Evolution of women body from the past till today.



Thin White Woman in Advertising: Deathly Corporeality

...Grogan charts a cultural change in the perception and representation of the ideal female body from 'the voluptuous figures favoured from the middle ages to the turn of this century, to the thin body types favoured by the fashion magazines of today'

..the idealization of 'slimness' is produced in the successful marketing strategies of the fashion and cosmetics industry. The female body then goes through a series of different incarnations over the course of the century, all of them market led- the 'flapper' of the 1920s; the rounded and shapely figure of film stars such as Lana Turner and Jane Russell in the 1930s and 1940s; in the 1950s and 1960s, a return to the slim ideal with the iconic status of such stars/celebrities as Grace Kelly and Twiggy; and in the contemporary age,  an exaggeration of the slim ideal in the waif-like body ideal, represented through such models as Kate Moss.



Source:

Redmond, S. (2010) Thin White Women In Advertising: The Deathly Corporeality. In Bryan Morean (Ed.), Advertising: Critical Readings Volume 3

Communication (p. 337). New York, NY: Berg

Body weight and beauty: the changing face of the ideal female body weight

"The ideal of female beauty has shifted from a symbol of fertility to one of the mathematically calculated proportion."

Venus of Frasassi’ from c. 20 000 bc. The emphasis on the bulging stomach and the large breasts evokes a culture that venerated a mother goddess, and possibly considered beautiful the features of a woman's body that express fertility and fecundity. This statuette, along with the well-known ‘Venus of Willendorf’ (c. 30 000 bc), also embodies erotic desires

Source: 

B. A. Bonafini and P. Pozzilli (2010) Body weight and beauty: the changing face of the ideal female body weight, Berg, New York. Retrieve on 28 January 2013 from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-789X.2010.00754.x/citedby

The History Of Plus Size Models

"Up until the 20th century, voluptuous women had been revered and captured on canvas by master artists. From the classical era through the Renaissance, Barouque and Rococo eras, artists' models were what today would be considered plus-sized. Historically, people who were thin were generally less affluent. A healthy figure was a reflection of prosperity, and models and movie stars reflected the look of the general population. For example, actress Lillian Russell, who was one of the biggest stars of the late 1800s and early 1900s, weighed in at 200 pounds in her prime years."



Source: 

The History of Plus Size Models (2011) Retrieved on 28 January 2013 from  http://www.essortment.com/history-plus-size-models-45720.html