Do you ever find yourself apologising for your size? It is a sad fact of life that many women do these days. We've become indoctrinated into thinking that big is bad and thin is beautiful, and that the emaciated waifs we see in the media have the perfect must have figure.
Yet, history shows it's actually big women that men find most attractive. The works of Renaissance masters like Botticelli and Rubens show that even the Medieval female was the object of immense fascination and scrutiny. Yet, the women immortalised on these ancient canvases little resemble the super slim celebrities of the modern age. Rather, Renaissance women are often depicted as gloriously full figured, with full bosoms, ample tummies and large bottoms.
Yet, they were still celebrated as objects of beauty...
Centuries later, American WWII bomber crews painted beautiful, plus sized "blonde bombshells" on their aeroplanes for good luck, and during the great Hollywood era, film studios snapped up busty actresses like Mae West and Jayne Mansfield, more for their buxom features than their acting abilities. The celebrated "hourglass" figures captured on these celluloid archives continue to fascinate men to this day.
Decades after her untimely death, buxom beauty Marilyn Monroe, a definite plus size by today's skinny standards, can still hold her own even against the sultriest modern pinups; and who can forget Britain's very own blonde bombshell, the late, and gloriously plus sized, Diana Dors, still oozing sex appeal at age 49, in Adam Ant's "Prince Charming" video?
At a time when the term "plus size" had yet to achieve common usage, Dors famously likened herself to a naughty seaside postcard, and shamelessly sold herself as "the first home-grown sex symbol...since Lady Godiva." Loved in Britain for her larger-than-life off screen personality, Dors' considerable acting skills all too often played second fiddle to her ample figure, as directors cast her again and again in the role of curvaceous siren.
As frustrating as this certainly was for talented actresses like Dors, they nonetheless made the most of their ample curves to forge highly successful careers and maintain massive male fan bases. It is curious also to note that Dors, Monroe and West are all immortalised on the front cover of the Beatles' iconic album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
These women shot to stardom because the film industry and other mass media were dominated by men. At a time when Feminism was still in its infancy, it was men who dictated acceptable standards of attractiveness. Busty, curvaceous women were preferred over skinny woman because this played to the male fantasy of the perfect "hourglass" woman.
In contrast, modern celebrity women increasingly draw their self image from the plethora of glossy magazines published by women. Such magazines, full of air-brushed beauties and fascinating yet often misguided articles, play a significant role in our daily lives and have a powerful, sometimes negative impact on the way we see ourselves.
In recent decades, the dictates of such media have reshaped our perception of acceptable standards of attractiveness, fashion and size. Thin is good, fat is bad, and women the world over now live in constant fear of gaining weight. Authorities believe this has played a significant contributory role in the gradual erosion of female self worth.
Where women like Diana Dors were once coveted by a male mass media, they are now increasing the targets of ruthless criticism and ridicule. Where magazines once assisted women in their lives by offering practical solutions to everyday problems, today many serve to complicate life. "How much should I weigh?" "How young should I look?" "What diet should I be on?" are just some of the questions modern women are confronted with everyday by a celebrity-driven mass media obsessed with perfection. Indeed, recent research suggests that women today are more concerned about putting on weight than they are about developing breast cancer!
Each week, myriad magazines churn out the latest miracle diets and the latest, often medically unsound advice on how to lose pounds and get ourselves in shape. The trouble is, most of these glossy gospels frequently contradict themselves and each other over what that shape is supposed to be. As a result, confusion reigns in the modern woman's mind.
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