Are You The Right Shape?

by Barbara McPherson | December 4, 2008 at 11:19 am

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Women and girls in N. America have been bombarded with images of the "ideal" woman ever since mass circulation of newspapers. The ideal has changed over the years from a Gibson girl image of large bosom, large bum augmented with a bustle to the extremely thin high fashion models of the modern era. New research published in Medical News Today, is shedding light on our selection of the ideal shape. It may be that what men are looking at as a sexual ideal, changes with the economic and social times. The new research finds that the resourceful, on the go woman generally has a more androgenous body shape with slimmer hips and larger waist than the pear shaped or hour glass shaped woman. This research goes on to show that much of the sexual selection based on body shape is cultural and where women are more valued for their resourcefulness than reproduction the preference leans toward stronger, more androgenous shapes. It also suggested that in cultures where male/female relationships are more equal, less emphasis is placed on the hour glass figure.
Other research seems to support the premise that body shape desirability is cultural.

Women have always been judged by the appearance of their bodies, regardless of their ethnicity. They are considered faceless and as a result have more attention focused on their bodies (Wade, 1984). They are appreciated more for their sexual attractiveness than their intelligence, somewhat opposite of how men are portrayed (Wade, 1984), pressuring them to have a certain body shape. “Good looking women are described in terms of their physical attractiveness, their beauty, and their thinness” (Dittmar, Lloyd, Dugan, Halliwell, Jacobs, & Cramer, 2000). With the help of the media, society has influenced what is perceived as the ideal body figure, shaping the way adolescent females feel about their own bodies (Freedman, 1984, as cited by Bissell, 2002). Magazines in different societies depict the ideal female body differently. For example, Latin magazines portray the ideal body as more curvaceous when compared with American magazines. Australian magazines portray the ideal body as more voluptuous when compared to Japanese magazines.

We were not born preferring women with figures like hourglasses and men who resemble inverted triangles, new Australian research shows.

Queensland researchers reporting in the Journal of Sex Research say these preferences emerge around the age of 10 or 11.

At age five and six young children prefer thin, straight up-and-down body shapes. But they develop an attraction to hourglasses and inverted triangles by the onset of puberty.

"The only strong conclusion is that these are not inborn preferences," said author Dr Virginia Slaughter of Queensland University's school of psychology, who supervised the paper by PhD student Jennifer Connolly.

Slaughter said it's unclear whether the development of adult body-shape preferences is related to hormonal changes or socialisation.

The 1920s and 1960s both bucked the trend of the curvaceous woman. Ann Bolin, an anthropologist at Elon College suggests that "during periods of liberation, like the 1920s, when women had just gotten the vote, and the 1960s, when the Pill became available, the ideal shape for women deemphasized their reproductive characteristics--the nourishing breasts, the wide, childbearing hips."

So thin is good. Strong is good and we're all liberated from worrying about our image right? Well, not so fast.

So What Now?
Today's ideal body shape seems to be a bizarre combination of male desire and waifish androgyny; thin, no hips, big bust. For most this is only possible with a genetically-blessed bone structure along with surgery - something which America is pursuing with a vengeance. Couple this with the "toned" look, where muscular (but not overly-so) women play lead roles in Hollywood, and champion the fitness industry.

How willingly do we subscribe to a cult of perceived beauty that is attainable by so few? Could it be that after all these years, many women are still judged (by themselves and others) on the basis of body shape and little else?

We are a two-body society: one body is an advertising medium, the other body is what you see on the street.

I think it would be nice if hating the way you look weren't so good for the economy. [...] We know, too, that women in ads, knockouts to start with, are artificially perfected beyond human emulation. We know, but we forget. - Anne Bolin

Love the way you look now. Your body will change over the years. Love it then too. It does wonderful things for you.

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Paschen

at 11:24 on December 4th, 2008

Be healthy should the slogan and the Ideal to look up to.

Terri Potratz

at 11:50 on December 4th, 2008

Not only is there the cultural perspective to consider when examining the evolution of female body shapes, but it's important to identify that a woman who works produces more androgens - a hormone which transfers fat from the hips to the waist. Therefore, women who are more resourceful and self-sufficient will find a reduction in their "ideal" 0.7 hip to waist ratio.

Very interesting study, thanks Barbara!

Rachel Nixon

at 12:06 on December 4th, 2008

No doubt a lot of research has gone into these studies but I really do find them damaging - so much talk about what is the "preferred" female body type, very little about male body types, and for what purpose?

There is far too much pressure on women to measure up to some ideal, in my opinion. I agree with Paschen and Barbara: Be healthy and love the way you look now.

josiemitchell

at 12:09 on December 4th, 2008

I still remember my grade 8 biology teacher describing the "male build" as an upside down Dorito chip. The things that stick with you...

josiemitchell

at 12:07 on December 4th, 2008

This reminds me of the different preferred body shapes in the 1940's and 50's. First in the 1940's during WWII, when women needed to be more independent, it was the Katharine Hepburn look, pants and shoulder pads (the androgenous look). In the 1950's, with the boys back from war and the baby boom around the corner, shapes like Marilyn Monroe's were in style, the big busted, thin waist, "motherly" look. This is just so interesting!

Karenke4

at 13:03 on December 4th, 2008

Very interesting article! Thanks Barbara. Style certainly does change over the course of years but that is not to say that is men's opinion that drives the change. More often, I think it is women themselves who power the "accepted" image, which of course would lead us to conclude that it is within our power to offer a healthy image as "accepted". Are we up to it?

politisite

at 15:04 on December 4th, 2008

Barbara, I am in shape.... round is a shape. Any tomatoes who are red and plump? Thats the shape for me.

To be serious though. My perferred body type is a larger woman with some shape. Every woman I see in a painting at the musium has a real body and I think very sexy. While I was in the music business, I had my chance to date woman of may different shapes. I prefer a full figured woman above all.

titaniaA

at 15:03 on December 4th, 2008

This is me (laying on the bed) and I am genetically like this. Women's bodies are scrutinised it doesn't matter what size or shape you are, you are still made to feel like you are not perfect. I am happy with the way I am, I have had many comments on my body, I am told that I am the 'ideal' but I am also told that I am 'too thin' today in fact someone told me to 'eat a burger'. I am in fact happy and healthy, I eat very well and have a busy active lifestyle that doesn't involve the gym but does involve walking a lot.

titaniaA has contributed a photo to this story.

Nicole Billard

at 15:49 on December 4th, 2008

In university I took a course in developmental psychology, which spent a lot of time on what babies and children found 'attractive' by way of measuring the amount of time an individual spent staring at pictures representing different faces and body types. It was pretty simplistic but to this day I wonder... what does a baby REALLY think when it sees a super skinny person with large breasts? (please refrain from the knee-jerk, Family Guy kind of response...)

Alternatively, consider this:

Due to the 'norm' of cosmetic surgical procedures, we no longer select mates due to thier natural features which historically used to indicate fitness for mating and cultural origin. What genetic and physical evolutions will take place over the next few generations as we no longer choose real physical 'ideals' (conscious and sub-conscious) ? Is Extreme Makover going to be the way of life? It all just sounds very Logan's Run to me.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 16:23 on December 4th, 2008

Very interesting study, Barbara. Thanks for posting!

Green Eden Vintage

at 19:30 on December 4th, 2008

Thanks for asking to include my photo, Barbara. Great article, and interesting comments as well. I find the history of fashion, and how it has dictated the 'preferred female body type' incredibly interesting. In the end, though, I have to agree with the conclusion's sentiment: that we ought to all be happy with however we were made, as long as we are healthy. Unfortunately being at peace with who you are and what you have is not what makes other people money, so it's unlikely this is going to be the new 'ideal shape' any time soon.

Green Eden Vintage has contributed a photo to this story.

Barbara McPherson

at 10:47 on December 5th, 2008

That's the trick isn't it -- being at peace with yourself. There is so much money to be made getting people to buy the miracles that will make them perfect. Liposuction, implants, veneers, botox, collagen injections -- huge industry preying on our insecurities. Men are starting to get sucked into this as well with implants for the pecs and calves.