Introduction
It has taken over thirty years for a metamorphic change in how the female’s body is depicted. The 1990s, especially the magazine-led era, have been instrumental in the present-day control of society’s perspective on the female form. This literature review will embark on an elaborate tour to elucidate the complex changes in the representation of women. This aims at exploring the various aspects in which the female body has been portrayed throughout history. These include historical contexts, objectifying women’s bodies, the impact of media on body image, and changes in the ideals of beauty in current society.
Historical Context (1990–2023)
For a comprehensive understanding of the contemporary representation of the female body, studying past perspectives becomes inevitable. History has shown that social norms and definitions of beauty have confined women’s bodies into the narrow mold of societal projections. Indeed, during the mid-nineteenth century in European and North American societies, practices like the resurgence of tight corsets in the mid-nineteenth century in Europe And North America (Afful and Ricciardelli, 2015). For more than a thousand years, Chinese Neo-Confucians bound the feet of upper-class girls, depicting social norms regarding women. These historical contexts are like the base that supports the modern representation of the feminine body. Even in the mid-nineteenth century, the use of corsets illustrates that there has been constant pain and risks to health as they chase societal beauty ideals. In such a way, the procedure of foot binding in neo-Confucianist China demonstrates how women’s bodies have been historically molded to follow social patterns to provide the highest economic and marriage value placed upon a woman’s appearance.
Throughout history, it is apparent that women’s bodies did not just fit an aesthetic mold but represented a set of roles and social norms. This shows how different ways of history’s societies imposed standardized bodies on women to prove that beauty usually encompassed economic and societal roles. Such historical references are crucial in comprehending the contemporary changes in how the female shape is shown. Analyzing tight corsets and foot binding creates an exciting background that intrigues the current discourse on body positivity and various beauty standards. By doing this, we can see how far we have come from the limitations that existed on women’s bodies in history before we arrive at the current discourse around portraying women’s bodies. In the following sections, some issues, for instance, feminine body aestheticism and the impact of mass communication, will be considered to outline the development of this process within the past thirty years.
Objectification of Women’s Bodies
The objectivization of women in media needs extensive discussion to understand its contemporary meaning. From the historical perspective, the historical point of view is a critical component in understanding the lasting problem with the commodification of women’s bodies (Afful and Ricciardelli, 2015). As is evident, Mohamed, Fitzgerald, and Pandit’s contribution to societal beauty standards describes how these dynamics affect society during the digital era. This research emphasizes how social media is influential and occasionally undermines conventional notions of feminine attractiveness. This includes the “#Bopo movement” examination. This is a modern view of objectification to foster body positivity and change traditional opinions on beauty. This entails the analysis of concepts like the male gaze, how body positivity movements happen, and their effects.
Such a legacy has been ingrained in social expectations, where “looking-at” is considered an element of manly dominance over women’s bodies, with men gazing at them for various reasons ranging from sexual desire to general pleasure or simply “looking-at.” How females’ behavior is dictated by this gaze and its tendency to promote body shaming and reinforce objectification, have been examined by Mohamed, Fitzerald, and Pandit. It is essential to show how historical practices exist in today’s media terrain. Body positivity has become a powerful anti-objectification voice in this time and age, symbolized by “#Bopo movements.” The findings delve into this motion’s potential benefits in defying traditional beauty standards and promoting diversity. On the other hand, it recognizes that not all movements may want to promote a particular aesthetic ideal. This demonstrates how complicated it may be to oppose and fight the phenomenon of objectification.
From time to time, modern scenery and new faces are being utilized by technology, like the objectification of women’s bodies today—idealized images spread through social media, which causes people to have unrealistic ideas of beauty. Younger female subjects are often susceptible to such media pressures for body conformity, as are the forces originating in the male-dominated traditions of the past, leading to the widespread incidence of body dissatisfaction across such groups of women. Further, society has evolved in terms of beauty standards and expectations, and these standards are again challenged through this movement that embraces various body types (LaMarre and Rice, 2017). This movement advocates for body positivity and shows how one tries to navigate a world that upholds old-fashioned beliefs. This tension reflects the battle against objectification, in which while one needs to challenge various norms, there are particular aesthetic expectations that one submits to.
The Influence of Media on Body Image
In the transformative decade of the 1990s, magazines were a significant force in dictating society’s idea of beauty. The following part deals with the transformability of those conceptions in the context of the changing paradigm related to the emergence of the internet and social networks. Investigation on “#Bopo: Key touchstones included “Enhancing Body Image through Body Positive Social Media” (Rodgers et al., 2022). “Hashtag Recovery: #Eating Disorder Recovery on Instagram” by LaMarre and Rice (2017),
In 1990, magazines became trendsetters and communicators of new beauty standards. Trends such as “heroin chic” and supermodels who were sculpted contributed to this narrative, which in turn shaped women’s perception of their bodies. This period depicts how much media has two sides such as negative and positive points (Yan and Kim, 2014). One side glorified some kinds of bodies, while the other gave rise to dangerous stereotypes and adverse outcomes. There lies an era that saw the popularization of magazines’ standards for a female form, while the current time has social media as the most popular. This discusses the Bopo movement, an up-to-date campaign on body shaming through various networks (Rodger et al., 2022). This movement aims to improve body images through inclusive representation and encourage people to embrace their actual appearances. Despite this, however, the discussion of the movement recognizes numerous unsolved problems, such as the continuation of some esthetic standards inside their content.
The effect of Instagram, a popular social media platform, among people in the process of recovering from eating disorders. The study suggests that although one can use social networking sites as an avenue for support and bonding, they also present challenges since some may carry a trigger and promote unhealthy body image trends (LaMarre and Rice, 2017). The comparison of these studies provides a holistic view of how old media and modern social media contribute to defining the notion of beauty. New challenges and opportunities arise with the growth of magazines and social media. Democratization of content through social media can offer an alternative view on traditional definitions of beauty, which might lead to undermining and changing these standards.
Changing Beauty Ideals and Gender Roles
Indeed, changing standards for women’s appearance closely relates to women’s emancipation. In this regard, it is worthwhile looking at how beauty changed and the gender transformation that took place, going from fashion magazines of the 90s to present-day celebrations of voluptuousness with Kim Kardashian as a signifier. Fashion magazine was influential during that decade because they shaped and propagated beauty standards that mirrored common opinions about the female body. It was an age that saw polarizing views embodied by the concepts of “heroin chic” and models’ prevalence (Parkins and Findlay, 2023). ideals latter was marked by the excessive thinness of fashion models that appeared too ideal, rather than realistic, as if it would result in unsatisfactory bodies that might be dangerous, especially among teenagers whom mass media could influence
In terms of the beauty ideals from the 1990s, a positive approach was taken toward some body shapes, including those commonly depicted in supermodels (Cope and Maloney, 2016). It represents the complex media’s influence over body image during this era. This changed the dynamics between the negative and positive points of view, leading to the next decade’s discussion of aesthetic ideologies (Lauren, 2017). Moving on to the present-day scenes, the celebration of curves is at the core of how women are shown today. For example, Kim Kardashian, who shows no remorse over how she naturally looks, breaks conventional stereotypes and dictates a new normal (Jansen and Craik, 2016). The notion of the male gaze that defined what was considered beautiful is now being refined in terms of the broader variety of shapes female bodies could take.
Nevertheless, the coming of the body positivity movement aimed at an inclusive approach has its difficulties. Celebrating some body types can also lead to promoting unrealistic standards for beauty. Pressure placed upon people, especially young ladies, to conform to these continually changing ideas depicts a complex dynamic involving empowerment and sustention of injurious standards. This part adds to the larger storyline by explaining how media, including magazines and social media, shapes how people perceive and depict women’s bodies. Exploring contemporary studies helps us understand the complexities of the transforming media terrain, providing the basis for discussion on changing beauty concepts in the last 30 years.
Conclusion
Therefore, it is evident that trends and transmutations in depicting the female physique occurred during the peak of our research. However, the historical setting, which is layered with a society’s expectations, emerges over time as an enduring power that shapes perceptions. A nuanced analysis of the sexualized commodification of women’s bodies reveals persistent problems as well as new developments in that regard, highlighting the many-sided character of the sexualized commodification of women’s bodies. The dramatic impact of media on body image, especially with a shift from magazines to the current social media environment, makes clear how a woman’s body is presented and how it is perceived in terms of media and changing trends in perception. This change is not solely due to technical changes but also illustrates a much wider adjustment regarding society’s beauty standards. However, such is not said about the current state of research, which, as we see, leaves specific gaps. These lacunae attract more serious investigations into the meaning of the representations of the female body in the contemporary world. These investigations are critical as the sociocultural landscape changes with time and society.
References
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