Beauty Standards: A Timeline

A little over 100 years ago, in 1908, a statuette now known as the Woman of Willendorf was found, and is dated back all the way to somewhere between 28,000 and 25,000 BCE. She's faceless, naked, and round.

It is said that she was made to represent fertility, as her belly might mean she's pregnant, and also because of her wide hips and large breasts. And apparently, there are a lot of other statuettes being found like her all around the world. Now, that's not to say that this was the ideal body for a woman back in those days, but it may simply indicate that this body type was common.

Fast forward quite a few centuries and we have paintings with somewhat fuller-figured bodies, compared to what we see today. Here's a painting titled Venus and Adonis, by Peter Paul Rubens from 1635.

We can see that Venus has a little bit of belly fat and thicker thighs and arms than what we are used to seeing today-- surely, they would have been photoshopped away. 

Then, fast forwarding some more, we have "The Gibson Girl" in the early 1900s, which was classified by a thin waist (achieved with a corset) and big bust. Next, there were the 20s flapper girls-- thin and exposing her arms and legs, and no emphasis on her waist. 

Moving along, women during the war went back to "normal" and practical looks that didn't emphasize their curves, but rather subtly highlighted them. And post-war, women like Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelley were idolized. Curves were in! But not for long-- in the 60s, models like Twiggy gained popularity, and so did the thin ideal. The 70s brought fad diets and diet pills, an increase in anorexia, and thin actresses like Farrah Fawcett. The 80s were the decade of big hair and small waists, as supermodels became more common, and the bony appearance was in. And by the time we reached the 90s, we had actresses like Pamela Anderson, Kiera Knightley, and Natalie Portman representing beauty, and they all were very thin. 

As time progressed, waists just got thinner and the BMIs of those in the media decreased, while they increased for the average woman in America. But it's hard to tell why that happened. However, studies very clearly show that the ever-so-present thin ideal in today's society plays a hugely negative role in women's body perception. 

And although I can't necessarily answer why the thin ideal became ideal, I can definitely shed light on the fact that this is not what should have happened. 

Some people say that thin models and actresses are preferred because clothing fits them better and being able to see the bone structure of the face and of the body allows for better-looking angles on the TV screen and magazine covers, etcetera etcetera. But that doesn't mean that "real" sized women can't be used in movies or magazines. What's the harm in making the average woman feel good about herself? That's why I applaud the brands I mentioned in last week's post about "real women" campaigns. They showcase real, attainable beauty. Anyway, I'm digressing.

Backtracking for a second, I'd like to mention that I kind of glossed over something when I mentioned the 50s and Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly. This was a time when there were ads that literally told women to gain weight, otherwise men wouldn't like you. Women were told to gain a few pounds to fill themselves out. Apparently, a few extra pounds gives you sex appeal! Who knew!? (read:sarcasm)

Can you believe that? Imagine seeing that around now. You'd think it's some sort of sick joke. Women were encouraged to gain weight. But what bothers me about this is that they were told to gain weight so that they would be attractive to men. And this is where the feminist in me gets angry. Being told to change your appearance for the male population is not okay. 

Media and advertisements play such a huge role in the self-esteem and body image of women, and being told to gain weight in the 50s and being told to lose weight now is sending the same message: you are not good enough the way you are.  

And yes, most of us want to be considered attractive, but the beauty of it all, is that if you love yourself, others will learn to love you too. And that's what matters most--that people love you for the right reasons, and that you love yourself because you are able to recognize the beauty in your flaws and uniqueness.

The progression of beauty standards in America hasn't been the best, and in all honesty, it's always been kind of wrong. But it's good to see that more brands and mass media outlets are progressing into using real-sized women, and that will always be right.

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[Disclaimer: a lot of information was gathered from this article.]