I read an article about thin women in the Victorian period. I find it interesting that the topic of the attractiveness of women’s bodies has been going on since such an early period. I was not surprised that the author of this article was against thin women as being thin did not become popular until the 20th century. What I did find interesting is the way that the author of the article discusses the reasons for thinness is the way that people in the modern era have talked about the reasons people are overweight. The article states, “Thinness is often caused by too poor living-that is, by badly-chosen and insufficient food-and by over-fatigue, especially when brought on by prolonged brain-work and excessive anxiety. It is also promoted by a nervous and bilious temperament and a gloomy disposition” (1). The author discusses poor diet as a reason for thinness which in our time is usually associated with being overweight. What I also find intriguing is that the demeanor of a thin woman is discussed in this article. The author states multiple times that thin women are gloomy, unpleasant, etc. Physical appearance has nothing to do with personality, yet society has been making claims such even during the Victorian period. The author also claims that being thin takes away from a women’s femininity. I knew before that women have always been scrutinized for their appearance, but I didn’t realize how similar the verbiage of the subject would be. Words like “thin” and “fat” are basically interchangeable in articles like this and if the word “fat” were in this article instead of “thin,” I would have assumed the article was written during the 20th century. The article goes on to discuss women’s attractiveness in relation to their husband’s happiness. I find it interesting that in discussing bodies, the idea is always to appear attractive to someone else and not about being healthy.
“Advice and Recipes.” Victorian London Dictionary. Web. 14 February 2016. victorianlondon.org.
Jennifer,
That is interesting, especially considering how much emphasis was placed on “femininity” within the Victorian Era. I knew some information on corsets and waist training from the time (yikes), but the rhetoric in your entry was something new to me.
Your quote from the text made me wonder if thinness was also associated with class and the ability to have enough food to keep a steadily “healthful” shape. Maybe it also had something to do with the ability to have more children, but I’d have to have a time machine or more time currently to research.
Additionally, its nice that you included a bit of a modern lens in analyzing the entry. Body shape, image, and ideas of perfection do shift with time, which you reflected nicely.
The shift in social standards on the female body has certainly shifted over time. While these changes can be attributed to various factors, I think that the quality of food certainly is a major one. Back then, food was made naturally and therefore it was harder to come by. So, women with fuller figures were admired more because that meant that they were well fed. Today, however, food is more accessible and the cheaper the food the lower its quality. Low quality foods usually have some artificial ingredient in them that can cause biological problems with people. With this in mind, it is understandable how the shift from fat to thin has come to be. That is not to say it is the only reason, but it is certainly a theory worth exploring.
Jennifer,
Wow, the quote you chose is very similar to the ads today on avoiding obesity. I wonder, like Philip, if the shape of women has to do with class and a woman’s ability to have children. I, also, wonder if there was any commentary on the body structure of men or if a man’s wealth was more important.
Just curious, what word did they use to describe the ideal figure? If a woman is not supposed to be “thin” than did they use the word “fat” (like in our time) or “womanly” or something else?
-Autumn
That is super interesting, especially because today the conventional standard of a woman’s attractiveness is usually dependent on how thin she is. I wonder when this all changed, when people decided that thinness was aligned with beauty and why. It is also interesting how you mentioned that a person’s body type has nothing to do with their personality. It makes me wonder why people judged a woman’s demeanor based on her body type.
Jennifer,
I really do not find it hard to believe that women during this time period were criticized for their appearances. I feel like women have always faced some obstacle or another, there’s always something for us to prove, a certain way for us to act or look, certain things expected of us; women have never had it easy.
This article must have been really interesting to read. Personally, I had no idea that thinner women were seen as unattractive during this time period, especially since all the movies about the time have actors who are thin (I should know better than to trust movies though!)