Once upon a time having thighs was sexy. Once upon a time having natural breasts was oh I don't know... natural. Once upon a time having hips was preferable.
Then the "beauty myth" came along. As women moved up the various ladders of social institutions, advertisers had to start changing their approach of how to reach women. Domestic advertisements slowly started to loose their mass appeal to women. There was no longer a need for a vacuum to make a woman feel feminine. Fashion became one of the dominating forces of femininity. Don't get me wrong. I love fashion. I find couture to be a fascinating art form. My problem is this: over the years, fashion became all about constricting women. Since the corporate world could no longer keep women in the home, they had to think of a new way of to hold women back. Fashion. Women with natural bodies became grotesuque. The thinner you become. the more feminine and valid you are. The enforcement of thinness has become a prison of hallucination. Naomi Wolf calls this this Iron Maiden effect. Back in the day, women would be put into an iron casket to die either from starvation or from pokey things on the inside. They were forced to fit into the casket, despite the shape of the woman. I feel like beauty is a modern and updated version of the Iron Maiden.
Now, women hate themselves for not being thin or tan or having the right hair. Even my girlfriends (who are some of the most amazing beautiful women ever) talk about how they dislike something about themselves. I am guilty of this too. When someone tells me I am beautiful- I think they are full of shit. Why? Because I don't fit the modern Iron Maiden look. No matter how hard I try, I cannot fit into the casket. And the sad thing is that no one really can. Very few people naturally fit into this frame. But as women gained some sense of agency, they became locked into a casket. This entrapment became enforced by advertising. Specifically fashion has become a forceful way in which to convey what it means to be a true Iron Maiden. The picture of the very skinny model is considered by some to be the ideal look of beauty. To me, I think she is beautiful- but sort of creepy. I mean, you can see her bones. I think that is not always natural. Since fashion models have been known to have serious eating disorders and self-image problems, it would not be off for me to assume that she suffers from these things.
Marilyn Monroe was and is the pinnacle of a sexy woman. She was gorgeous. She was a size 13 (this may be off but more often than not she was talked about as being this size). That is bigger than me; that is bigger than most super models. YET, she surpasses them all. She represents a kind of beauty that is no longer recognized as acceptable. If you are over a size ten, you are considered to be overweight; which by the way is complete and utter shit. Who made this rule? Why do people actually care? I mean I am all for women being healthy and feeling good. What I am not for is women saying that they just want to feel better but really just want to loose weight to look like a model. I know plenty of women who hide behind this argument but still have a motivation to look culturally acceptable. You can still look hott at a size 13 and up. If you love yourself others will love you. If you rock who you are, you will be a legend. Marilyn Monroe did this. AND she is still hotter than pretty much any woman most of us know.
My point here isn't to talk about Marilyn Monroe. My point is to simply show you how beauty standards have changed. Very few women of shape are considered beautiful- they still get ridiculed or made fun of; Jennifer Lopez's butt and Beyonce's hips and thighs. While people say look, they are shapely and they are successful, they are still falling in to the trap. Why should it even matter? It shouldn't be unique. What should be unique are eating disorders that make your bones visible. But that is just my opinion.
Ladies, which woman would you rather look like? I say Marilyn. I mean, the modern model IS gorgeous- I don't want to diss her. I just want to say that beauty has changed. Think about it.
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