A Look Back In History

Who is the person that tells right from wrong, who is the person that says this is beautiful and this is ugly, and who is the person with all this power?

 

Is it you?

 

 

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The bell has just rung, black suits and white gloves pour into the room with silver trays. The dinner banquet has begun.

 

A few streets down a mother hits a tin to signal her children. Flashes of muddy bodies race to the table ready for their first and only meal of the day. Soup and stale bread.

 

This was the norm of the early centuries. Food meant wealth, therefore the bigger you were the more money you had. Women of higher status were voluptuous and wore clothes that would enhance this physique. They were the standard that people looked toward, why? Because they were wealthy and held power within society. We can examine paintings and photographs to come to this conclusion.

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The Renaissance period

Art plays an important role in understanding history. We can read the words that were never written or said. The Birth of Venus by Botticelli depicts three women and one man, all their figures different but extremely detailed – his take on realism. ‘Venus’ has been painted with the intent to be effortlessly beautiful with smooth skin and a toned stomach. Turning to Perseus Freeing Andromeda by Rubens, realism is also used and yet the figures are completely different. This painting shows more texture and shape to the body which is a more accurate reflection of the time. But what about the male representation?

 

The Vitruvian Man was created by DaVinci in 1487 and it showed his idea of what a man should look like. He combined mathematics and universal design to convey the correct proportions a male should have. This continued throughout the world and Greek statues like Michelangelo’s David portrayed tall and muscular physiques. However, as time went on, interest wavered, and men did not want to be portrayed as idealised rather they wanted to look powerful and wealthy. Therefore, the portraits no longer depicted strength with their muscles but in their stern look and big build.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the reign

The shift in power meant a lot of things to the western world. The social hierarchy became a lot less divided, and the power went to the people. It was no longer the kings and queens that determined the lives of those lower than them, the people started to act on their own accord. The roaring 20s saw women’s beauty as a boyish figure with short hair and a flash chest. Then in the 30s to 50s which is deemed the golden age of Hollywood a complete flip occurred; the hourglass figure appeared. It flipped back in the 60s to a willowy, adolescent physique then the curves came back in the 80s for the ‘supermodel’ era. Then back again in the 90s to extremely thin and translucent skin (noticing a pattern yet?). Throughout this time period, men stayed with the ideal of being muscular, clean, and tall.

 

 

 

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Today's Perception

That brings us to the beauty standards of today. A combination of all! Women must be healthy skinny, have a flat stomach but a big butt and big breasts and a thigh gap. This is almost impossible to obtain naturally. Our poster woman for beauty currently is Kim Kardashian, she has a big butt, slim waist, and big breasts but she hasn’t always looked like that. Looking up to someone whose body has been altered by surgery can be damaging. The Kardashians hold a lot of power over the public with their unobtainable beauty and body ideals. But we are seeing people start to question this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrity pushback

We see the likes of Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Selena Gomez as well as Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill speaking out on how toxic beauty standards are and how the media has pushed this. Lizzo has become an inspiration for plus-size women as she embraces her body and confidently promotes body positivity. She told Peoples magazine that “what I’m doing is stepping into my confidence and my power to create my own beauty standard. And one day that will just be the standard”. Channing Tatum criticised the ideal body he must portray in his movies like Magic Mike as not healthy and unnatural. On the Kelly Clarkson Show, he said “you have to starve yourself. I don’t think, when you are that lean, it's healthy,” and it was one of the reasons he didn’t continue to do a third Magic Mike. Jonah Hill has constantly been subjected to the media’s mockery of his weight throughout his career and he finally took to Instagram to speak about it. He said, “so the idea that the media tries to play me, by stalking me while surfing and printing photos like this, and it can’t [faze] me anymore is dope. I’m 37 and finally love and accept myself”.  What do these celebrities all have in common? They are choosing to take the power from the media and give it to themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Media influence

The evolution of technology brought a lot of development to the world and completely changed our way of life. For better or for worse? People are more connected than ever, privacy is almost non-existent, information is at our fingertips, and judgement is everywhere. Media such as; movies, music, news and social media influence our lives more than we know. We, as a society, have been conditioned to believe certain things because it is engraved in our brains from when we are young. Why do we put Christmas trees in our house when it has nothing to do with Jesus? Martin Luther King actually started this tradition. Without question, people followed and it developed into something much bigger. Media has the power to control all of society and we see this as it pushes trends, standards and ideals on its users. But take back that power and it has no leg to stand on. As a person you have the choice of what you consume and what you let affect you, therefore you are the one with the power all along.