The Meaning of Size 85popularity of actresses such as Jane Russell in the 1940s and Marilyn
Monroe in the 1950s, who were known for their curves and large breasts.
The body size deemed attractive in the 1920s, however, returned with a
vengeance towards the end of the 1950s with Audrey Hepburn and Grace
Kelly and took hold in the 1960s with Twiggy setting a new standard of
thinness (Grogan, 1999) (see figure 5.1).
These recent changes in desired body size have been explored empirically.
For example, Garner et al. (1980) examined the dimensions of Playboy
centerfolds and reported that they became steadily thinner after 1960.
Similarly, Silverstein et al. (1986) explored the shapes of models in women’s
magazines and reported that they have become less curvaceous since 1950,
and Morris, Cooper, and Cooper (1989) examined the physical features
of models recruited for a London-based agency which supplied models for
magazines such as Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and Woman’s Own, and concluded
that they have become more tubular. In addition, data indicate that over-
weight women have virtually disappeared as models in women’s magazines
over the past 35 years (Snow and Harris, 1986). It is not, however, only
images of women which have become thinner. Studies indicate that Miss
America Pageants have become thinner since 1960 (Garner et al., 1980),
contestants for Miss Sweden have dropped in weight from 68 kg to 53 kg
(Rossner, 1984), movie actresses have become thinner since 1950 (Silverstein,
Peterson, and Perdue, 1986), and female actors, advertisers, models, and
newsreaders are overwhelmingly young, attractive, and thin (Kilbourne, 1994).
In fact, even Barbie has become thinner since she was introduced in 1959
(Freedman, 1986). If the average young woman were to look like Barbie,
she would have to be 24 inches taller, make her chest 5 inches bigger, make
her neck 3.2 inches longer, and decrease her waist by 6 inches (Brownell
and Napolitano, 1995).
Images of male body size and shapeMost of the literature exploring representations of the body has addressed
the female body. Changes can also be seen in ways in which the media have
presented the male body. Grogan (1999) provided a useful analysis of these
changes, beginning with the idealization in Roman and Greek art of the
male nude, who was presented as a slim muscular male warrior. From the
1800s the male body as the object of idealization was replaced by the female
body until about the 1980s, when images of naked and semiclothed men
reemerged in the mainstream media. This reemergence has been credited