HISTORY OF THE FEMALE "IMAGE IDEAL"

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  • tashjs21
    tashjs21 Posts: 4,584 Member
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    Ok....so I am generally a UK10 on top, a UK12 - 14 on the bottom.......

    Yesterday whilst shopping in just one shop....I got a size 16 boob-tube which was FAR too tight but then I got some size 10 trousers, which fit like a dream. I got size 18 shorts (yep, size 18!) and a size 8 cardigan which both fit PERFECTLY.

    Out of 3 dresses, ALL being a UK 12....only one fit me.

    I own a pair of UK size 14 trousers (what they labelled as "LARGE") which are from the 80's, but I cant even do the button up!!

    Basically, clothing sizes vary greatly, even when manufactured by the same company and they also vary from year to year/decade to decade....rather frustrating that there's no consistency :ohwell:


    ^This!!! My sister in law will pour herself into a pair of pants or a shirt that don't fit properly because "it is her size" and then refuse to buy something that fits and flattering to her because it is "not her size" :noway:

    My closet has such a wide range of sizes it is ridiculous. However, it took me many years to not flip out when I had to buy an XL
  • fueledbychange
    fueledbychange Posts: 132 Member
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    As soon as they said Brittany Murphy looked like a toothpick, I quit reading. That is blunt and straight out body-shame, and it's ridiculous that someone who took their time write an article to try and get women to celebrate their bodies would make fun of someone because their's is, in the author's opinion, 'too thin'.

    tl;dr - This article is dumb and hypocritical. Have a nice day ladies!
  • Ras_py
    Ras_py Posts: 129 Member
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    As soon as they said Brittany Murphy looked like a toothpick, I quit reading. That is blunt and straight out body-shame, and it's ridiculous that someone who took their time write an article to try and get women to celebrate their bodies would make fun of someone because their's is, in the author's opinion, 'too thin'.

    tl;dr - This article is dumb and hypocritical. Have a nice day ladies!
    lol
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    http://youtu.be/iJew4fxHl1U

    "Do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly."

    "You are not as fat as you imagine."
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    As soon as they said Brittany Murphy looked like a toothpick, I quit reading. That is blunt and straight out body-shame, and it's ridiculous that someone who took their time write an article to try and get women to celebrate their bodies would make fun of someone because their's is, in the author's opinion, 'too thin'.

    tl;dr - This article is dumb and hypocritical. Have a nice day ladies!
    lol

    I'll second this 'lol'
  • ErinBeth7
    ErinBeth7 Posts: 1,625 Member
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    This is great. It makes a good point that only a small percentage of women are "model" thin. It is true.
  • garlic7girl
    garlic7girl Posts: 2,234 Member
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    See that is the problem to me which shows we all are still warped by the media...all the women win to me. Not just MM. We all are different sizes and shapes...you strive for health and what is best for your body! Not just who has the best body.
  • amandajam2012
    amandajam2012 Posts: 82
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    I am finding this article very intersting too (re: Marilyn's figure):

    http://jezebel.com/5299793/for-the-last-time-what-size-was-marilyn-monroe

    By those standards she was *definitely* smaller than a UK 10, let alone a 14 - I'm 36-28-36 and fit into a size 10...

    We have the same measurements
  • phoenixoncemore
    phoenixoncemore Posts: 202 Member
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    I was just talking about this with a friend the other day. It's called vanity sizing and it peeves me off. Wiki isn't the best source but it gives an idea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanity_sizing.

    From the article:
    "In Sears’s 1937 catalog, a woman with a 32 inches (81 cm)-bust would have worn a size 14 dress. In 1967, the same woman would have worn an 8. In 2011, she would wear a zero.[9]"
    When people say "Oh, but Marilyn Monroe was a size 14" it makes me want to scream. People use her too much to justify their own unhealthy choices, I think.

    This^^ exactly..

    Agreed. I read this a while ago:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2176971/1950s-housewives-kept-slim-burning-calories-housework.html

    Quite interesting regarding our changing daily activity levels, but it also says the average 1950's housewife was a size 12 with stats of 36 - 24 - 35.

    I have stats of 35 - 28 - 34 and in most stores now I'm a size 8! Except a few that really irk me, such as M&S and Next, where none of their clothes will fit as they've subscribed to vanity sizing so much. And the odd one or two, that worryingly tend to cater for a younger market such as H&M and Jane Norman, where i'm nearer a size 14 sometimes. I literally have clothes in my wardrobe from a size 6 to 16. :explode:

    It explains why the clothes size i'm wearing doesn't match how I look. I do not look like a size 6-8, I look like a size 12!!
  • SueGremlin
    SueGremlin Posts: 1,066 Member
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    Thanks. It's a very sad statistic that most women go through life dissatisfied with their bodies. I don' t know what the source is, but it seems plausible to me.
    Who hasn't looked at a very old photo of themselves and thought "Psh. I actually thought i was fat".

    I just lost almost 60 lbs and am wearing a size 8. I still feel fat. It's not the way I want to feel about myself.
  • yksdoris
    yksdoris Posts: 327 Member
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    Came across this yesterday:

    funny-Tina-Fey-body-image-quote.jpg

    Now, granted, my eyes are green, not blue, my hips are pretty wide, I do have some body hair and I'm quite pale, and my arms are all flabby, but for the rest, go me, lol!
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    You know, it's not just women who have this problem. I have only recently accepted that I have a massively huge frame and can never look or be lightweight. Back when I was young, I ordered a pair of pants online from a niche boutique. I had them ship me a pair of XL pants to me - the waist turned out to be 28". The smallest I have ever been was a 36. I could squeeze into a 34 if it was a large cut, but 28? No way. Even if I were anorexic, my hips are too wide, it would be impossible.

    Even through most of my athletic life, I felt as if I was too big. I kept on hearing about cyclists who were the height as me, but weighed 150 lbs or less. The lightest I imagine I could be, and still carry some muscle, is 170. Now, the numbers on the scale aren't important to me. I realize now that BF% is much more important, and I do want to have *some* muscle. Not "The Rock" muscular, but enough that I can do stuff like handstands, planks, and pull-ups fairly easily. I expect to end up around 180, which is at the upper end of the BMI scale.
  • FuneralDiner
    FuneralDiner Posts: 438 Member
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    As soon as they said Brittany Murphy looked like a toothpick, I quit reading. That is blunt and straight out body-shame, and it's ridiculous that someone who took their time write an article to try and get women to celebrate their bodies would make fun of someone because their's is, in the author's opinion, 'too thin'.

    tl;dr - This article is dumb and hypocritical. Have a nice day ladies!
    Oh, didn't you know? We can't make fun of fat people but it's acceptable to call people "toothpicks!"
  • Tammi623
    Tammi623 Posts: 113 Member
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    Read this thread and most of the article because I love social history. However, when I started reading the paper, I was disappointed.

    What this paper is trying to say is in many ways correct. People ARE too fixated on media. The “ideal body image” HAS changed over the years. The paper makes a few good ATTEMPTS at making a point and the topic is good, but honestly it’s not a very well written or reliable paper. It appears to be a psychology paper written by what I would hope to be a first or second year student (too many mistakes and it's just poorly written). I wouldn’t title it “the History of ...” anything because it’s DEFINITELY not a history paper. There are so many holes in the time periods; it’s just all around too sketchy to be a history paper (or at least one that was graded very well). I’m sure that this topic has been properly discussed (beaten into the ground) in other articles published by academic sources (academic journals and professional articles reviewed by a board of experts) that would be more reliable. It is a very interesting topic and, honestly, I think I might do some research on it from a historical and psychological POV.

    I just got to the “toothpick” part of the article and my observations have just been reaffirmed because the terminology in this paper is just that ridiculous.
  • eeebee
    eeebee Posts: 471 Member
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    I personally took the whole student report with a pinch of salt...what I found interesting was to learn/visualise how the definition of "attractive" or "ideal" has evolved so much over the decades.

    Ejean....where did you order those TINY pants from (as in a niche boutique based in which country?) I agree, that's hardly what anyone would call XL even in women's clothing terms! Hope you sent them back!
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    It was an American boutique. And by "niche," I mean very, very niche. Not exactly mainstream clothing.

    I sent them back. This happened years ago.
  • lrkidd
    lrkidd Posts: 74 Member
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    Thank you so much for sharing.....
  • Lyerin
    Lyerin Posts: 818 Member
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    Tina Fey FTW.
  • Ekoria
    Ekoria Posts: 262 Member
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    As soon as they said Brittany Murphy looked like a toothpick, I quit reading. That is blunt and straight out body-shame, and it's ridiculous that someone who took their time write an article to try and get women to celebrate their bodies would make fun of someone because their's is, in the author's opinion, 'too thin'.

    tl;dr - This article is dumb and hypocritical. Have a nice day ladies!
    Oh, didn't you know? We can't make fun of fat people but it's acceptable to call people "toothpicks!"

    ^ annoyingly this -_-
  • lisaissasa
    lisaissasa Posts: 402 Member
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    It took awhile but I read the entire article. It explains a lot about my self image. But even so, I cannot help but think, "Can we truly blame the media for the unrealistic body image?" Think about it, the media could not have been successful at seducing us unless we were attracted to the image in the first place. The real question is why are we attracted to and desire to have such an unrealistic and unhealthy body?

    The women in the paintings grossed me out. It was like looking in a mirror. The artist even detailed the folds and cellulite. Marilyn's photo was attractive. I could just shoot myself, I had a figure similar to hers at a size 10. Unfortunately, I was stuck in my thinking that I needed to be a size 8. I have a hunch if I had got down to a size 8, I would have thought I needed to be a size 6. That has been my pattern how about you?

    My journey is more than just having a healthful habits. For me it is about learning to appreciate who I am now, inside and out. I have to be honest, I am not doing so well in this area. My thinking is still skewed.

    In closing, perhaps it is not so much the media that puts the unrealistic thinking into our brains as encouraging what we were already thinking. I am going to do my best to change my thinking. It will begin with limiting any images and audio that contradicts a factual healthy lifestyle, for mind, body, and soul.

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