Body Image Of Women In The 1900s

Before the 1900s, the Rubensque women painted by Rafeal and Renoir dominated the ideal female body image. The Bathers, painted by Pierre Auguste Renoir in 1887 was also an example of what the ideal female body looked like. Women having extra weight reflected wealth and beauty then. In the early 1800s, women preferred having pale skin because it showed that they spent less time outdoors working, which reflected wealth. Also women at that time were expected to have small hands and feet as a sign of their feminism, otherwise they would be considered as masculine-looking. During the nineteenth century, corsets were really common among women. They were a type of body suit laced to the back, which was worn to enhance a woman's hips and breasts, while make her waist seem as thin as possible. The use of corsets continued till the 1920s, as it was later attacked for its restrictiveness, both in breathing and movement.

The 1900s was completely different from the previous centuries. It witnessed a tremendous change in the ideal female body image, which also changed from one decade to another. In The twentieth century, women started exposing more of their body, like

Thus, the ideal look for females was a natural, simple, and soft, thin, but curved body. Joan Crawford, a successful and well-known American actress, exemplified this new look desired by society. She had the perfect characteristics that society wanted in a woman during that period: hard-working, beautiful, with soft curves, and very feminine. Therefore, her pictures were widely spread in weekly magazines and on the screen. While, other actresses, like Marlene Detriech did not fit with the simple ideal female image then because of their erotic looks, which prevented them from being used in women's