Over the past century, America’s idealized version of a woman’s body has changed due to the influences of media and pop culture symbols. By using the concepts of the sociological imagination, personal troubles versus public issues, and gender socialization, we can see these changes take effect. Starting as early as 1900, we take a look at how ideas of fashion created by media and culture create the ideal woman. 
The woman depicted here represents typical dress for a woman of wealth in 1900. She would have been able to afford keeping up with latest fashions, such as dresses that emphasized the slender waist and accentuates the bust with large sleeves that drew attention to the bust. The ideal woman of 1900 did not show much skin, in fact it was considered improper to do so. Therefore we see a long skirt that conceals the curvature of her legs. Her dress also goes from her neck to her wrists. Women of the era wore corsets that reduced the size of their waists and wore dresses that emphasized their hips. Even though women covered themselves, it is obvious that affluent women prized the classic hourglass figure.
The woman of the 1920s, depicted above, is now typically referred to as a flapper. She experienced America during its a period of rapid social change. Americans believed that their prosperity would last forever and women had just received the right to vote; it was a new era of progressivism. We can see how this is reflected in the dress of the 1920 flapper. The most drastic change we note is that more skin is revealed. The skirt stops just below the knees and is held up by “spaghetti straps.” However, the woman wore gloves that came up above her elbows to cover her arms somewhat. We notice that the dress is more loose fitting, one would consider this an improvement over the form fitting dress of 1900. Women removed their corsets but bound their breasts to create slim and boyish figures. Also, women bobbed their hair as a political statement. They wanted to appear more masculine and capable of handling the workforce environment, so they had to leave the corsets and complex hairstyles behind. Also, we notice the woman herself is in good shape. This is due to the fact that exercise was becoming more popular with the rise of sports’ popularity. Exercise became a positive way to enhance the body and more commercials and ads began to show what this new ideal body looked like, and we would see its effects for decades to come.
The lighthearted, forward-looking attitude and fashions of the late 1920s lingered through most of 1930, but by the end of that year the effects of the Great Depression began to affect the public, and a more conservative approach to fashion displaced that of the 1920s. For women, skirts became longer and the waistline was returned up to its normal position in an attempt to bring back the traditional "womanly" look. The most characteristic fashion trend from the 1930s to the end of World War II in 1945 was attention at the shoulder, with butterfly and banjo sleeves, and exaggerated shoulder pads for both men and women. As clothing production was restricted by the war and people were spending less money on clothes buying, women would turn men’s suits into outfits they could wear. Popular magazines and pattern companies advised women on how to remake men's suits into smart outfits, since the men were in uniform and the cloth would otherwise sit unused. Eisenhower jackets became popular in this period. Influenced by the military, these jackets were bloused at the chest and fitted at the waist with a belt. Her dress has the iconic large shouldered look and it has the fitted waist and long skirt. From looking at these past images, we see that hemlines drop in conservative eras and shorten in liberal eras.
As we move on to the 1950’s, we see the post war “baby boom” era. Men return to work, and the Rosies of the war return home. Women with ample and voluptuous bodies were ideal so that they could be fertile and nurture their children. A perfect example of this body type is Marilyn Monroe. According to many different sources, Marilyn was approximately a size 14 to 16. While today she would be considered a plus-size model, at the time she fit the image of the ideal woman. New fashion trends appeared, and some even let women adjusted their clothes to fit whatever body type they wanted. Fitted bodices and full skirts accentuate the return to the hourglass figure. Fashion was heavily dependent on undergarments, such as structured bras and girdles. The models of the 1950’s set a new standard for many women who had previously tried to restrain their curves.
Once we reach the 1960’s, the body image once again changed with the arrival of one model: Twiggy. Her name perfectly describes her body shape as she had no curves or a bust. But what might be the most interesting fact about Twiggy is that she longed for a body similar to Marilyn Monroe and other larger women around her. Even though she was now the “it” girl, she felt dissatisfied with her body, which an issue that stills affects the women of today. Social issues also played a part with body image: as more women demanded equal rights, they became more slender and boyish. Perhaps this was a way to focus less on their identity as women and more as equals. The body type from the 1960’s is what women of today long to look like even though the 1950’s model looked much more realistic.
Looking at the present, we start to see a contradiction between how the woman’s body is depicted in advertisements and how they look in real life. In all the aforementioned decades, advertisements often echoed what the majority of women looked like. In the present, obesity affects one-third of the population of the United States. However, when we look at models and celebrities such as Kate Moss and Cameron Diaz, we see unrealistically skinny women. When we look at advertisements, we assume that the image we see is a representation of reality. Yet, an extensive amount of photoshopping occurs to create the perfect picture. This process can be seen in the Dove YouTube video seen here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U This creates confusion among many American women and can lead to threatening circumstances. As seen in “You May Ask Yourself”, Conley writes that
“...by adolescence, the disadvantages are stacked against girls, who “lose their voices” as they suffer blows to their self-confidence. Eating disorders disproportionately affect girls in adolescence compared with their male peers. More than half of teenaged girls are on diets or think they should be. This may be changing, though. It was estimated 20 years ago that there was 1 male with an eating disorder for every 10 to 15 women; today research estimates the proportion at 1 male for every 4 females (ANRED, 2005). What’s more, girls more frequently report low self-esteem, more girls attempt suicide, and more girls report experiencing some form of sexual harassment in school” (Conley, p. 294-295).
While this excerpt may seem as a personal trouble for teenage girls (when values that she cherishes feel threatened), it has now developed into a public issue (same value cherished by the public is felt to be threatened) as low self-esteem, suicide, and eating disorders have increasingly invaded the lives of millions of girls across the nation. These teenagers will one day be the leaders of the free world, yet they feel trapped in what they see as ugly bodies. They cannot effectively get jobs, adequately raise future generations, or inspire others if they lack confidence in themselves. Part of this obsession with perfect looking bodies comes from our socialization of gender. As women, we are brought into the world and instantly taught that the girls are supposed to have skinny and delicate frames while the men are the bigger and stronger ones. Conley describes it perfectly in “You May Ask Yourself”:
“Gender is also a crucial part of how we define ourselves; it frames our identity. The process of forming a gendered identity starts before a person is even born, as soon as the fetus is identified. Through socialization and personality development, children acquire a gendered identity that, in most cases, reproduces the attitudes, values, and actions that his or her social milieu deems suitable for a boy or girl. (Conley, p. 273).
While we like to think that social change has completely eradicated the stereotypical gender spheres, look around. Advertisements everywhere portray women as vulnerable and small while men are powerful and dominating as we saw in Sut Jhally’s “Codes of Gender” video. With phones, computers, and televisions within reach of most Americans, it becomes difficult to escape the omnipresent ideal woman.
This idealized woman has become so preposterous and unattainable that it has worked its way into pop culture, as seen in Tina Fey’s most recent book, “Bossypants.”:
“But I think the first real change in women’s body image came when JLo turned it butt-style. That was the first time that having a large-scale situation in the back was part of mainstream American beauty. Girls wanted butts now. Men were free to admit that they had always enjoyed them. And then, what felt like moments later, boom—Beyoncé brought the leg meat. A back porch and thick muscular legs were now widely admired. And from that day forward, women embraced their diversity and realized that all shapes and sizes are beautiful. Ah ha ha. No. I’m totally messing with you. All Beyonce and JLo have done is add to the laundry list of attributes women must have to qualify as beautiful. Now every girl is expected to have Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan...long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a...gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy [and] the arms of Michelle Obama.”
From the excerpt above, it is easy to see that with the proliferation of diverse body types and technology, women are expected to have such unrealistic bodies. Instead of embracing diversity, women feel as if they can never measure up to the ideal woman.
As we have learned throughout the semester, C. Wright Mills coined the term “sociological imagination” as when the individual can understand her experience and gauge her fate by locating herself within her period and becoming aware of all the individuals in her circumstances. It allows us to see the veneer of social life for what it is and the tools to see the change happening around us. So if a girl is feeling insecure about her body image, she can use her sociological imagination and see that the ideal woman has changed multiple times throughout the last century and women have felt inadequate for decades. It is up to her to decide if she wants to accept this and move on or simply dwell on her insecurities.
These examples of media and culture have shaped our ideas of how the perfect woman’s body should look. By examining these photos and the fashions of the decade they represent with our sociological imagination, ideas on gender, and the concept of personal troubles versus public issues, we understand why these changes occurred. We are also able to comprehend why there is no ideal woman. She is constantly changing, always unattainable, and different for every person and culture. By accepting that there is no ideal woman, we no longer have to strive to become her.
