The Gibson Girl Analysis

In the twenty first century there are numerous amounts of women who try to dress and act like celebrities they look up to; this was similar to the early twentieth century fad of the Gibson Girl. Charles Dana Gibson, a gifted artist, created the public image for what he thought should be the standard woman of the upcoming twentieth century. Charles Gibson began drawing silhouettes as a child and later created the Gibson Girl in the 1890s (The Gibson Girl). The new image for women altered as well as challenged the typical feminine figure (Andonovska). Charles Gibson's image started as drawings with pen and ink, which eventually spread throughout the United States as the perfect woman ("The Gibson Girl"). The Gibson Girl created a new standard

The Gibson Girl would not be as significant and remembered as it is now if it was unpopular. The Gibson Girl began as an illustration, but was evolved into women around the country copying the Gibson Girl traits. The article, The Gibson Girl, insists, "Women copied her dress but more so the attitude and persona representation of her was copied. Women began to realize their value and potential was so much greater than the limitations society placed on them," ("The Gibson Girl"). The era of the Gibson Girl assisted in women's movements towards breaking the norms of society and changing the way society looked at women. Additionally, a Gibson Man was established, as well as a "New Negro Woman", which was essentially an African American Gibson Girl (Patterson). "It is not surprising, then, that the powerful iconographic power of the Gibson Girl was co-opted by leading black intellectuals... to fight racist oppression. The "New Negro Woman" as Gibson Girl appeared as a rebuttal to all of the popular racist images of the black buffoons, coons... and happy darkies seen so often in conjunction with the Gibson Girl images in Life," (Patterson). The fact that African Americans made their own Gibson Girl proves how influential the Gibson Girl was and proves that women were affected by the "New Woman"; which leads to the conclusion that the Gibson Girl was a reality that women embraced. Gibson Girls have been questioned about whether they were imitated in the real world, but evidence shows that upper class women, at least, carried out the ideal. Part of being a Gibson Girl entailed a higher education, and middle-class women were seen as too delicate to pursue a degree and a strenuous job. "While productive labor for men meant engaging in bouts of physical exertion to compensate for the feminizing effects of brain work in