An American Obsession

.....Western and particularly American society is intensely preoccupied with thinness, exerting enormous pressure particularly on women to conform to an extremely unrealistic "ideal" body shape and size. This unreachable standard is imposed upon children, adolescents, and adults. Although recently pressure on men to conform to unrealistic expectations has also increased, the focus of the most extreme messages and pressures continues to focus on women. As a result:
 

Female television characters are more likely to be thin than male characters. Females receive more messages from magazine articles and advertisements to stay slim and in-shape than do men. Women directly relate physical appearance to self-esteem and are less satisfied with their body shape than men. Women view their bodies more aesthetically while men view their bodies in light of function and activity. Male ectomorphs have been rated intelligent but likely to be teased, while female ectomorphs have been considered to be more attractive and have more friends.

    It is important to realize that the current American obsession with dieting and slimness is a cultural aberration. Throughout history, most cultures have regarded fatness as a sign of success, health, and beauty.¹  Less than 100 years ago Americans equated body fat with money, and excess fat was described as a "snug balance in the body bank and a comfortable reserve in the case of emergencies."²  A l908 article in Harpers Bazaar advised readers on "how to get plump," saying "fat is force and stored up fat is stored up force."³  Fashion models were advised to be "far from thin, with no suggestion of hollows in the face or the collar-bones, for the camera seems to accentuate such defects."⁴

    Though this American obsession is a relatively new one, the focus on changing women's body shape and size in order to reach some culturally-imposed ideal standard is evident as far back as the 1800s.
 

Victorian era women wore corsets to achieve the hourglass figure deemed desirable for the leisure class. This style of dress was advocated by the medical establishment though it often resulted in constricted lungs, squeezed livers and bladders and dislocated stomachs. The more slender Gibson Girl of the turn of the century portrayed the physical vigor and increasing interest of women in athletics. Physicians began to see body weight as a "science" of calorie counting, "ideal weights", and weigh-ins The Flapper Girl of the early 1900s had a thin frame with little curvature After World War I, active lifestyles added another dimension. Energy and vitality became central and body fat was perceived to contribute to inefficiency and was a sign of self-indulgence By the 1950s, a thin woman with a large bustline (though still heavy by today's standards) was considered most attractive By the 1960s, slenderness was judged by women to be one of the most important determinants of physical attractiveness

    In the 1950s and 1960s, full-figured women like Jane Russell, Jayne Mansfield, and Marilyn Monroe were considered ideals of feminine beauty. It is informative that Marilyn Monroe maintained a size 12 figure for the movies only through constant dieting, and was often larger.⁵ Yet she was worshipped by most men and emulated by most women in America at the time. Just 50 years later, Ms. Monroe and other icons of her era seeking employment in the movie industry would likely not be hired, but told to "go on a diet (and) get a trainer."⁶

    Since the 1960s, a preference for slenderness also has taken hold in other Western, industrialized nations. However, due to a confluence of unique social, economic, and political developments favoring the desire for thinness, "no other culture suffers from the same wild anxieties about weight, dieting and exercise as we do."⁴  Approximately 50% of adolescents and young women are currently trying to lose weight, even though the majority are already at or below normal weight.^7,8  Even young children are not spared. Research indicates that "fear of fat, restricted eating and binge eating are common among girls by age 10"⁹ and that as many as 60% of fourth and fifth graders weigh themselves every day, worry about being fat, and wish they were thinner.¹⁰

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© Fall 2001