Ideal body type throughout history

Throughout history, the standard of female beauty often has been unrealistic and difficult to attain. Those with money and higher socioeconomic status were far more likely to be able to conform to these standards while other women were willing to sacrifice comfort and even endure the pain to achieve them. Before the world was told that being fat was wrong, women were praised for their voluptuous bodies. Full breast and large hips were considered sexy and men would choose women with these body types because they were ideal for child bearing. In colonial times, the harsh environment and lack of comfortable surroundings required that all family members contribute to survival. Large families were preferred as children could help tend to the land and household chores. For these reasons, communities valued fertile, physically strong and able women. (Thesander M, 1997). At the start of the 1900s, slenderness became more fashionable. They began to see body weight as a 'science' of calorie counting, ideal weights, and weigh-ins. At this time the physically perfect woman was 5'4" tall and weighed 10 stone. Between 1970 and 1990, there was an overall increase on the emphasis on weight loss and the body shape content of a popular women’s magazine and the shift of using thinner models in their photo shoots. The media traps them with mixed messages about what is sexy, making it difficult to choose a role model. A good example is the heroin chic waif made popular by Kate Moss in the 1990s competes with the voluptuous Baywatch babe personified by Pamela Anderson. In today’s society, “thin is in”, everywhere you go, females are constantly being bombarded with advertisement of the ideal image of the women and media has socially responsible for this cultural trend.

• Peel health public create a chart showing the different types of trends that deal with media and body image:

The Era	The Look of the Day for Women
1800's	A large body is a sign of health and fertility. Corsets narrow the waist and enhance the bust.
1920's	Era of the flat-chested, slim-hipped flapper. First dieting craze of the 20th Century begins.
1950’s & 1960’s	Voluptuous full figured shapes of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield are popular.
1967	British model Twiggy (5’6 or 168 cm. and 91 lbs. or 41 kg.) arrives on the scene – and the diet industry explodes.
1970’s & 1980’s	Models gradually become taller, thinner and begin to show toned muscle definition. Breasts make a fashion come-back.
Late 1990’s	Tall, very thin models with no visible body fat and muscles highly toned by hours of working out. Large breasts remain in style – but are rare in this body type without the help of breast implants.
2000 and beyond	Today’s advertisers go to huge lengths to sell products and to convince women that their bodies are never good enough. Female models are typically tall, thin, young, white and appear “perfect”.