changing body image to fit what you think others are looking for.  Because here is what she looked like "before" she became Marilyn; when she was just plain, "Norma Jean Baker".

She was just this regular, pretty little brunette.  But then she completely changed her body and looks and became this mega superstar/legendary sex symbol.  But...did she ever really change her body image; the way she saw HERSELF?  Or was she forever that slightly ordinary, poor and disadvantaged, country girl?

But I digres...

The 1950s were very interested in the "traditional" way of doing things.  And part of that tradition was for women to return to their traditional roles; wife, mother, angel of the house.  

And their body image and self image was STRONGLY tied to this idea.  Therefore women of the day did their very best to always look their best for their husbands.  Fresh, colorful and always smiling.  Advice columns of the day advised women not to bother their husbands with their own trivial concerns.  Instead they were to (I kid you not!) get him his slippers and a nice stiff drink and shoo the kids away from him so he would have time to rest when he came home. 

This was REAL advice from a "Good Housekeeping" article.  Can you imagine what THAT kind of thinking would do for your self worth AND body image.  "Who gives a crap about you and all of the things you may have been dealing with in your day.  Your husband is SO much more important than you."  Oi!  Is it any wonder women started burning their bras?!!

But I Digress Once More...

Suffice it to say that the revolution of the 60s was understandable and probably should have been expected.  The 1960s saw a massive change in the body image ideal.  Women went from fighting to be busty yet slender to needing to look like this...

in order to fit into these...

...ultra "mod"; ultra short; ultra slim-line dresses.  And the pants weren't much better.

Suddenly, ultra-skinny meant ultra-chic.  The idea of "fat cats" being people who stuffed themselves and gorged themselves while other people starved became a pretty popular one and the extreme hatred for people who were overweight began in society in earnest.  

This look and sentiment continued into the 1970s.  Ironically, as the population increased in weight, from a combination of readily available fast food restaurants and a rapidly increasing pace of life, societal pressure continued to push women (and men!) to remain thin.  After all, bell bottoms did not suit chubby people!  

See, not a chubby person among them.  (And I think we can all agree that the plaid doesn't suit ANYONE!)

As the 1980s came in, the focus shifted from being ultra skinny to being "ultra-fit"!  Which sounds like a MUCH better alternative. But it really wasn't.  Because the 80s idea of fitness was a lot of aerobics with Jane Fonda and taking ephedrine pills to "help your metabolism".  

It was during this decade that women really started being encouraged to get those six pack abs and to make their butt as flat as possible.  If there was some way of to actually make your butt concave, that was the best possible solution.

One would think, that this would be as far away from the ideal as we fat people could get.  But the 90s moved us a step further away.  Because the 90s brought us...

...heroin chic.  Yep.  That was an actual thing; an actual "desired look".  Women (AND MEN) were encouraged to be as rail thin as possible, the idea being that they would be SO thin, it would look as though they were on heroin.  One of the most famous Supermodels at the time, Kate Moss (featured in the pictures above) was one of the biggest "role models" for young girls looking to be beautiful.  

It was a dark period for sanity in the world of "beauty".

Eventually, the desire for models (and the regular people trying to emulate them) to be as sickly looking as possible, faded away.  I think we have JLo and Beyonce to thank for a healthy booty and thick thighs returning to the "beautiful body" spectrum of possibilities.  

In spite of the griping I do here on this blog, I really do think that we're living in one of the most accepting times in history. Do we have a long way to go until all body types are seen as beautiful and valid and "acceptable"?  Oh yeah!

But overall, when you look at the women in today's culture who represent "beautiful" you see a pretty (if you'll pardon the pun) broad spectrum of body types; from the afore mentioned Beyonce to the beautifully slender Gwenyth Paltrow.  Melissa McCarthy continues to show us that the big women can be really beautiful too.

Maybe it's just the optimist in me, but I'm holding out hope for the day that even these body types can be seen as beautiful once again.