Female Body Shape - Bodies As Identity

Bodies As Identity

Over the past several hundred years, there has been a shift towards viewing the body as part of one’s identity – not in a purely physical way, but as a means of deeper self-expression. David Gauntlett recognizes the importance of malleability in physical identity, stating, “the body is the outer expression of our self, to be improved and worked upon”. One of the more key factors in creating the desire for a particular body shape – most notably for females – is the media, which has promoted a number of so-called “ideal” body shapes. Fashionable figures are often unattainable for the majority of the population, and their popularity tends to be short-lived due to their arbitrary nature.

During the 1960s, the popularity of the model Twiggy meant that women favoured a thinner body, with long, slender limbs. This was a drastic change from the former decade’s ideal, which saw curvier icons, such as Marilyn Monroe, to be considered the epitome of beautiful. These shifts in what was seen to be the “fashionable body” at the time followed no logical pattern, and the changes occurred so quickly that one shape was never in vogue for more than a decade. As is the case with fashion itself in the post-modern world, the premise of the ever-evolving “ideal” shape relies on the fact that it will soon become obsolete, and thus must continue changing to prevent itself from becoming uninteresting.

An early example of the body used as an identity marker occurred in the Victorian era, when women wore corsets to help themselves attain the body they wished to possess. Having a tiny waist was a sign of social status, as the wealthier women could afford to dress more extravagantly and sport items such as corsets to increase their physical attractiveness. By the 1920s, the cultural ideal had changed significantly as a result of the suffrage movement, and “the fashion was for cropped hair, flat (bound) breasts and a slim androgynous shape”.

More recently, magazines have been criticized for promoting an unrealistic trend of thinness. David Gauntlett states that the media’s “repetitive celebration of a beauty ‘ideal’ which most women will not be able to match … will eat up readers’ time and money – and perhaps good health – if they try”. Additionally, the impact that this has on women and their self-esteem is often a very negative one, and resulted in the diet industry taking off in the 1960s – something that would not have occurred “had bodily appearance not been so closely associated with identity for women”.

The importance of, as Myra MacDonald asserts, “the body as a work zone” further perpetuates the link between fashion and identity, with the body being used as a means of creating a visible and unavoidable image for oneself. The tools with which to create the final copy of such a project range from the extreme – plastic surgery – to the more tame, such as diet and exercise, which virtually every Westernized woman has used to gain control over her shape.