THE STANDARD SHAPE AND SIZE (How Every Woman Should Look Like)

               

"Oh, you are beautiful my darling!, Oh you are beautiful! " (Song of Solomon)

Over the years, the woman’s shape has been under much scrutiny. Different parts of the world, cultures, traditions and religious beliefs have given a description of how the woman should look like. They have given the illusion that there should be a standard shape and size every woman must conform or fit into.

Over the years, the acceptable body size has changed. With one going out of trend and being replaced by another and ladies have done all they can to fit into it. Let’s take a look at the past

Victorian era

Queen Victoria was the influential figure of this era. She embodied the woman’s position as a mother.it favored a super tight corset to create an hourglass figure.

1920's

Small bust, small hips was all the rage. Women in the United States were given a right to vote. Due to World War I, the men went to war and women had taken over most of the jobs. The world war was over and the women still wanted to continue working. This created a flapper culture. So they played down their curves, wore manly clothes. Sort of an androgynous look. Short and boyish

1920-1940's

This era embraced a slight curves. A move from petite to slightly curvy.in the 1940’s, the shoulders became higher and squarer to fit more of a military look, tall and square. due to world war II. Women went back to the workforce as the men went to fight in the war.

1950's

This was the era of the hourglass, it featured an extremely slim waist, bigger bust and hips. Women who were slim were even encouraged to take supplements to gain more weight. Hips and booty pads were sold, kind of like what we have in the market now.

1960-1970's

This era was popularized by a model named “twiggy”. The ideal shape changed from curvy to really thin, tall, smaller busts, smaller hips, a flatter stomach achieved through dieting.

1980's

Exercise, dieting and aerobics was the rage. Tall, slim, athletic with a little hips. Jane Fonda pioneered fitness and muscles for the 1st time became acceptable on a woman.

1990's

Due to the increase in the usage of heroin. This era was dubbed heroin chic.it favored thin, pale and short. Spandex, a modern day corset was invented.

2000-today

In the early 2000, abs came on board. Flat stomach, packs. Up till now, women are still obsessed with their body shape. The late 2000 came the rise of plastic surgery. Bigger bust and hips but slim and flat stomach.

          

         In countries and cultures all over the world, there is an ideal body shape for the society. In countries like Argentina, plastic surgery is the in thing, so a large bust, wide hips is more favored.

In Nigeria, a woman is regarded as unhealthy or not well fed if she is too slim. So a chubby figure is more preferred.

In Europe, a very fashion conscious continent, a fat body is looked down upon and regarded as very unhealthy.

In china a high percentage are of the smaller and shorter size, so tall represents power and plastic surgery is available to help lengthen the bones.

In Brazil, the women are well known for their very curvy shape and well coveted.

No matter where you live, you might not fit into the acceptable or ideal figure. Even if you do fit in, when you go somewhere else, to some other country and culture, you will find out that their own ideal is quite different.so what then is the solution?

       

           The truth is there is no general or standard shape or size for a lady, our genetics play a great role in determining how we would look. It’s such a pity that trying to fit into what the society tells us or the standard the social media feeds us has created more harm than good. With the rise of eating disorders such as

Anorexia nervosa: people who see themselves as overweight when they are obviously underweight, and so become obsessed with their weight. They sometimes eat a lot at once and then throw up all they have eaten to avoid gaining weight.

Bulimia nervosa: these are people who are unhappy with their body weight and have a lack of control over their food proportions, so they binge eat and then try to get rid of the food by vomiting or intense exercise

Statistics show that over 10million ladies in the world suffer from an eating disorder.

         

           The truth is, unless we learn to accept our shape and learn to love ourselves, we are going to continue chasing after what seems to be in trend and never catch up. History as shown that things will always change, what is deemed as acceptable and ideal now will change very soon. The world wouldn’t be so beautiful if we all looked the same. Our differences make the world beautiful. If you think you have weight problems or your weight is affecting your health, then work on losing weight and improving your health. With the rise in waist trimmers, body shapers, just to fit into the so called “ideal”. Only for the “ideal” to change again in a few years is quite disturbing. Accept the way you look, fall in love with it and live well. Indeed you are beautiful, you just need to stop waiting for others to see it or tell you and start seeing it yourself.

              So what is the acceptable shape? The acceptable shape is you. Nobody else can look, think, act or be exactly like you. Your fingerprint is prove of that. You are UNIQUE.