The Fetish of the Size 0 Woman - Dissertation Example

The Fetish of the Size 0 Woman Introduction Throughout history, the definition of feminine beauty has changed significantly according to the most popular shapes and sizes of the times. In ancient times, practically obese women were considered a symbol of beauty because of the obvious association with a champion hunter and excellent planner. The only way in which a prehistoric woman could become fat was through the cooperation of a well-organized and talented community. The Greeks, with their concentration upon the perfection of form and mathematical precision, brought in the concept of a more muscular figure, yet one that still contained a soft roundness of form. Progress in society has gradually whittled away at the feminine shape, reaching into the 1800s when the female form was finally taken into the realm of the almost skeletal as an ideal of beauty. As this transition was made from pleasingly plump to Twiggy thin and all points in between, men and women have learned how to fashion the body into the ideal form of the size 0 waist, often helped by a piece of clothing known as a corset, purposefully designed to help less perfect figures shift into the current ideal. Throughout much of its history, the corset was not called such but instead went by many other names, including stays, bodies, pair of bodies and corps. However, for the purposes of this discussion, the term ‘corset’ will be used to refer to a garment used to help women achieve the excessive thinness idealized by the strange and unhealthy fetish for the wasp-waisted woman. Newer developments include the use of plastic surgery to attempt to obtain the wasp waist considered the ideal of feminine beauty. The current debate regarding the size 0 woman will be explored as it emerged out of pre-Victorian conceptions of beauty into the modern day and continues to be reinforced by current cultural role models. However, new artistic photographic responses and efforts to counteract this unrealistic conception of the feminine ideal have been emerging in recent years, presenting an alternative version of the body beautiful. The Debate Regarding the Size 0 Woman In recent years, one of the more popular forms of television entertainment has been the concept of the makeover show. These shows are focused primarily on re-forming women’s bodies into something that more closely matches the societal perception of the ideal regardless of the woman’s other natural abilities, talents or attributes. This ‘ideal’ image is usually defined as someone of a mid-20ish age, slender, with specific measurements and a certain good-looking charm. This limited view of the ideal automatically eliminates anyone who might have been born with a larger bone structure or other ‘defect’ that defies the reshaping of the scalpel from the ranks of the socially acceptable. Through the reality shows, though, those lucky few who are able to fit the ideal in any way, to attain the ‘body beautiful’, much is made of their subsequent happiness and success as a result of their ‘improved’ appearance and slenderer selves. ASPS president Rod Rohrich pointed to the various individuals taking part in plastic surgery reality television indicating that many of them have unrealistic and unhealthy expectations for the results (Gustafson, 2005). It is perceived through these types of presentations that the only way to find happiness and fulfillment is through the construction of the ‘body beautiful’, a focus on the wasp waist and the perfection of the hourglass shape, causing an extreme focus on the outward appearance many times to the detriment of the inner being. Through such focus, women’s bodies have remained commodities necessary not only for their own happiness and future success, but also for the entertainment value involved in fixing them up and the industries designed around providing the necessary services to do the fixing. Studies have continuously shown that people dress a certain way and acquire certain things to try to evince an attitude of belonging to a particular subset of individuals who embody their ideals (Gilman, 1999). With these outward appearances in hand, we can walk up to the ‘in crowd’ and proclaim ourselves a member. “Indeed Smith (1990) believes that women view their bodies as ‘objects of work’ requiring attention and upkeep in order to operate well and promote the desired effect” (Gillen, 2001). Yet being a part of this crowd does not necessarily guarantee happiness as is evidenced by the lives of those people who help to set the standards, the movie stars themselves. Actresses such as Jamie Lee Curtis, long admired as the epitome of the dynamite female figure, suggests taking such measures as plastic surgery and liposuction are little more than a waste of money. “I’ve done it all. None of it works … I looked worse” (Jones, 2002). Despite the perception by many that this actress could be used as the definition of the ideal body beautiful, Curtis says she still suffered from significant self-esteem issues and must still face the onset of age. “Research in the UK suggests that the wealthier we are, the more likely we are to dislike our body. Experts think there’s more pressure on the wealthy to achieve the thin ideal because they have the money to do so and are more exposed to media images” (Rebecca, 2006). Reality shows provide an excellent look into the concept of the body beautiful as the concept of the thin, perfectly proportioned figure is portrayed as a woman’s only means of obtaining happiness and fulfillment. Because these shows work to emphasize the idea that they are for entertainment purposes only, they can be easily overlooked as vacant, shallow embodiments of a new development in materialism. However, these trends are not necessarily the empty, superficial manifestations they originally appear to be as the ideas contained within them become translated into the realities of the individuals living within the consumer culture. Playing to the modern culture’s Cinderella dream for a better future and our insecurities regarding who and what we are in relation to the rest of society, these programs are a perfect mirror of the concept that possession of a body beautiful has the ability to transform the lives of any member of society (Gillen, 2001). Regardless of other features of the show, the entire focus remains based upon “getting you that new bod, the one that will make all your friends and family at last see you as being ‘hot’ (Gibbons, 2004). Doctoral candidate Angela Dancey (Weintraub, 2001) points out that these shows work to deny they are about the appearance by including talk of psychotherapeutic and inspirational tales of rebirth, “but what you’re seeing and what they’re saying are very different.” The focus on the thin waist and perfect figure is so prevalent that there is very little or no regard for deeper, weightier matters such as issues of self-esteem, talent, ability, intelligence or any one of numerous human possibilities that exist below the skin’s surface as a means of helping a woman live a happier, healthier life. There is a clear and consistent message that the average viewer sitting at home is never ‘good enough’ to present themselves to the society they feel they should be a part of. In order to be happy, they must become a member of this beautiful body club that guarantees acceptance and success. If they don’t meet the standards, they must work hard to earn the money necessary to purchase the ‘correct’ look, regardless of the pricetag, monertarily, medically or metaphorically speaking. Yet even actresses such as Jamie Lee Curtis, herself the textbook ideal of the body beautiful, have admitted that possessing the ‘right’ look has not brought them happiness (Jones, 2002). To the contrary, many of these individuals have indicated that they never felt they had the ‘perfect’ body and they have often experienced a great deal of personal suffering, including addiction, as a result of their perceptions. Because the modern day ideals have established impossible standards of beauty and lifestyle, these reality shows have evolved as a pseudo means of evening up the odds to the general public in terms of overall perception. At the same time, they establish standards too high for even the most perfect to achieve and cause severe damage to the individual throughout societies’ various levels as average individuals struggle to subject their own personalities to the social norm. Despite this, our culture can be seen to buy into the concept that outer appearances designate inner qualities. Weintraub (2004) quotes Dancey as saying “As a culture and as a country, we’re really invested in this idea of the conversion, and we want it to be overnight. And the idea of a physical makeover gets linked to the idea of a spiritual makeover. It’s almost like being born again, in the religious sense.” The physical changes might not have actually changed anything else about a person’s life, but the perception that change has occurred is enough to spur viewers and participants alike into believing that outward change can bring about fundamental, life-lifting transformation. Girls who fit the ideal of the thin waist and hourglass shape are automatically considered to be popular, intelligent and successful regardless of whether they are while girls who do not fit the ideal are considered slovenly, lazy and not overly intelligent. Despite any social benefits experienced by those who might be able to gain the body beautiful (typically vastly outweighed by medical deficits), there remain many negative effects experienced both by those who have it and those who can never attain it. The impossible standards set by the movie industry creates the illusion that most of us must look like Gwyneth Paltrow or Tom Cruise in order to be considered attractive. This internal drive to constantly redefine ourselves based upon how society sets its values and how we measure up to them removes the focus from what is positive about ourselves and shifts it to what is wrong with the way we look. This desire to meet the impossible dream for some or to maintain the impossible dream for others, has a tendency to encourage young people, girls especially, to seek such physically enhancing procedures as plastic surgery even before their bodies have finished growing. A recent BBC News report indicates as many as 40 percent of teenage girls in the UK desire some sort of plastic surgery (“Forty Percent”, 2005). Depending upon the reasons and expectations one might have going in for surgery, the results, no matter how successful, can cause long-term psychological and physiological damage, belying the concept that having a beautiful body will automatically bring happiness. The superstar status of such vacuous identities as Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears has sent many adolescents seeking plastic surgery as well. In a Scotland study questioning 2,000 girls with an average age of 14, “four out of ten said they would consider plastic surgery to make themselves slimmer” regardless of their current weight status (Gustafson, 2005). At the same time, the extreme focus on the thin waist often creates psychological issues for those who cannot attain the defined body beautiful or who are increasing in age beyond the borders of the defined set. Numerous studies have been conducted that actually link aspects of the appearance culture with increased rates of eating disorders, negative self-image and social acceptance among adolescents that develop into significant health issues for adults. In a book discussing the unique issues faced by overweight children, Dr. Sylvia Rimm (2004) discusses several of the reasons why children who enter school slightly overweight often find it impossible to overcome this deficit thanks to modern society’s focus on outward appearance and its link to the relative value of the inner person. This cycle sees the child increasingly gaining weight as a result of the emotional turmoil that occurs as other children begin to make fun of them or as they perceive themselves not being able to keep up with other children on the sports field and not measuring up to the expected ideals. More than just focusing on appearance, these children begin seeing themselves as somehow less than average weight children in every way, severely negating any true worth they may have in other areas of life. Many adults reinforce these beliefs with the idea that an overweight child must be lazy and not as bright as other children, further placing restrictions on them based merely upon their appearance (Rimm, 2004). That the preferred feminine quality above all others is still the small-waisted flower who can either be provocatively bad or ridiculously passive or anything in between is evidenced by continued popularity of the oldest form of waist control, the corset. One designer credited with bringing this particular article of clothing into the mainstream fashion market and re-emphasizing the concept of the small-waisted woman as a definition of feminine beauty is Vivienne Westwood. “Westwood’s reworking of the corset for outerwear has become one of her most recognizable trademarks. Romantic and historically accurate, the corsets are also surprisingly practical. Stretch fabrics allow ease of movement, and removable sleeves convert a daytime garment to evening wear. Once a symbol of constraint, corsets are now an expression of female sexuality and empowerment” (“Vivienne Westwood”, 2004). Westwood emerged in the 1960s rebelling against both conservatism and repression through the aggressive, outspoken nature of the clothing she designed. Westwood discovered that “there was a dramatic potential in the clothes themselves that could be heightened: laden with associations, biker gear links sexuality, violence and death, in a twentieth century archetype” (Savage, 2001). She began a new line of clothes that were based on these ideas by adding metal studs, chicken bones, chains, zippers and other gear to the clothing she made. These designs included a heavy use of the corset as a fetish object, frequently making it in leather, vinyl or other materials to denote a dominatrix-type image, imbuing the garment with a sense of power and control that differed significantly with the traditional view of this item. This again made the wasp-waist popular and desireable without placing much consideration on the detrimental effects such concentration could have on a female body and again sparking outcry against the concentration on the physical. Thus the debate comes around full circle. Society has identified the wasp waisted woman as the cultural ideal of feminine beauty which is depicted over and over again in the media, reinforcing and perpetuating the concept that feminine worth is based upon her ability to conform to a particular, thin physical shape. Thus it becomes obvious that the only way to adequately combat the flawed associations that have developed in our modern culture regarding the importance of fitting into a stereotyped ‘Barbie doll’ type image in order to retain some sense of personal worth is through alterations of the images presented by the media. To some extent, this change has been implemented in films such as the Lords of the Rings trilogy in which none of the women wear makeup and concentration on achieving the ideal form is neglected or incidental. Another example can be found in the film Bridget Jones’ Diary in which the actress playing the heroine purposefully gained weight as a means of presenting her character as a type of anti-glamour figure. Numerous artists such as Cindy Sherman and Louise Rednapp have tackled the subject in their works as well, attempting to present an alternate view of what it means to be female. However, there must be a much greater focus on the inner worth of an individual and a general shift in other media attention from one that focuses upon Hollywood scandals and ‘glamour’ girls famous because of a thin waist and little else to one that focuses on inner strengths, humanitarian involvement or other more worthy subjects than simple outward appearance. References “Forty Percent of Teens Want Plastic Surgery.” (5 January, 2005). BBC News. Received 14 October 2007 from Gibbons, Sheila. (22 December 2004). “TV Makeover Shows are Prime Time Madness.” Women’s News. Retrieved 14 October 2007 from < http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/2116/context/archive> Gillen, Kate. (2001). “Choosing an Image: Exploring Women’s Image Through the Personal Shopper.” Through the Wardrobe. Eds. Ali Guy, Maura Benim & Eileen Green. London: Berg, pp. 71-93. Gilman, Sander L. (1999). Making the Body Beautiful: A Cultural History of Aesthetic Surgery. Princeton University Press. Gustafson, Rod. (18 January, 2005). “Parenting and the Media.” Parents Television Council Publications. Retrieved 14 October 2007 from . Jones, Chris. (23 August, 2002). “Jamie Lee Curtis: The Body Beautiful?” BBC News. Retrieved 14 October 2007 from Rebecca. (2006). “Body Beautiful.” British Council Russia. British Council. Retrieved 14 October 2007 from < http://www.britishcouncil.org/russia-trenduk-december-2006-body-beautiful.htm> Rimm, Sylvia. (2004). Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Overweight Children. New York: St Martin’s Press. Savage, Jon. (2001). Englands Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond. New York: St. Martin’s Press. “Vivienne Westwood.” (2004). Changing Styles. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 14 October 2007 from Weintraub, Joanne. (21 March 2004). “Makeover Shows Selling Fairy Tales.” Journal Sentinal TV Critic. Live TV & Radio. Retrieved 14 October 2007 from < http://www.jsonline.com/enter/tvradio/mar04/215820.asp> Writer’s note – be sure to remove! Working through admin to try to get books delivered can often be so time-consuming as to make the effort worthless yet they frown on us sharing addresses. If you can obtain the books listed by your teacher and send them to me, I will be sure to use them in the final paper. As I wrote earlier, I will be unable to get them here. My address is: Wendy Strain 14501 Compass #113 Corpus Christi, TX 78418 Potential Book List Evans, Mary. Costume Throughout the Ages. Philadelphia: Lippincott (Revised Edition), 1950. Hollander, Anne. Sex and Suits: The Evolution of Modern Dress. New York: Kodansha International, 1995. Kenrick, John. “Anna Held.” Ziegfeld 101. (2004). October 7, 2007 Kunzle, David. “Other Evidence: Waistlines and Corsets in Letters (1880-1890).” Fashion and Fetishism. Sutton Publishing, 2004. McCutchen, L. “The Dangerous Fetish of Tight-Lacing in the 19th Century.” Fashion History. (1999). Morbid Outlook. October 7, 2007 Phantom of the Opera. Dir. Joel Schumacher. Perf. Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson and Minnie Driver. Warner Brothers Pictures, 2004. Titanic. Dir. James Cameron. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates and Frances Fisher. Twentieth Century Fox, 1997. Van Degans, Margaret. “Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld’s Broadway: Review.” The New York Times. (May 14, 2000). October 7, 2007 Vertinsky, Patricia. “Rhythmics – A Sort of Physical Jubilee: A New Look at the Contribution of Dio Lews.” Canadian Journal of History of Sport and Physical Education, Vol. 9, (May 1978). Waugh, Nora. Corsets and Crinolines. New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1981 (3rd printing). Read More