The evolution of the ideal female form

For centuries, the female body has been subject to a range of set standards. With the rule book constantly changing, women have been caught in a vicious cycle of having to keep up with the shifting shapes and forms, sometimes paying little attention to their bodies’ realistic and necessary functions. PHOTOS | NATION

What you need to know:

  • For centuries, the female body has been subject to a range of set standards. With the rule book constantly changing, women have been caught in a vicious cycle of having to keep up with the shifting shapes and forms, sometimes paying little attention to their bodies’ realistic and necessary functions (like child birth or playing a neat game of tennis).
  • Meanwhile in Africa, extra-large women were the epitome of beauty, desire, fertility, prosperity, homeliness, motherliness and virtue.
  • A cultural rebirth saw the media, represented mostly by painters, go wild with paintings of nude women. 1797’s Nude Maya by Fransisco Goya is renowned as the earliest work of art to depict pubic hair. Popular artists such as Paul Peter Rubens also idealised the cellulite-thigh.

Last week, tennis star Serena Williams grabbed her 22nd Grand Slam win. Her reign as the world’s best tennis player has nevertheless been characterised by a culture that shames her for her best tool of trade – a muscular body.

Even as she battled and beat Swiss player Amra Sadikoviç in the Wimbledon semi-final match, viewers went on a Twitter rant, complaining that her nipples, showing through her white kit, had been too distracting.

Last year, as she was snagging her 21st Grand Slam win, a New York Times article by Ben Rothenberg stated that she ‘has large biceps and a mould-breaking muscular frame…(that) her rivals could try to emulate but choose not to’. The year before that, the Russian Tennis Federation president, Shamil Tarpischev, referred to Serena and her sister Vanessa as the ‘Williams brothers’, adding that ‘it’s frightening when you look at them’.

For centuries, the female body has been subject to a range of set standards. With the rule book constantly changing, women have been caught in a vicious cycle of having to keep up with the shifting shapes and forms, sometimes paying little attention to their bodies’ realistic and necessary functions (like child birth or playing a neat game of tennis).

We trace the dizzying evolution of the ‘ideal’ female body trends through history and let you decide – to what end?

20 BC – 5th Century -

Aphrodite / Venus / Cleopatra / big, beautiful Africa

Depictions of the ideal female body can be seen in sculptures of Aphrodite, the Greek God of beauty, love, pleasure and procreation (Venus is her Roman equivalent). Meanwhile in Africa, extra-large women were the epitome of beauty, desire, fertility, prosperity, homeliness, motherliness and virtue.

The ideal: Smoothly sculpted, round curves. In Africa, voluptuous. 

15th to 17th Century -The Renaissance Woman

A cultural rebirth saw the media, represented mostly by painters, go wild with paintings of nude women. 1797’s Nude Maya by Fransisco Goya is renowned as the earliest work of art to depict pubic hair. Popular artists such as Paul Peter Rubens also idealised the cellulite-thigh, serving to widen horizons of what was beautiful and acceptable to have and to show.

The ideal: Sensual, full-figured and a round fresh face.

1830s to 1900 - The Victorian Age

The female form went from big and busty to the hourglass. The corset was not only used to emphasise a small waist but also to train it to stay that way. Then there was the crinoline – a skirt cage that gave the body a beehive shape – and made this the first instance in which the enhanced hips and butt, thanks to that crinoline skirt, became popular.

The ideal: A long slim torso, small waist, full derriere, wide hips. 

Early 20th Century - The ‘feminine’ form

At turn of the century when moving pictures were a popular form of entertainment, actresses such as Evelyn Nesbit became the ideal. Termed the world’s first super model, Nesbit graced the pages of LIFE, Collier and Harpers magazines.

The ideal: Round, soft, small waist (corsets are a big deal), a long neck, sloped shoulders and a tall frame. 

The 1920s -Androgyny

Curves were out and a more boyish frame was in. The bandeau, used to flatten breasts for an androgynous look, was invented. Margaret Gorman because Miss America in 1921.

The ideal: Straight, short, petite, exposed legs (short hemlines and garters).

The 1930s - 1940s-War Heroine

Curves made a slight resurgence. Actress Dolores Del Rio was named ‘best figure in Hollywood’ for her ‘warmly curved figure’. The Second World War, which commenced in 1939, made ‘practical yet feminine’ looks the ideal as women went to work in factories to keep their armies supplied with weapons. Actress Katherine Hepburn, known for her feminine yet practical nature, became the woman other women looked up to.

The ideal: Broad shoulders, tall, pointy breasts (made possible by pointy bras).

The 1950s -The Siren

The war was over and it was time to play. Playboy and the Barbie Doll were created. TV ads encourage women to gain weight. Weight gain supplements, bust creams and hips / butt padding hit the shelves. Short, curvy, feminine Elizabeth Taylor, 36-21-36, was the woman to emulate.

The ideal: Large breasts, small waistlines, curvy hips.  

The 1960s - Androgyny returns

Women who had learned to work during the war years discovered they enjoyed earning an income and being independent. Inspired in part by the rise of the feminist and by the hippie, anti-war movements, the 1960’s brought back the trim, androgynous body. Women got thinner, the restrictive bra was burned – even though many continued to wear the pointy version – mini skirts became popular, and everyone wanted to be like the famous model Twiggy and TV star Farrah Fawcett.

60s-70s Africa -The freedom fighter

A cultural shift following the Pan-African movement, independence and Africans coming back from studies abroad to build their new nations created an African elite with Westerninfluences. Women in African cities started to catch on to popular trends – and to influence them in the West, where afro hairstyles became popular with African American women, and the dashiki became a statement of freedom.

The 1980s-Fitness Freak

This was the period of the rise of the fit supermodel. Thanks to Jane Fonda and her pioneering aerobic workout videos, it was now acceptable for women to have muscles. Women such as Naomi Campbell and Elle McPherson graced the covers of numerous popular magazines. Dance movies made work-out gear part of street culture. Everyone who was trendy wore sweatbands on their wrists and foreheads, sports shoes and leotards.

The ideal: Tall, slender and/or fit.

The 1990s -Heroin chic

Not to be confused with ‘heroine chic’, the super-skinny, anorexic supermodel became the look to envy. Fashion designer populated the catwalks with these models. Model Kate Moss epitomised the look. ‘Size Zero’ became the look to envy. Toward the turn of the 21st century, however, the ideal woman, though remaining trim, was encouraged to have some curves. In 2000, Brazilian model Giselle Bundchen was named ‘the most beautiful girl in the world’. 

The ideal –in 2000, Brazilian model Giselle Bundchen is named ‘the most beautiful girl in the world’. 

The present-Big booty season

Ours is an age of body-image conflict – today’s woman is expected to be a sum of all the ‘ideal’ parts of earlier times – fit but curvy, trim but with ample boobs and backside, flat tummy but wide hips, tall (hello, back-breaking heels!), thin midriff (waist-trainer anyone?). Realistically, Michelle Obama’s arms and a Vera Sidika bum are hard to fit into one person’s body-shape goals.