WARNING: This post contains artistic nude paintings and sculptures from historically famous artists. If this kind of thing upsets or offends you, please read no further. There is no vulgarity; just depictions of the female form. (I promise, there’s a point to it, and nudity won’t be an ongoing thing on Crunchy Betty. Unless you ask nicely. Ha.)
Okay. Now that we got that out of the way.
We are bombarded. Constantly. By images of women with zero bulges. No fat. No (what we now call) flaws. I don’t need to tell you all this; it’s common knowledge, because you see the beauty ideal every day.
And, oh my lord, do we work to live up to that. We count calories and we cross train and we squat ’till we cry. But, for most of us, this ideal is unreachable. Moreover, it’s probably not very healthy (for those of us not born with a specific body type). Want to feel better about yourself IMMEDIATELY, no matter how thin or thick you are? Read this.
Recently, I had a discussion with a man about the standards of beauty throughout history. He maintained that they haven’t changed much at all. A man has always wanted an itty-bitty waist, firm breasts, and a tight rear end. Always. And forever. Everywhere. Period.
Needless to say, as a tall, curvy girl in a size 14-16 who takes a decent amount of care of herself in many ways, I was livid. I’d always thought to myself, “At least, at one point in time, my body type was desirable.”
So I started looking at art throughout history; specifically, art depicting the female form. And then I compared it with the pictures from Maxim’s Hot 100 (voted the most beautiful women in 2011). I put them side-by-side in Photoshop, and reeled with new understanding.
The more I compared, the less indignant I felt. The more I compared, the less I was inclined to feel vindicated. The more I compared, the more I realized that there is no single standard for beauty – ever. There are only people with bodies who may or may not be smaller, rounder, tighter, curvier, or lither.
Women are … women. Historically. We are women, in every shape and form. And at one point, no matter what your body looks like, it was held in the highest regard of beauty. From this exercise, please consider this: No matter what your body looks like, live within it as if it is a work of art.
The comparisons below are not the extreme ends of the spectrum of depictions of the female body, and all of the modern women I chose (in as similar of poses as I could find), have been voted, at one time or another, as one of the world’s most “beautiful bodies.”
Consider how you feel, inside, as you look at these:
New perspective, no?
Please understand that I’m not saying any of the modern women are not beautiful – they are. But they’re just one of many, many types of women who’ve been considered beautiful throughout history.
After I look at these (and I have about 50 times), I feel so much acceptance for the female form – for MY form. So much love and grace.
It pushes out the ever-nagging feeling that I’m being judged for what my body looks like. There is no longer room to judge or to feel judged.
Just complete, absolute, and overwhelming exhilaration for being a woman.
I hope it does for you, too.
Not Your Mother’s Neosporin: Healing Salve for Minor Scrapes and Burns
Most of the older art pics are of women that have more than ideal body fat. Shouldn’t the healthiest women be the most attractive?
I’d like to add something.. while i agree with most of what you’ve said, i (unfortunately) have a bit of a scientific mentality so i have dissect. I really think that what men find attractive about women IS a tiny waist, especially in comparison to a woman’s hips. It is one of the traits men are evolutionary predisposed to like (in addition to other traits like facial symmetry, clear skin, less body hair-which indicates more oestrogen in the development..). In fact they tend to like a narrower waist to the point of grotesque (where they rate women, who would surely have problems standing upright because of their teeny waist, more attractive). Of course, not ALL men in the world like these same traits, but it is, and has been, the general trend. Also note I’m not including the superskinny figure in those universally attractive traits (that is a recent development)
the question to me is a different one- is being sexually attractive to men the same as being beautiful? For me personally no, and also social standards of beauty have varied much in history, oftentimes deviating from ”sexy” (as you have shown). I have found that even more encouraging than believing that no matter your looks in some parts of world (or in some moment in time) you would have been desirable. I don’t need to be sexy to be beautiful
Fat people do not care about themselves or they would not be fat…. it is that simple….
That was incendiary and unnecessary. However, I’m going to leave it here as a prime example of how some people are still small-minded and ignorant to the facts – and how we still have a long, long way to go before we all reach true compassion and acceptance of the uniqueness of each individual.
Thank you for this. I love that media is slooowly starting embrace a range of body sizes for women. I am a size 18 and it’s hard to keep my head held high when I feel the perception by people around me that I can’t be beautiful at this size. As if my fatness taints my soul. Loosing weight wouldn’t change a thing about who I am besides the size of my pants.
I really liked this. I’m tired of people completely protesting against skinny women (I’m 4’11, and under 100lbs, though I’ve done nothing to remain this size) because “only ‘curvy’ girls are beautiful.” You’ve gotten it down that ALL women are beautiful, no matter what. Made me happy!
Don’t hate me… I have a body type like those girlswe all love to hate! I was lucky to be born this way, I got the thin from my daddy’s side(my dad always called it the sons curse and the daughters blessing lol), and boobs from my momma, (my dad’s side girls are kinda jealous)
I DID model for a brief time, I had an agency even make me a portfolio for free. At the time I was 18 ( I am now 31 with 2 kids). I think I measured 36/26/36 at 5 foot 11. The agency constantly pressured me to lose 2 inches off my hips and butt.. run, eat less, drink only water on photoshoot days… These girls may come by it naturally but let me tell you, it is a TON of work on top of the natural PLUS makeup and don’t forget fake hair because I know I had fake hair, eyelashes body makup too! Things like freckles are even covered alot! and then throw in the photoshop…. it is very unrealistic, but it is fun to see yourself in photos that you look perfect, I think everybody should see it. My husband actually had an artist do a pastel of one of my photos and it looks a lot like photoshop too lol.
Now at 31 I am still thin and I think I am very beautiful. I find those womanly images from maxim still make me feel insecure (I have had 2 babies now, so my body is lovely to me, but not perfect like a 19 year olds). But as much as I like how I look, I have learned in the real world this isn’t how we make friends. I never made friends with any fellow models, because I always found them catty and very willing to do anything to get ahead.. maybe I just got unlucky?! I have found the friends I made it never had anything to do with what I look like, it is how I make my friends feel. It doesn’t matter what you look like, people will love you for the positive energy. If you aren’t happy you need to find a way to find your happiness and self acceptance. It isn’t being skinny because I have been there and I was at my most unhappiest when I looked like the photoshop girls. I find my clothes don’t fit as they once did, I get insecure at how my pants make a bulge at my tummy and shirts and it never looks as smooth as it once did, but if you can strip off your clothes and look at YOU as YOU and feel happy, that is what matters. Men LOVE south american women, like brazillians, not because they are all stick thin and hot.. it is because no matter how their bodies are built THEY are super confident in what they have. Maybe we all need to walk around in thongs more………….
Does anyone else feel unhappy IN clothes? I am always much happier when I can see myself without these awful things on lol.
It doesn’t matter to me what shape or size a woman is. Its how she presents herself. The “modern women” on the left are presented not as vibrant, intellegent sexy women, but as sex objects. Thats what causes the “tear down” I also do not believe this is a real depiction of a ” modern woman” go to the store or movie theater or where ever, how many from each side do you actually see walking around in the real world? There are very few who look and ACT like the women on the left
-And what is with the woman second from the bottom? How and why did she get in that very painful looking position on the bed?!? Someone should help her back up–
but anyway being sexy has nothing to do with sex. Its self confidence, as being proud of the skin your in, what ever size or shape that is. I have been beanpole thin and after 6 children, now the veluptious woman on the right. My husband has found me admirable, attractive and desirable at all levels. But most importantly so do I >
While I think that all of these responses are interesting and i agree with many of them….I still see a lot responses that are actually a form of tearing women down. You can appreciate the beauty of the pictures on the right, without saying that the thin women on the left look like young boys with long hair. While I am almost certain that ALL of the Maxim photos are photoshopped, there ARE women who look like that in real life. I have been slightly underweight my entire life, but I have never dieted or starved myself. Quite the opposite actually, I ate whatever I wanted and still stayed tiny due to an active lifestyle of playing outside as a child and dancing throughout my teens and college years. After having a baby at age 22, I am now struggling with a bit a stomach fat and jiggle on my thighs and I would be lying if I said that it is something I have not yet gotten used to. I miss my tiny, firm body and I have no problem admitting that. One thing I have learned is that it is just as mean spirited to tear down a thin person as it is to tear down an overweight person. We should be building each other up!! There are plenty of naturally thin women who struggle with the desire to have bigger boobs, or curvier hips. So remember that when we try to embrace beauty in all sizes, it means embracing ALL sizes. We don’t need to tear down the skinny women to build up the curvy ones! We are ALL beautiful!
Another aspect to consider is that our bodies are at the mercy of our factory-farmed food full of GMO’s, antibiotics, chemicals and pesticides, and sugared- who knows what else! America is known for its obesity, but I don’t think we realize how unnatural it really is, because it is so common. While the health “experts” keep touting low fat diets, we keep gaining. On the other end, we have idealized an infantile view of the women’s body (other than breasts), and that isn’t normal either. Curves are healthy. After following the Weston A Price foundation’s diet protocol, eating all the fat I want- yum- I am at the lowest weight I’ve ever been, and I don’t even exercise- yet I appreciate the slight roundness of my belly. Our food system sucks, and millions of women have suffered for it.
Before we all look for beauty in these pics, and in the images around us, we need to look for our own beauty. One of the things I love the most about this site is that it’s helping me find my love for my self 🙂
This is posted by a girl who was called both “skinny flat white” (coffee reference gone wrong hehe) and “robobabe” (google wayne’s world if you’re a young’un) within half an hour of each other yesterday!! My self esteem doesn’t know what to do!?! 😛
But seriously. I am a bit of a bike nut (in case you hadn’t guessed!!) and I cycle up to something like 350km a week. The more I ride, the healthier and stronger I am, and the bigger my butt gets. Bigger, rounder, stronger, but mostly just bigger. One of my colleagues showed me this pic and it made me feel good 🙂 I saved it in my favourites at work for if I’m ever feeling down about my body.
(I haven’t tried attaching a pic before, hoping this works)
x
I just came back from Haiti and when I first got there, everyone kept calling me big. I was so hurt and cried, but it wasn’t until a little later, I was told they weren’t insulting me, they thought I was beautiful because I had curves. I think those pictures are really interesting. Maybe because I am black, I noticed this, but only one of the women were a person of color- Zoe S. I think Eva Mendes and Olivia Wilde, might also be, but I’m unsure. But this also shows you what beauty is to this society. Women bodies of other cultures are beautiful too. I guess that is another topic in its self.
Having been on both sides of the fence, I hear Nadimoon on being “too skinny” having it’s own issues. When I was a dancer, we performed one particular piece with a lot of floor work, a lot of backwards shoulder rolls and controlled “falls.” It was essentially a brawl set to music (and received the only individual standing ovation of the evening). And it was hell. I had no padding! I was bruised for the entire semester, and the counselor even pulled me aside and asked if there were problems at home! I ate relentlessly, and still nothing! My new stepfather actually asked my mother if I was bulimic! I won’t even get into clothing….
Once a child came along, my body fleshed out, and I thought I’d finally be rid of being bruised for sitting on a hardwood floor for too long. Except that I received a hip injury and wasn’t able to exercise (not even to feel good – I like running!), and gained too much weight for my height. I did not like it, and it further aggravated the injury, which was just insulting. I didn’t miss being skinny, but I missed that in between area, and diet alone didn’t take me back to it.After having two children, I finally managed to get the right amount of padding. My bust went “Oh THIS is what I’m made for!” and my hips spread two inches the first time, and two more inches the second time. Curves! Nice ones. Breastfeeding took off most of the excess jiggle in the middle, without opening deep pockets by my hip bones. I look forward to being there again!
Now, expecting my third, I’m actually enjoying my brand new curves more than I did the second time around. I had the courage to search out actual maternity lingerie and adapt some regular stuff myself. In particular, my beloved thinks things with suspenders are especially amusing with the roundness of my belly. I tend to find front lacing corsets flatteringly hilarious. It’s a new peace and a new joy. What gave me that peace?
One of the loveliest female figures I have ever seen was a sculpture of a woman with her back to a post, one arm reaching up to hold on to it, and the other reaching between her squatting legs. She’s giving birth.
I think someone ought to design maternity wear with suspenders! Pregnant bodies are just not shaped to work well in pants, and dresses aren’t always practical, but suspenders would help a lot!
There are a handful of such designs, including some fun suspenders you can wear with your maternity pants. I had a period where my regular pants were too tight and even using a button extender sucked, but my maternity stuff was too loose! Save for one skirt and one pair of sweats, which I nearly wore out over that month… Glad I’m lucky enough to be a homemaker. I think a pair of suspenders would have been great to have! Maybe next time!
I mean I just hate how the internet has started to love criticizing thin women because bigger women feel pressured to become one. There are a LOT of thin women out there who don’t appreciate all of the criticism…
I’m going to guess then, Kayla, that your criticism of the painted women as being NOT beautiful in your eyes is a result of your feeling criticized for being thin?
Please take into consideration that larger women – for the last AT LEAST 30 years – have been ostracized and made to feel as if they were subhuman. Even if they were born that way (note: I’ve been a size 14 since i was 13 years old, even when I was anorexic and bulimic for two years).
Now, in considering that, please remember that trying to lash out by not accepting all women as who they are is simply doing exactly to other women (and women who’ve put up with this for a LONG time) what you don’t want done to you.
In no way – not one single way – did I criticize thin women in this post. Not one. single. way. I do, however, call into question a beauty standard that ONLY accepts that one size of women as beauty. Only one size of woman that’s worth consideration and acceptance.
I don’t give a flying elephant’s earlobe what size you are. Just as long as you’re compassionate, happy, and a part of the sisterhood, that’s all that I hope for. We’re in this together, regardless of what our dress sizes say. 🙂
The painted women may have been considered beautiful at one point, but in my eye they definitely aren’t. Of course you can find beauty in all women, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t all strive for something. We shouldn’t kill ourselves for it, but it IS true that the average guy would prefer all of Maxim women over the obese ones… just saying 😉 It’s not that hard to diet a little. SOME have dietary problems but most just have the overeating problem, haha.
Kayla, having gone up and looked back through those “older” art pieces… not all of them are even obese. Many of them (1,2,3,5,7, and 9) I would say are at a “healthy” weight and size (and please, ya’ll don’t misunderstand me — I’m not saying that the others are unhealthy! I’m just a little fuzzy headed and can’t think of a better word) from what I can see in the artworks.
As for me, I’m a size 10-12 depending on the clothing brand. I have been a size 2 and looking back on those photos, I’m really surprised someone didn’t tell me to put on some weight because I personally looked sick. (Again, if you are a size 2 that doesn’t mean you’re unhealthy — I just don’t think that was healthy for me) Would I like to lose a little bit of weight? Yep. I need to exercise. My problem is my midsection. Do I overeat? Nope. Sure don’t. In fact, I don’t eat enough to get in all the nutrition that I should. (Now, that may have something to do with it — lately I’ve been eating less and 2-3 square instead of snacking throughout the day)
As for men — I know several who prefer their women to be “overweight” in varying sizes. I also know men who want their women teeny tiny. I totally agree that most men have received negative views from common media, though.
We are all divinity. Created in the image of the Divine Creator (whatever you call said creator). But I do not like those “modern” images…. they are not real. They are (for the most part) a creation of photoshop.
Interesting you posted this – my husband and I were at the Getty Museum a little while back and we were noticing the same thing. Interesting how (I’d say) most of history has portrayed beautiful woman with their rolls and curves and non-perfect boobs and all. I don’t think those observing us have changed all that much or else those of us with curves would never be attractive to anyone. This was a great perspective in showing us as real woman that we’re all beautiful in our own skin!
Every woman in the world should read this post. Very well done! We are all beautiful…
i think their bodies would look far more similar if you could get the images before they got photoshopped.
I feel like the modern ones were more vulgar or more explicitly meant to be sexy (while the others seemed more an artist studying the form). I wonder what modern sketches and paintings of women look like…
This comparison is simplistic and shallow. You are contrasting posed objectified models with models artworks that are studies of nature (with exception of Botticelli’s Venus which is a complete visual fabrication—take a second look at her dislocated shoulder). If you look at figure drawing nowadays you will also see that the choice of models preferences people with fuller figures, bulges and skin imperfections (stretch marks are most welcome). Why? Simply because you can do much more interesting things with the lighting when you have volume. Sorry to get personal but to me this looks like a posting by someone with weight insecurities mourning the good old times…. The truth is that although historically skinny woman were not in such demand as they are now, lean yet supple hourglass figures have been admired in the west in the past three centuries. Take my word for it, I have a Ph.D. in Art History. If you want to talk about different body types why not show the Venus of Willendorf, made 22,000 years ago? Oh, wait! She does not have a face!! Her voluptuous curves reference fertility, the focus of attention at that historical point just as now we focus kitten-like sexuality of the size-0 models. Both are objectifications, mind you. If your point was to contrast the range of beauty before with contemporary lack of range you failed the task.
I disagree. The lack of range of contemporary beauty was highlighted quite well. Perhaps drawings today highlight fuller figures, but those are not the images our culture is bombarded with. I don’t see a lot of art depicting stretch marks on billboards, magazine covers, television etc. There is no celebration of these drawings of which you speak, unfortunately for our socieity (in more ways than one). My daughter sees that she has to be a size 0 to be considered hot by today’s standards.
Also, it is possible to disagree with someone’s opinion without making it a personal attack. I would think that someone who critiques as part of his or her job description would refrain from language that is incendiary in nature in favor of language that explains the logic of your differing opinion in a way that promotes further discussion.
The point of your argument is lost from your first sentence because you put the author on an immediate defense. By then accusing her of being insecure and admitting that you are getting personal, your professional assertions that you should be believed because you are a Ph.D. makes it sound like you are talking down to her.
Your insight is valuable to the discussion. I ‘d love for you to bring your knowledge of art history to the table. Is there historical artwork showcasing leaner models similar to the ones from the photoshoot?
“Sorry to get personal but to me this looks like a posting by someone with weight insecurities mourning the good old times….”
You don’t get to say things and then try to absolve yourself of any negative feelings they bring about. It was a completely unnecessary thing to say (and making quite the assumption!), so I’m guessing you’re not really sorry.
“Sorry to get personal but… ”
Sorry to get personal but I’m gonna anyway? Surely with all that edumacation they might have taught you how to conduct fair critique?
“If your point was to contrast the range of beauty before with contemporary lack of range you failed the task.”
I think you’ll find that CB’s point was (as mentioned at various points in the piece) to highlight that the definition of beauty that we are sold in magazines is not a standard that must be followed, is not healthy for people to obsess over, and is really not that achievable for the average healthy woman.
Were you here last week when we discussed the reality of body images, with respect to hair? Peer reviewed paper? I’m sorry, mine was not. I also don’t have formal qualifications in discussing how to feel good about yourself, I’m just an engineer.
If you’re unhappy that this isn’t up to Art History Professor standards for an art history comparison, might I suggest you go to an art history blog, rather than a blog about having food on your face?
As someone with an art degree, and therefore untold hours in art and art history classes, I’m eternally grateful I never had you as a professor. Your comment does not in any way reflect the standards for critique or comparisions. Personal attacks, and assumptions about the author’s supposed insecurities?
First, the “interesting” things that you can do with volume may explain the artist’s sketches and figure studies among the historical examples. However, it has nothing to do with classical Greek and Roman statuary, and its relation to the paintings is questionable. Such art is generally created to reflect a concept of beauty.
For the rest of the theory. . . Even the “lean yet supple” figures that have been the ideal for the “past three centuries”, haven’t agreed. Eighteenth-century European court dress, the hourglass and hoopskirts of the mid-nineteenth-century, the S-shaped monobosom circa 1905, the flat-chested flapper, and the pinup girls of the fifties and sixties demonstrate a much wider range of female ideals than the past three decades. A flapper and a pinup girl are like night and day, and the same figure cannot do both!
Thank you, Betty, for being willing to put yourself out there, even when you know you’re opening yourself up to everyone on the Internet with no manners and a half-baked theory.
I love the comments and observations from everyone who
noticed the sexualization of the images on the left because that’s something
that really stuck out to me too. But I think the lesson I’m going to take out
of this is that we shouldn’t judge each other, no matter what size we are.
Women seem to be the worst about bringing each other down, and I am just as
guilty of it as anybody else.
I’ve noticed over the last few weeks, as people have created
and started living through New Year’s Resolutions, that women in the online
community have split themselves into two camps: the women who are unhappy with
their size and want to work to change it and the women who are perfectly fine
with their size and want to criticize the women who want to change theirs. As someone
who has lived through the criticism I find this very saddening because the last
thing we need to be doing is bringing each other down.
It shouldn’t matter if your frame is small or large, or at
which size you received more compliments, because none of us really needs to be
validated by other people. We’re crunchy betties, for goodness sake! That
validation comes from within. If you’re not happy with your figure then change
it. It takes a lot of hard work, but it can be done! And if you’re perfectly
happy with your figure then rock it! Confidence is beautiful and it comes in
all sizes. The thing that truly matters is that we take care of ourselves, body
and soul, because a healthy size is not always the skinniest size.
First of all, WHO THE HELL SITS ON THINGS WITH THEIR LEGS SPREAD LIKE THAT?!?!?! Find me a woman who sits on the beach like that or on a wooden post. If I started sitting around the house like that my husband would think I had a screw loose. Literally, in my hips or something.
Anyway, as many posters have said above, being smaller is no picnic. It is virtually impossible to find a non-push up bra as someone mentioned. You are ridiculed as a child to no end, people always asking if you’ve broken 100 pounds yet. . . I’m finally happy as a “skinny” person and that came from realizing that everyone is always going to be different and I can appreciated what I have (or don’t have, for that matter!).
The most important thing we can all do is teach the younger generation about the media. We need to tell both girls and boys that what they see is all photoshopped and celebrities have full time stylists and makeup artists. The average person does not. Do not believe what you see and don’t buy crappy magazines for 12 year old girls. Help guide them through this difficult time in their lives and explain the poses are unnatural and no one dresses like that in real life. Explain that objectifying and sexualizing women (and men) is not healthy. My mom always made a point to say things like that when I was growing up and it helped a lot with what I “believed” about what I saw on tv and in magazines. When an adult tells you flat out that Vanna White probably spends half her day at the gym and the other half with a makeup artist and hair stylist, you realize she can’t play outside, eat ice cream or enjoy her life and WHOOSH, there goes the desire to be perfectly beautiful every day. Seriously. Talk to all kids you know, even the ones at the supermarket in line behind you that you’ve never met. You might be the only adult that speaks up. Thanks Betty for such an awesome post!
A: A great resource for raising girls that are confident in themselves is the Pigtail Pals blog. There’s a bit of the extremism that comes from an author with a true passion for what she writes, but it’s amazing all the same. Some posts have tips on how to talk to children about objectified women in media.
B: I hear you on the child thing. “Is your mom going to come and pick you up, sweetie?” No thanks, I can drive back to my dorm all by myself…
Ouch.. the retouching on the modern pictures are extreme! That, or the perspective is skewed as heck. I also noticed that the majority of the modern pics are from Maxim. Hm.
But, this did help me feel a bit better about looking in the mirror.. and at least I don’t feel so alone now. 🙂
I lOvE this post! Thanks a million!
I would say that missussmartypants (.com) has helped me appreciate my body by teaching me to dress my body to its best advantage. I wish everyone who is frustrated by fashion would join her website, skill in fit and style maters more than size. Really. It’s true. Straight, curvy or in between.
Crazy, when u think the beautiful was meant, what it “looked” like thru the ages, at one time hug forehead was thought to be a sign of intelligence and beauty so ppl would shave off their brows and hair line to open the forehead, then u had those awful powdered wigs with arsenic powder for face to give an alabaster/geisha girl whiteness to the face, speaking of geisha ladies would bind thier feet to the point of deforming themselves leaving them unable to walk so they could have size 3-4 feet…Crazy when beauty means u r jeopardizing the health for whatever that equals beauty in that society….
That being said, I LOVE this article, not bashing on the fit and ultra thin ppl, I have friends who cannot gain weight and are constantly being ostracized for this and they cannot do more than they are doing to gain weight. My whole life there has been this ideal I have tried to hold myself up against, this body image that to means I am “there” or I have arrived at body utopia. And to see all these images of bodies that are in nature, real shaped woman who look beautiful it is soothing. My husband tells me he finds larger bottoms, fuller hips and thighs to be extremely attractive and OF COURSE the fuller breasts. For him a defined waist, the curvy coke bottle figure to be what he really likes….Good thing cuz even when I had this horrible life threatening injury after the birth of my son that caused me to be on life support and in the hospital for a month plus have in home nursing for 3 more months, I lost 80 lbs and ppl would see me after and say, “Wow, u look so good, did u change ur hair?”…Yeah, so good thing my hubby loves the fuller figure!!
Speaking as a woman, not as someone with a certain body type, I have to say that in every comparison I would rather be on the then side. Other commenters have said this as well; the women on the left look graceful, content, and self-assured. They look real, and not just because their bodies are realistic.
On the right, there was probably just as much artistic posing behind the pictures but in the end the pictures look so false. All the character is stripped from their faces and bodies and we are left with makeup, (scant) garments and shallow expressions to fill in the gaps and tell us that these are people and not objects—and they are not very convincing.
Speaking as someone with a certain body type, insecurity runs rampant in the smaller bodies as well. It seems like as the sizes go down the hems jump up and the necklines plunge; and to find a 32A bra that isn’t a padded push-up is very nearly a miracle.
I just want to be honest. I was intrigued with the word “beauty” from my early childhood. It was the answer for me. I desperately needed to be beautiful. I should say that by the current standards I’m gorgeous. But it was not enough. At the age of 13 I’ve started using anti-cellulite creams on my body to prevent… yep, to prevent me from being not that perfect.
Being now a bit wiser ( I hope time will work for me in future too 🙂 I see where was my problem. It was not TV, not magazines. It was my attitude and my believes. I was not ready to create my own idea about beauty, I just borrowed one. The same situation I see now with so many women. They just want to fit. Not create their own view, attitude, believes, but to fit somehow.
Body is never a problem. It is simply a result of our attitude. Creating our own idea about beauty will make us perfectly free from the victim status.
” I was not ready to create my own idea about beauty, I just borrowed one.”
You’ve hit the nail on the head. I’ve said it before…”I want MY beauty back!!” 🙂
Thank you!!! Excellent post!
I agree that “skinny” “thin” “tight bodied” “fit” women are possible and pretty, however, I’d consider it very fair to say that at least 80% of the modern women in these pictures had some form of surgical procedure to have non-existent thighs or butts. That, to me, makes the whole modern beauty image unfair- when we feel we are expected to shell out thousands of dollars and take a knife to our bodies to meet the current “beauty” standards. If mother nature wanted us to have a butt and thighs, what’s so wrong with having them?
I LOVE THIS!
I feel like I don’t look like either of the ideals represented in this article(the maxim one goes without saying).. I went from a 16/18 to a 6/8 while loosing weight as a teenager. After realizing I’d never look like the FAKE pictures above, I figured I’d at least have a some sort of feminine form after shedding the lbs. My new body, while I am thankful for better health, jiggles more than my old, my chest is saggy/anything but firm, and the excess skin makes clothing look too small. At 22, I’m even discouraged by the above images on the right. And, even more discouraged by the daily barrage of women saying “it’s all downhill”. I’m not a reubenesque beauty or athletic thin chick. I don’t feel like I fit into any standard of beauty. Has anyone else felt this way? I’ve always wondered if I’m alone in this. I hope nothing I’ve said is incriminating, just trying to gain a good perspective. So many good ones here 🙂
While I haven’t had quite as much size variation as you, I have had 3 children. So every mom out there knows that once the skin is stretched that much it never quite looks or feels the same. The jiggling and the stretch marks will probably never go away. Most of us who cannot afford plastic surgery or professional photographers have to come to terms with this in our own way. I am in the midst of that journey. I am so proud to read the responses to this article. At first I was quite indignant because the comparison is not on equal levels by any means. But I love the intelligent, honest, and thoughtful responses of these ladies! It gives me hope about our culture. Sometimes I feel so alone in this battle. Thanks to all of your for your affirmations!
This was really beautiful. I don’t feel like dissing the modern pictures because I know that underneath the make up, strategic lighting and photoshop there are beautiful women. But I do realize how sexualized they are. I have an interesting story to tell that’s very related to this. I’m from Paraguay. Over here, no matter what you look like, there will be a guy who stares and comments on how hot you look until you turn about 50 and maybe even still then if you don’t look it. This is not a good thing. It’s just democratic verbal abuse. Anyway, I was walking past a construction site last week and a few guys starting shouting stuff. You can probably imagine what they were saying. But one of them basically said “hey, you’re pretty hot but you need to walk a little sexier because your walk is turning me off”. I was just WTF! I am not walking on this sidewalk just so you can be turned on. I have a life, I have a personality, I have weird shoes on and all those things make me walk the way I walk. I was not put on this earth to entertain you!
So it’s not just the way you look. It’s your attitude, your walk!, your personality, everything that has to fit the hotness mold, apparently. But, at the end of the day, I know that guy would have been lucky to even get to see me close up. Because I am hot. I know because I see myself in the mirror, I care for myself everyday and I have a smart guy who loves me and lets me know I’m beautiful any time I forget.
I think we need to learn to care for our bodies and help it look however we want it to look. However it feels the most natural. However we were born to look like. For example, I have no breasts whatsoever and if I got implants I would tip over. But I have a lovely butt to make up for it so I work it the best I can. So, mother nature is a smart lady. Follow her hints.
Love it Lady Betty! We’re not just INNER goddess – we’re OUTER goddesses too, in all our divine curvaceous glory!
I disagree completely. The woman on Maxims list have extremely similar body types to each other. There is no lushness there. They look like 14 year old boys with long hair and breasts. There is a large variety of body type in the fine art depictions.
oops, just re read. I have a fever, that’s my excuse. LOL. I retract everything but the part that begins with “they look like 14……
Love this post! I am a very petite girl and, trust me, it seems no matter what size we women are there is criticism and sometime some self-loathing. In my lifetime people have always had something negative to say about my size. But hey, I would do anything to add a bit more weight and curve….I am perpetually stuck a petite woman!
Self love is the way to go, anyone who doesn’t like that can stick it!
Also this is a very timely post. My husband just found this documentary we are set to watch on a date night. I think you all will enjoy it. Here is there website, where you can find the trailer:
http://www.missrepresentation.org/
Now, how about a comparitive of men? Intact men of history versus the mutilated and circumcised men of today? Perhaps that will get people to view male genital mutilation differently!
This reminds me so much of going to the beaches of Rio de Janerio in Brazil. As an American, walking by the beach is fascinating; there is every single body type in the world — most in very little clothing, everything from the too skinny to the morbidly obese.
The coolest part is that wearing thongs isn’t about sexual objectification for those women, it’s about pride in their bodies and what those bodies are capable of doing. To watch these women play football, volleyball, frisbee, swim, surf…all with utter abandon — it is something to strive to remember and always embrace.
It was a surreal experience, to walk in as a typical jaded American with stereotypical views on what is beautiful and what isn’t, and to walk out knowing that we should all love the skin that we’re in, and that others are in. Great post, CB.
I’m reubenesque and damn well proud of it!!
Hear, hear! So am I!
The medieval ideal was a woman with a pot belly! Check it out! I just learned about it in my art history class two days ago. For instance, the bride in the Arnolfini wedding looks pregnant but, according to my professor at least, was holding her bulky gown up to look pregnant. I can’t imagine a bride today wanting to look bigger. Also, the gorgeous Venus figurine is the first recorded human in art.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/busty-venus-first-human-in-art/2009/05/14/1241894082181.html
I’m not going to lie, I have a bit of a girl-crush on Zoe Saldana. She is beautiful. So is every other woman in every other picture, just for different reasons.
I remember once in jr high history class my teacher said “Look at everyone in the room. In some area of the world, at some point in time, every one of you probably would have been considered perfect.”
And, I really hardly remember anything else that was taught in that class, but I remember that statement. It really put the fashion of body types over time into perspective.
Maybe this is MY cultural conditioning kicking in, but the ones on the left look like they’re trying really hard, while those on the right appear more relaxed…
OK — just read a lot of the comments (I’ll often comment on posts specifically WITHOUT reading others’ words so that I know that my response is mine and not a reflection of someone else’s thoughts), and I see so many that agree so completely with what I think. Until I was 40 — even after the birth of 3 children (I had my 4th at 41) I had much the figure I did in my 20’s: slim, sleek, lithe, long-legged, strong… was very fit because of the work I did and martial arts and swimming. After 40, things went ‘downhill’ in that i could not stay ‘in shape’ with the same ease and grace of before. These days I work out still, not to be fit, but to stay healthy and capable and at nearly 48 I see my strength and stamina decline. I know that I have to accept that age slows us and makes us vulnerable, and that I have to accept my limitations. Accepting those physical limitations is far harder than accepting the new bulges here and there — the heft on thighs, waist, and hips. I accept my new shape, it’s just harder to accept the new vulnerabilities.
Not sure who choose the Today Girls, many of those choosen are NOT that beutyfull and even some look sick. Also in the past, there are thiner girls in art which even today are not fat. The problem NOT lies on what people (mostly men) like. The problem is with all the incredibile insecure girls that preferr to go skelectic in order to feel admired or get contracted. At the end womans with food disorder are victims of their self esteem.
I think you missed the point of the post here; it’s about acceptance, not bashing someone’s appearance.
Why would any “girls” (women) want to gain admiration from others via weight loss if nobody liked that look? The problem is, in fact, ridiculous beauty ideals foisted on all of us. Eating disorders are a lot more complex than you’ve made them out to be. Think before you speak.
Looking at these images makes me sad for the modern woman — for the reasons previous commenter “Ida” lists. The sculptures, drawings, and paintings of history are clearly designed to celebrate and praise the female form. In those depictions, the women express, “I know who I am, I have no fear, I am powerful, and I am worthy.”
In the images of today’s celebrities, the only message these women are communicating is, “Have sex with me.”
What a horrid difference.
On the other hand, as I examine these comparisons, I find myself feeling content…pleased that my body looks more like the revered artwork and not like the Photoshopped “perfection” of the others.
It’s simply a relief and a source of wonder to recognize that I am real.
Before we put our ancestors up on too high of a pedestal…the sexualization of the human form is NOT any sort of recent invention. Ug the caveman was definitely drawing naughty pictures on the walls of his cave. We have a book of historical erotica, from the middle ages to now. Some is beautiful, some is funny, some is outrageous, some is stuff that would be totally taboo nowadays!….and some is so raunchy I’m not sure Larry Flynt would put it in Hustler. I am sure it wouldn’t be published in Playboy. However, image media is much, much more pervasive than it was even 40 years ago.
Fantastic!
I love this. As a curvy girl even at my thinnest. I always think it’s weird how stick thin has become the ideal. But you can ask some models and they will tell you they don’t even look like their pictures.
YaY for Girrrrls!!..One lovely way to appreciate beautiful women is to take in a Burlesque show!!..I live in New Orleans which has a storied burlesque tradition and, WoW, those Ladies have showed me that We are All Sexy!!..a lil sass, a lot of humor and some fluttering ostrich feathers go an amazingly long way…love it!!
ps..new to Bettys and already feel at home!!…thank YOU!!!..xox
This is great! As a society we are far too consumed by this unrealistic “ideal” beauty. A friend of mine just recently went to the doctor’s and is freaking out because he told her she needs to be careful about gaining any more weight because she’s on the verge of being overweight. WHAT?! The girl is 5′-4″ and a size 4/6 – how is that overweight?!!?? It’s like the medical community is taking it’s standards from Maxim 🙁
Great post! While looking at the historical beauties in this post and in previous world travels several things have captivated me. Mainly the core of the historical females, their stomachs seem to be celebrated and are not made to look any other size than what they are. This is a colossal thing to me because even in my childhood pictures, I had a tummy on me . . . like mine now. I always thought it was a drawback and something I needed to hide. The art is showing all nudes and all of their stomachs are displayed. And I’ve let the ab cruncher machines and such haunt me since their existence. Shame on me!
I also love that women in any other period of history have a much broader range of ‘beauty’, with bellies on show, but I wonder if some of the curves and bellies are exaggerated by the men painting them, to enhance their femininity? I’d bet that all of these images of beauty are filtered through the eyes of men, and that’s the point. We have to decide for ourselves what is beautiful, even whether beauty is necessarily external. Our patriarchal society makes it so hard to be free.
Love this!! *LOVE
Going to be sending this to all the men in my life! Great conversational starter! And how very important for our daughters….all the girls in our lives to read and reflect! I adore my bumps and waves, I know my body and love it, love the fluxuation between size 16-18 and enjoy my gentleness towards myself!! Self Love SiSTars!! We are worth it!
Great post, the art “Masters” seemed to always paint voluptuous women (now days they would be called “fat”, “obese” back then “beautiful”) Just goes to show how perspectives change. I much prefer the art to the sexy? pictures of women. Even some of the modern actress’s, how much surgical alterations have been done to have the bodies that are considered beautiful. At 59 I am comfortable in my own skin, I am no raving beauty by today’s standards but as long as I consider myself beautiful to me that is all that matters. I am happy, I think I am attractive maybe it is all about perspective.
Having worn a size 22/24 and now wearing a size 4/6, I can tell you – with the voice of experience – that skinny does not equal beauty. Skinny does not equal happy.
When I was… large, let’s call it large… when I was large, people would tell me when I looked good, when I dressed well, when I put effort into my appearance. Now all I get are stares. Yes, when the weight was disappering, I would get a lot of compliments which typically led to a discussion about my metabolic disorder and what meds I’m taking. Now that the weight has been gone for a few years, so have most of the compliments.
I had learned to accept and embrace my body when I was large. I had confidence, I knew how to make myself look good and I was approachable. Now I have an alien body. It doesn’t help that I’m a 4/6 with curves and clothes that fit me are hard to find.
sigh. Sorry, that was a lot of rambling to make a short point. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is no standard of beauty. All we can do is celebrate what we’ve got. Even if you’re not happy with what you’ve got, someone is jealous of you. And if you don’t think anyone is jealous of you, make ’em jealous with your confidence. Confidence is the ultimate in sex appeal. Present yourself as best you can and be confident – even if you have to fake it. You will be beautiful no matter how you look.
Stepping off my soapbox now…
I agree completely with Ida…what struck me most wasn’t the difference in “what is beautiful” but rather the way the women are portrayed as submissive, always slightly off-balance, twisted…imagine a man in any of those poses and it becomes almost comical. Women are seen more and more as sexual objects and THAT’S really what worries me. I did a whole project on photoshopping for a class last semester and I can GUARANTEE every single one of the Maxim girls were photoshopped. Everything in print is these days, sadly.
A great post, Betty…and so true. Especially during new year’s resolution time, it’s important to remember what’s really attainable and set realistic goals for yourself and your body type…never reference print photos as goals because literally 100% of the time they’ve been altered and just aren’t realistically attainable…
I feel a blog post coming on…hahaha
I agree completely with Ida…what struck me most wasn’t the difference in “what is beautiful” but rather the way the women are portrayed as submissive, always slightly off-balance, twisted…imagine a man in any of those poses and it becomes almost comical. Women are seen more and more as sexual objects and THAT’S really what worries me. I did a whole project on photoshopping for a class last semester and I can GUARANTEE every single one of the Maxim girls were photoshopped. Everything in print is these days, sadly.
A great post, Betty…and so true. Especially during new year’s resolution time, it’s important to remember what’s really attainable and set realistic goals for yourself and your body type…never reference print photos as goals because literally 100% of the time they’ve been altered and just aren’t realistically attainable…
I feel a blog post coming on…hahaha
An interesting comparison. Yes, the women in the paintings are beautiful. But what strikes me about the juxtaposition between the modern women and the “older” women, is more than just the difference in body shape. It’s this: how incredibly sexualized the modern women are. The art is respectfully representing women, nudes. The photograph are simply portraying the women as sex objects. It just proved what I’ve thought for a long time: there’s nothing wrong with naked bodies. It’s sexualized bodies that are wrong.
I agree totally. Really good observations. Wonderful post Betty. Good encouragement for us all to be the women that we were created to be, not what man thinks we should be………..maybe that should have said, ‘not what media thinks we should be’. Great thoughts everyone.
There is nothing wrong with sexualizing other humans. Sex is good. I like sex. I like when my husband looks at me and wants to have sex with me. I like looking at him, and sometimes even *gasp* objectifying him for a little bit. The problem is not sexualization itself, it’s sexualization at the expense of every. Other. Depiction. Of. Women. It’s all about balance. I’m all about you seeing me as sexy, if you can also see me as strong and smart and full of humanity.
If I ever get around to writing again, I may feel inclined to include this as a block quote, attributing you (“Nula”) as the author. Is that okay? Please say yes?
“I’m all about you seeing me as sexy, if you can also see me as strong and smart and full of humanity.”
THIS. So much.
I think the Olivia Wilde one must be heavily photoshopped because I was looking at it and it just seems…off somehow, like not…I don’t know, just something about it makes that alarm bell ring in my head of seeing something that’s not logical or real.
I think it might be the relationship of her waist to the position of her legs, like they maybe shopped her waist in and it made the leg angle wrong or something.
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/maybe-she's-born-with-it-maybe-it's-photoshop
Excellent posting! The man you spoke with obviously didn’t have the slightest sense of history – at all. Compare photos of Marilyn Monroe with the models/actresses today that are heralded as beauties. A mere 50 years ago, the classic beauty had shape and curves. Today many of them are sickly thin..
Thank you SO SO much for this. I think we all go through our own personal body image issues, and we become so wrapped up in our own insecurities, we forget that pretty much EVERY woman has them, because it’s nearly impossible to be “ideal”. And even women who are “ideal” continue to struggle with insecurity.
I remember seeing a vintage add from the 50s advertising a product to help women put on weight and be curvier. Just half a century ago, what a different tune coming from advertising…another good thing to keep in perspective.
I also have looked at a lot of non-photoshopped images, and I think it is really important for people to educate themselves about this. It is not just buffing away pimples…they make waists tinier, skin smoother, breasts bigger. The images we are looking at, as “ideal” as the women may be, are not true reflections of what they look like anyway. In some instances, we are basically looking at CGI. It’s like comparing yourself to a cartoon…
Thanks again. Love and appreciate this so much.
I love this look back at history! Thank you, I enjoyed it. Much love and acceptance. 🙂
Thanks so much for this! It’s so upsetting to try and have a positive self-image when you are constantly bombarded by pictures of one type of totally unrealistic woman. Apparently we’re exposed to more images of women in a day than our grandmothers were in their lifetimes. I wish there was some way to escape but you can never be truly immune!
PS Not skinny-bashing – I understand some women can eat and eat and never put on weight – but some of these images look like advertisements for anorexia. How is slowly killing yourself considered sexy by these men?
me #9 tiny jeans girl is the closest my body type comes. In truth at least she has boobs and some curve. I have ALWAYS looked like this no matter what I ate or done. I do not do this on purpose it has just happened. Still not sure why.
Imagine being this in jr/high shcool when all the girls got boobs and butts and you didn’t. Somehow the puberty fairy forgot me. 🙁
When you’re really thin you fit in nowhere. I have been told by complete strangers, “Eat something for godsake!” This is rude and hurtful because I DO eat and I eat quite alot yet it doesn’t add any curve to me. I am also verbally attacked for being too thin. Hey if I knew how to gain curves I would! Honest!! I have been trying this for years. I have finally hit 112lbs and am maintaining it. To me that is a huge feat for some weird reason.
Imagine trying to wear ANYTHING from Victoria’s Secret. You can’t because you look like the Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz! I’ve even given up wearing any sort of bra because the only one that will fit is those stupid trainers. I wear Jr lacy tank tops instead.
The upside is I can breathe because I’m not squished into a bra all day and I don’t have to spend money on anything related to Victoria’s Secret so I save quite a bit. Truth be known I’d LOOOOVE to have overstuffed drawers of it. Underwire, pushup, waterbra hey I want them all.
Breast implants?? Now tell me what normal logical thinking girl reeeaaaly does that??? Nope noway no how.
Everyone thinks there’s no such thing as too thin, wrong! We have far more problems than anyone lets on. For example as I pointed out earlier you cannot find one piece of lingerie that really fits and makes you feel good. (Panties do not count. For some strange reason you can find panties in any size. The bra to match, well that is just too much to hope for). You’re always cold unless it hits high 90’s. Most clothes will not fit you so you’re reduced to shopping in Jr section – kids unless you favor the huge baggy look. It’s a darn good thing I do. It is also impossible to be very thin and have both boobs and a butt. Nope noway simply impossible not ever gonna happen.
Now that I’ve reached full adulthood I am finally coming to terms with my body type and learning to like it. One day may even love it. Right now dunno too early to even discuss.
I don’t buy any of the girlie mags such as Cosmo because it makes me feel bad and there’s really nothing in there I want to read. I’m not going to be on the red carpet soon so why would I really need the lil black dress for this fashion season??
Yes I do agree with you Shibz there’s no way to be happy with your body type when they are constantly throwing this in your face. I can honestly say from my experience looking like you’re starving is not attractive It’s downright disturbing! I mean when you can see your ribs you learn to give up any full length mirrors fast.
I say lets’ start doing this to those men who have forced it upon us. Grab Brad Pitt rip off his shirt, oil him up, and stuff his jeans with tampons using him for the Tampax ad. I’m sure sales would go through the roof. Strip thier clothes off their bodies and force them to pose in stupid poses and sell products in every single magazine out there. Force them onto goofy diets, crazy hairstyles, and to workout nonstop if they want to be popular. I guarantee before the first month was up they’d all QUIT!
Hmm… half naked Johnny Depp selling eyeliner. I could be tempted to buy it.
Please don’t hate me, be envious of me, or redicule me for being super
scary thin. I myself do not want to be this way, but it is what it is.
If you have boobs and a butt you should be envious of yourself. Throw
yourself a lingerie party and celebrate them! 🙂
Meanwhile should I ever find her, me and the puberty fairy are having a looong heart to heart…
I love all the honesty. It’s great to hear all perspectives on body image issues. I feel that as crazy as this may sound, men are as much victims to the media and what we are told is sexy. They are bombarded with all these “ideal” body images and brain washed all the same. There needs to be some reality put on society. Thank you all for sharing your love and insecurities for your body-it’s refreshing to hear truth!