Lopez

Luigi Lopez
Dr. Freymiller
CAS 137H- Rhetoric and Civic Life
04 November 2014
Women, Body Image, and the Media
Body image is defined as a persons perceptions, thoughts, and feelings about his or her
body (Grogan 1). To envision a world where idealized female imagery is not plastered
everywhere is impossible in todays society. Body image and what society preserves as being
beautiful have been changed ever since mankind existed. There will never be a permanent
definition or standard for what is considered beautiful, but different aspects of life, such as the
media, can definitely influence that non-existing definition and create unrealistic standards. Until
the introduction of photography in 1839, beauty and its ideals were restricted to ones own
community. Previously, individuals were not exposed to real-life images of faces and bodies; in
addition, most of society did not even own mirrors in this era. However, todays society is
becoming more and more obsessed with appearances and the media is to blame for that. My goal
for this paper is to analyze and figure out how the media has influenced what is considered
beautiful, and how this has affected womens body image from the 1900s to present day.
To achieve this goal, I have organized my paper into nine main sections. Each section
deals with that specific time eras standard of beauty, how the media promoted it, and how it
influenced womens body image.
1. 1990s 1920s: The Gibson Girl
The Gibson Girl is one of the most well know beauty influences of the 1900s. So much
in fact that it is often referred to as the Barbie of that time period. The Gibson Girl consisted of

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a slender and tall torso while still obtaining what would be considered voluptuous bust and
hips (Women's Body Image and BMI: 100 Years in the US). It originated from a sketch by
Charles Gibson. This simple sketch later turned out to be published by many different
newspapers and other individuals who recreated the sketch. Gibsons drawing influenced
millions of citizens, regardless of race, wealth, and age; even President Roosevelts daughter was
influenced by the Gibson Girl and could be seen emulating her dress. To obtain this look
naturally is very rare and close to impossible. However, with the use of corsets this exaggerated
look could be achieved. The use of corsets has been noted to lead to the compression of the ribs
and other internal organs, which later leads to more devastating health problems such as
tuberculosis, cancer, and scoliosis (Fee et al.). Not only did women copy her dress, but also her
attitude and persona. The Gibson Girl portrayed competence and self-assurance, while
concurrently maintaining proper lady-like manners and etiquette, and as a result, women began
to become aware of their own potential and value. In addition, the sketch also led to the
expectation that women should engage in physical activity and sports while maintaining their
outer appearance during the activity. The Gibson Girl had very noble intentions which dealt with
portraying women as strong and independent individuals, but at the same time it created a very
unrealistic idea of what women should look like and what was expected of them (The Gibson
Girl).
2. 1920s 1950s: The Flapper & WWII
The Gibson Girl came to an end around the 1920s, and in its place, the Flapper was born.
The Flapper was much different than its precedent, the Gibson Girl. Their appearance revolved
mostly of small breasts, short hair, and a straight figure without any corseting; it embodied
boyishness and androgynous youth. The flapper rose to popularity in this time period because of

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events that were taking place at that point. With the end of World War I in 1918, the passing of
the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, the passing of the Equal Rights
Amendment proposition in 1923, and women beginning to attending college, women were just
beginning to get a taste of freedom and were definitely not ready to give it up. All these factors
exposed people to new ideas and ways of living; especially since there seemed to be a growing
womens empowerment movement going on at the time. As a result of this, the attitude of the
Flapper was also different from the one of the Gibson Girl; the Flapper encouraged women to be
spontaneous, free spirited, and risky, but all the while still being well groomed. Older
generations viewed them very critically, such as wild, promiscuous, and disgraceful (Spivack).
This ideal body that women were supposed to have drove them to diet and exercise in order to
achieve this look. However, it was not long after that this lifestyle quickly came to end with the
onset of the Great Depression in the 1929. During this time period, there were an increasing
number of women entering the workforce as a result of their husbands, or other prominent male
figure, being drafted, injured, or deceased. Because of this, more women now aspired to ditch the
slender look and instead embrace their curves and feminine figure. The pressure to be skinny was
so high that it led to an abundance of advertisements that would tell women how to avoid having
a too-skinny look (Women's Body Image and BMI: 100 Years in the US).
3. 1950s 1960s: Marilyn Monroe Era
At the beginning of the 1950s, after the war and the Great Depression had passed, we
encounter the ever-iconic Marilyn Monroe. Monroe was known for having that perfect
hourglass body shape. Monroe was highly idealized by her body and became a famous sex
symbol because of it. In addition, this expansion opened the doors for business to begin to
promote more beauty products, which meant that women were now expected to take advantage

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of all these resources and thus raised the expectation to always stay manicured and made up.
Although corsets had stopped being of use, Monroe started using them again and was able to
make them popular once again. Monroe and her body helped empower women everywhere by
reinforcing the message that the use of corsets is not necessary in order to be beautiful (Media
& The Ideal Body Image). However, for those women that did not have that body type
naturally, the media would often target them advertisements in newspapers, television, and other
forms of media to help get that idealized body figure. Advertisements would contain text that
would say, If you want to be popular you cant afford to be skinny, Skinny girls are not
Glamour girls (Crouse). To those women that could not biologically be curvy due to a high
metabolism, or other medical or hereditary condition, it was very detrimental because it lead to a
very low self esteem.
4. 1960s 1970s: Twiggy & the Hippie Era
During the 1960s a mass counterculture known as the hippies began to emerge. This
group of people believed in free love, universal freedom, and often challenged the social norm
by experiment with hallucinogenic drugs, and embracing sexual experimentation. Along with
this lifestyle came a certain look that was associated with this group; this look consisted being
women with long, straight hair, and a relatively thin body (Richards). As women with curves
began to loose their popularity (Zimmerman), a British supermodel rose to fame by the name of
Twiggy in the mid 60s. Twiggy was the standard of beauty during that time period and is
arguably responsible for the trend that we are experiencing in society today. Twiggy was 112
pounds, had a minimal chest, a slight frame, short hair, and a boyish look. This was the first
time ever that an underweight woman was set as the standard of beauty. By this time, Hollywood
and fashion magazines were almost household items, or if not, could easily be found in public

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(Media & The Ideal Body Image). Magazines such as Seventeen began to feature articles on
how fashion models ate and partook in physical activity. During this time period, the body
weight of Playboy models and women in beauty pageants began to decrease as well
(Zimmerman). This expansion of media contributed to advertise the body type that Twiggy had,
more so than ever before.
5. 1970s 1980s: Eating Disorders
Teenage girls everywhere wanted to be like Twiggy, and as a result turned to eating
disorders in order to look like her and other public figures that during the 1970s had a
beautiful body. Charlies Angels and celebrities such as Farrah Fawcett were just some of
the few celebrities that were seen as having that prized body for that time period (Body Image
and Health). With the continued use of thinner and less voluptuous models in the media, it is no
wonder why women felt more pressure to be skinny. However, it was not until the late 1970s
that eating disorders became very prominent in society; but it was in 1981 with the death of
singer Karen Carpenter that eating disorders were truly taken with seriousness; Carpenter passed
away as a result of complications from anorexia nervosa. Eating disorders were not the only
destructive form of weight loss that women turned to in order to achieve the perfect body of
that time period. As a matter of fact, diet pills began to rise during this era and were often used in
order to lose weight. Unfortunately, these pills often contained dangerous amphetamines that
suppressed ones appetite and when taken in abuse could, and still can, lead to very devastating
results (Tenore).
6. 1980s 1990s: Aerobic Craze Era
Attitudes in America once again changed in the 1980s regarding what the perfect body
was. While a thin body was still considered the standard of beauty, it got a little upgrade in the

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80s; that upgrade being that apart from being slender, one must also have a slender, yet toned,
but not overly muscular body (Redar). The 1980s were also the era of when supermodels such
as Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell rose to fame. During this time period 60% of
supermodels, and even Playboy magazine models, weighed a shocking 15% less than the
recommended average weight for their size, and by the late 1980s, the average model weighed
23% less than the average American woman (Finely). Women across America must have felt as
if something was seriously wrong with them as to why they couldnt look like the women in the
media. As a result, dieting alone was no longer enough to be beautiful, and thus came the
aerobics craze to help obtain the desired look. Americas attitude towards exercise became
greater, and it eventually came to the point that individuals became addicted to exercise in order
to obtain these difficult and unrealistic bodies (Redar).
7. 1990s 2000s: Big Breasts and Heroine Chic
At the start of the 90s, the NBC television series Baywatch starring Pamela Anderson
began to rise in popularity among young adults and teenagers. Anderson became a sex symbol
and her body became glorified. In addition to being thin, women were now also expected to have
large breasts (Women's Body Image and BMI: 100 Years in the US). With the majority of the
audience being young girls, receiving the message that without large breasts they are not
considered beautiful is very detrimental to their self esteem. On the contrary, in the world of
modeling, models continued to get thinner and thinner. Models such as Kate Moss encouraged a
look deemed as Heroin chic. The look was a take from supermodel Twiggy; models were
expected to be skinny like her, only taller, skinnier, have pale skin, and have dark circles under
the eyes, much like a heroin addict. It was no coincidence that heroin use rose tremendously
during that dark time period (History of Drug Abuse: The 90's - Palm Partners Blog"). Women

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everywhere now were left to compare their own bodies with an average BMI of 27.5 to those of
supermodels and celebrities that had an average BMI of 17-19 (National Centre for Eating
Disorders - Body Image).
8. 2000s Present time: The Shrinking Woman
Unfortunately, the media and societies view on what is considered beautiful has not
changed for the better. While being skinny is still viewed as the standard, women are also
expected to be tall, have perfect hair and teeth, and have large breasts in addition to being skinny.
This nearly impossible body that women are supposed to have can be found virtually everywhere
from billboards, TV advertisements, magazines, and music videos, among other forms of media.
Women have not been the only ones shrinking; womens clothing sizes have also been shrinking.
During the 1990s, plus sizes models ranged from sizes twelve to eighteen, while they now range
from sizes six to fourteen, and most designer fashions now only go up to sizes ten or twelve. This
is all occurring while the average American is growing; about half of all American women are a
size fourteen or larger ("Women's Body Image and BMI: 100 Years in the US"). All of these
ludicrous expectations result in devastating consequences. Girls as young as five have expressed
fears of getting fat, and eighty percent of 10-year-old girls have dieted, while approximately 50%
of American women are dieting ("Eating Disorders: Body Image and Advertising"). With an
abundance of females feeling dissatisfaction with their bodies, the diet industry has exploded in
success. Recently, a study found that a whopping 47% of girls felt influenced by magazines to
want to lose weight, while only 29% of those girls were actually overweight ("Teen Health and
the Media"). At this rate, it is only a matter of time before being beautiful will mean being
anorexic.

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9. Conclusion
The media will always be a part of our everyday lives no matter how hard we may try to
avoid it. It is like an annoying little pest that never leaves. The messages that it sends are very
powerful and seen by millions of individuals worldwide. It is able to reach and affect many
individuals at once and that is what makes it so harmful. That is why it is important to educate
the younger generation about self worth, and body image. Younger children should be aware that
looks are not everything that matters and that everyone is made different, and nobody is perfect.
With these simple foundations children wont be as susceptible to low self-esteem and give in to
the harmful messages sent through the media. This is incredibly important today since girls are
smoking, abusing diet pills, and turning to eating disorders in order to achieve that beautiful
body portrayed by the media.

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27 Oct. 2014.

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Richards, Adam. "Hippies and the Counterculture: Origins, Beliefs and Legacy." EducationPortal.com. Education Portal, n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.
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