THE GLOBAL WORLD: The history of the 'ideal' woman and where that has left us

Thursday, March 8, 2018

The history of the 'ideal' woman and where that has left us

From the Website of CNN NEWS
links: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/03/07/health/body-image-history-of-beauty-explainer-intl/index.html

The history of the 'ideal' woman and where that has left us

(CNN)Hidden in the halls of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York are historic textiles and glamorous garments, many of which hold secrets from years past.

Yet no matter how aesthetically unique or historically significant a particular piece of fashion may be, most visitors to the museum typically ask one question, said Emma McClendon, the museum's associate curator of costume.

"People come and always want to know what size something is," said McClendon, who organized the exhibition "The Body: Fashion and Physique," about the history of the idealized body type in fashion, which is on display until May.century, they want to know what size it is or what size it would correlate to, or what measurement it is," she said. "We as a culture, as a society, are obsessed with size. It's become connected to our identity as people."

This obsession fuels societal pressures to appear a certain way and to have a certain body type, particularly among young women, stemming from a cultural construct of the "ideal" body, which has in turn changed over time -- as long ago as pre-history.

Thousands of years ago, sculptures and artworks portrayed curvaceous, thickset silhouettes. More recently, in the late 20th century, thin, waif-like models filled the pages of fashion magazines. Now, shapely backsides are celebrated with "likes" on social media.

To mark International Women's Day, we explore how this "ideal" is ever-changing, forming a complex history throughout art and fashion -- with damaging impacts on women who try to conform in each era.