Female Body Shape in the 20th Century

So you think looking like a ball isn't bad?? I think you're the one who seriously need help around here.

Don't talk to my sister like that. My sister and I have the same body shape and looking like a ball is not exactly like that. We have curves and when we wear jeans our butts stick out and every man looks at us when we walk down the street. What is wrong with that?

If you take a look at cartoons, curvy women are oftentimes attractive and the skinny girls are never.

Sakurapower said:
If you take a look at cartoons, curvy women are oftentimes attractive and the skinny girls are never.[...]

You didn't like Olive Oyl? Popeye did :-)

You know, Jim, you should add a picture of Lillian Russell. Now that would make an interesting comparison with the later models and actresses.

Jej I need to know where you got your statistics...

Seretonin, you do realise that a woman of 5ft2 and 140lb is only 4lb overweight according to BMI. And if she is larger framed or muscular, she will most likely be very fit and healthy at 140lb.

My mother is 5ft2 and weighed 140lb for years, yet she was in better shape than some women half her age. She is training to become a fitness instructor at present.

Sorry to say but you don't know what you are talking about.

i think we have to get the terminology straight here: many of you are assuming that "skinny" and "curvy" are mutually exclusive body types. it also sounds like many people are conflating "curvy" with "could stand to lose a few pounds".

men do prefer "curvy" women, but in the conventional sense, this probably means women who look like scarlett johanssen, jessica alba, and jessica biel. all these women are in tip-top shape and i don't think anyone would say they need to lose weight. the difference is that they have ass and tits. men prefer in-shape women with a chest and backside.

it seems like people are thinking "skinny" women are ones like calista flockhart, nicole richie, lara flynn boyle. the bodies of these women have very little of what's considered feminine assets.

so i think when people say men prefer curvy women over skinny women, they're really saying that men prefer otherwise-thin women with well-developed chests and backsides over thin women who don't have these assets.

these are just my observations from talking to my many guy friends. i don't know if i agree with them. personally, i'm short with broad shoulders and narrowish hips. i've cranked out something that looks like an hourglass figure through years of cardio and millions of reps of ab and oblique exercises. i have a small chest but i do have a nice round perky butt. i don't know where this puts me in terms of female body shapes, but i just do my best with what i have.

When i was little, i was always told women are always supposed to be curvy and that females who acquire male physical appeal have a deformity...yeah i still believe that...

i think its just plain wrong that females look like males...what has this world come to?!

i always thought Maryln Monroe was thin...and models like Twiggy abnormal...not trying to be mean

i myself have no hips, have a huge waist, and no bust...i believe that cuvier women are more beautiful...

if men like women who have a boyish figure...then that should mean that men are gay....

old is gold .......no more comments

Betty Grable & Marilyn Monroe had gorgeous figures. The celebrities with nice figures of today are : Salma Hayek, Martine McCutcheon, Reese Witherspoon, Halle Berry, Beyonce, Mariah Carey, America Ferrera, Chyna, Janet Jackson, Kim Kardashian...I'm tring to think of more that have the gorgeous "Hourglass figure"...They should have good hips.

Yeah, um Stacy, no offence but were you ever anorexic at one point? Because I know many women (I'm only 19 but I know older women) who used to be really thin before they were married and had kids ... and right after, they'd balloon up. Personally, I don't think you should feel like shit because it's seriously workable. Eat healthy. DO NOT STARVE because it's gonna jump back up. I used to be really thin too, like 5'2 and 93 pounds and wanted to lose more. I guess you could say I was anorexic. But fortunately last year I had frosh 25 ... all my weight spread proportionately though. I have a tiny ribcage but massive boobs(!) - sometimes I'm ashamed of the size but oh well, so long as they're not drooping ... and I no longer fit into a size zero! During the summer I lost 10 lbs through healthy eating and exercising so I'm 115 lbs now. Anyway, on the bright side, my mom who was freakishly thin got to 165 pounds after giving birth to me and was like this all my life. However, she started having a healthy diet and exercising for a year, and she's down to 134 now. She moderately eats junk, and trust me, it's all a matter of caloric intake on a hollistic level. One day of bingign will honestly not make you gain much weight ... but more than that, you're in trouble. I think it's best if you surround yourself with positive thoughts about yourself ... face it, as much as you like to think, OTHER people don't care about your body as much as you do ... and you should rather focus being healthy because you have a kid and you wouldn't want him/her to grow with a mother who's insecure about something so petty. so yeah, that's my 2 cents.

S said:
"Fashion model, dancer. Referred to as the first supermodel. This picture is from Vogue 1939." [...]

This is a joke... right?

i agree to that chick who said about her bod

just be healthy whatever your body shape...
attractiveness is in one's attitude..

good day!

Thin is attractive - fat is repulsive. Fat people tend to be unhygenic and of a slothern nature. Thin people tend to be clean, tidy, gentle and better parents and lovers.

Research conducted over five years with 2500 participants. The 'better lovers' because thin people are generally fitter. 'Better parents' because fat people tend to be lazier when it comes to choosing food and this is reflected in the food they buy for their kids.

Umm. I heard people named Kevin tend to be very rude people who like to troll on blogs, and are VERY inadequate in bed. Sound familiar?

For the suicidal chick from way back, get your thyroid checked, keep a journal of what you eat, and adjust what you think you should look like. I am 5' 11" and weighed 125 before I had kids. I modeled, and my role model was Kate Moss. After I had 2 kids, and was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, I had to come to grips with the fact that the best I'm going to get now would be modeling myself after catherine zeta jones or marilyn monroe. And I feel so much better about myself... not to mention my husband much prefers DDs to the not quite C cup I had before! If nothing else works, your Dr needs to up the anti depressant dosage... and for the record, you can take them all at once- you're not going to end anything that way. When I was in pharmacy school, my instructor told us about a guy who put prozac in a bowl and ate them like cereal. Didn't die- you can't die from an OD, but you MAY suffer seizures and fall into a coma... great for your kids to see, right?

i like the early 1900's look
they had clothes on
don't know what's going on in 2008

I'm a little bit alarmed by some of the comments on this post; disparaging certain body types or qualifying an "ideal" can lead to feelings of hurt or imperfection. Personally I have big hips and boobs with a small waist, and I love my body. I think I look sexy (as does my boyfriend, but that's another story), especially when eating right and exercising. I have a friend (also a runner) who could easily be mistaken for a boy if she cut her hair. Is she attractive? Absolutely! I love how slight she is while still being strong. Another running friend of mine is very muscular, and her body is gorgeous as well. She moves with a lot of power and dignity. Anyway, my point is that there are many forms of beauty in women. Calling a skinny woman beautiful doesn't make a plump one ugly. Furthermore, who cares what the ideal is? The only person who needs to be happy about how you look is you. As far as dating, do you really want to be with someone who thinks of your body type as a major factor? Yes, of course looks always play some part in the decision process, but if body type is overshadowing your personality in his mind he's a jerk anyway :) I don't mean to preach, but I just think we should be careful about how we talk about bodies. I would love to live in a world wihout crash diets or unnecessary plastic surgery, and I think that positive dialogue is an important part of this.

i am an aspiring model doing a research project on eating disorders in the modeling industry. it surprises me that the industry has so much influence over the health of the population. people rely too much on billboards and magazines to tell them what is beautiful.

personally i am 5' 11'' and 137 and have a bmi of 19.1. as far as health, i eat whatever i want (sometimes too much) and dont do any excersize. i know there are people who excersize regularly and eat right that are perceived to be overweight. i think society is way too focused on body shape and it needs to be focused on more pressing matters such as global warming, advancement in technology, and wars. its okay to spend five minites on it but really who cares?

in order to solve the whole "trying to look like a clothes hanger" thing models should not be allowed on the runway looking unhealthy, even if they arent. little kids get exposed to this supposed view of a perfect body and never forget it. i dont want my kids to have to deal with this issue when to come into this world. we need to just fix this and move on.

I would disagree with the notion that ectomorphic females are de facto androgynous in appearance (facial/skeletal); rather that they are a different visual archetype of femininity than the heavier women we have seen in more recent centuries as a result of improved nutrition and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle.

The indicators of fully-fledged feminisation are present in the majority of ectomorphic women once the effects of their lower BMI are considered. If part of your argument is that there is something intrinsically female about higher BMIs, I would like to refer you to various resources and studies which suggest otherwise. Sex hormones play a role in overall fat distribution profiles, but their effects on absolute weight and BMI are nominal, despite the widely held misperception that it is normal for women to be slightly or bordering on overweight. The latter is much more likely attributable to the traditionally more sedentary lifestyle of women and peripubertal girls, rather than a manifestation of hormonal anabolism per se.

In considering body shape, hip circumference is not only determined by skeletal proportion, but also by soft tissue deposition around the pelvic girdle, which accentuates the gluteal regions externally and stresses skeletal articulation internally. Most skinny girls have an intrinsically gynaecoid pelvic skeletal structure, but have biometrically narrower hips than shoulders due to their low BMI and relative lack of soft tissue. Consequently, internal pelvic measurement (as determined on pelvic examination of perinatal women) is a more reliable predictor of safe vaginal delivery than measuring external hip circumference.

The suggestion that skinny girls have a "boyish" facial appearance is something I have always had contention with. Though there are some high fashion models who do appear to have virilised craniofacial parameters (a side-effect of certain agencies deliberately seeking quirky-looking models irrespective of perceived femininity or masculinity) the majority still fall comfortably within feminine facial archetypes, once the effects of low BMI on facial appearance are considered. Such gender-related claims may have more to do with sociocultural perception (rather than objective evidence) which inordinately extrapolates the facial appearance of a small minority of hormonally atypical prepubertal males as the standard or ideal for males in that age category. Even a brief walk down the high street would strongly suggest otherwise; such an appearance is _not_ typical of the majority of normal males at that age; and the notion that this standard of appearance is "boyish" is an inherent misconception.

At the risk of arbitrariness, I would speculate that, in many cases, dismissal of certain standards of femininity as "androgynous" or "masculine" may derive at least partly from jealosy or denial by women whose own parameters do not match said criteria. Even the most superficial examination of many such claims reveal them to be sophistic, inaccurate or just grossly incorrect in the light of the best scientific and anthropological data. However, I would like to state that the current concerns over female body image propagated by the fashion industry are not unfounded. It is healthier to be slender than fat, the medical evidence for this is difficult to refute; but the problem with high fashion models is that their inherently slender habitus is accentuated by their height, and this is a visual appearance which the shorter average woman cannot emulate however much she attempts to control her BMI.

I have very little curves. My waist is only a tiny bit smaller than my hips and ribcage. But I do have huge boobs. I was born with this figure, and I HATE IT. How is this the next ideal female form? Yes, it is rare, but MY GOD is it hard to find clothes. And I feel terribly embarrassed of my strange figure. You women who have hips: you are LUCKY. Imagine being as unbalanced as I am!

Sakurapower- Yes, women with small hips and big breasts do exist. I am one of them. I actually would love to have bigger hips. Like claudia g, I feel a little unbalanced. Curvier legs and hips are what I consider sexy. And please stop comparing real women to comic book characters. Comic characters are drawings and are idealized to a tee. The only real women who resemble comic book heroines are the gladiator/wwe wrestling types.

I do find it irritating that people are going out of their way to put down thin women. Many women would give anything to be bigger. They walk around just as ashamed of their thin legs as bigger women are of their big legs and hips.

And eating a hamburger wont help their hip size- it'll only go to their upper body.

People need to realize women come in all shapes and sizes, not just apple and pear. And just because a woman has small hips and legs does not mean she is anorexic or that she can even help her shape. It just disgusts me that people seem in disgust of skinny women because they arent "being sexy". Not everyone can look the same.

You have a serious deficit of education. Jack is one of the all time great bodybuilders and health experts.

The lower the woman's BMI, the better she looks! People like Calista are extremely healthy and fit. That's why they are paid big big money in Hollywood. Anyone with a BMI of over 24 needs to look seriously at their lifestyle. People in the past were much more unhealthy (overweight), and that's why they died. Today we can eat far more, live an easier lifestyle, live longer and weigh far less. I saw Sandra Bulluck in a film receently. She ate hamburgers and junk food all the time, and yet she still looked fabulous and won the beauty contest. Isn't that wjhat the American dream is all about?

My sister recently told me that I was a “pear” shape. I almost cried. I hate being referred to as a fruit. I know that most people use these terms to describe our shape, but there must be a nicer way to call my shape. So I decided to do some research...

I found a website that actually uses much better terms to describe our bodies. They use jewel types……what a great idea and way to describe our bodies! I am no longer “pear shaped…..instead I am “sapphire” shaped. I like that sooo much better. The website is www.holobi.com.., kudos to them for thinking of this. My sister is a “diamond”…I hate her.

Thank you Kate!! I completely agree. Everyone comes in different sizes and shapes thus calling for many definitions of beautiful. Also, jej....really interesting take on modeling....though it just may be that a waif body is easier to drape clothes on so that illusions of curves or other aspects of the clothing may be accentuated. Personally, I'm a relatively healthy woman with a petite waist, medium ass, but huge boobs (32H) and my gay male friends love them.

omg, you can see Kate Moss's hip bone jutting out from under the dress! eeew!

Ah well - no-one is ever going to beat down my door to get my H-shaped body onto their poster. The great thing is that having survived anorexia, exercise bulimia and a few others along the way - I can at least say I am no longer bothered with following the media norm.

It's also interesting that as our cultural iconic models have got thinner - and Ms average has got fatter - it co-incides with us having vastly more nutritional information than ever before.

I think we've forgotten in our thin-obsessed society that bodies come in all shapes and sizes and that there is no Holy text that tells us one is more worthy of love and respect than any other. That's just a man made version of things

Personally, I have an hourglass figure and a BMI of 20. My measurements are 34B-24/25-35/36 (My waist and hips fluxuate). In today's obsession with thinness, I tend to feel out of place. I feel my body would be more appreciated in a time where Marilyn Monroe was dominating the scene. I find all body types beautiful, and I really can't understand why the obsession with being thin almost to the point of underweight has become such a big thing. Why does the media want us so thin? My friends have always made the joke "It's because gay men make fashion. They want all the girls to look like boys!", which I see someone has mentioned above. I guess this is more of a rant then anything, but I want to know why can't everyone appreciate everyone elses bodies? I know I'm not overweight. I wear size 4 pants, and I weigh 120-123, but today's constant emphasis on "THINTHINTHIN" makes me feel like I'm disgusting.

Marilyn Monroe had a beautiful figure.
And while most women don't have her perfect hourglass shape, I still love Marilyn because she was of a healthy weight. And so were many of the famous models of the female figure before her.
And then what happened? Twiggy & Kate Moss parade their emaciated bodies around.
Marilyn Monroe is MUCH more attractive than those two.
A little wiggle when you walk is much sexier than your ribs poking through your skin.

Hi it is fabulous that they have got natural body like that,it is god's gift.

Holy cow- I feel so sorry for men! If they admit they like boobs and bums, they are jumped on for being shallow anti-feminists, whilst men who like less feminine women are praised for their depth. It is completely natural for anyone, male or female, to have an ideal- nobody who admits that is saying looks are all they look for in a partener, simply what they find physically attractive. Men are actually less picky than most women! Generally, the more testosterone a man has, the more oestrogen he desires in a woman. People dont choose what to be atracted to, so please: leave testosterone alone!

Well it was interesting reading the above posts, i really like the really thin look but i'd prefer some flesh towards the breast and the hip. Personally im very very thin, my BMI is 14.6 which i feel is too less. I have trouble gaining weight. This makes me flat chested and very thin hip bone. i want curves to look more feminine.

idk you all are weird