Body Image and Health Analysis
2nd Century - 20th Century
Throughout history there have been widespread views about the ideal body and the physiological differences between men and women. The following is an analysis and overview of the differentials observed between the second century and the twentieth.
In the second century Claudius Galenus, also known as Galen, a well-respected Greek physician, wrote extensively on medical albeit philosophical subjects. He believed men and women to be extremely similar, the only difference being women lacked the as he called it, vital heat, to force the reproductive organs to be external and visible. Even though his theory was that men and women’s bodies were physically equal other than the inversion of women’s organs, he never considered them equal. He viewed women’s bodies as inferior to men’s because of the retention, considering the male make up to be one of perfection. He was considered something of a medical authority and had a wide following from Greek and Roman medical writers.
Body ideals in Ancient Greece were much different than they are in most of the world today. The ideal body was extremely proportional. Mathematic equations were used to portray what the perfect body should look like. It was believed a perfectly proportioned body would bring balance and harmony to life.
Skip forward to sixteenth century France, to one of the centuries most famous stories of gender role and the thought process behind the opinions of them. Author Michel de Montaigne’s story of pseudohermaphroditism concerning Marie / Germain is a prime example of how intersexed people were thought of as curiosities. The story says, Marie while running after her swine in a field, jumped over a ditch causing her internal heat to come out, thus anatomically now having a penis. She was renamed Germain and was one of many subjects in stories of the oddity of intersexed people found in Western Europe during that time. At that point in medical history it seemed an impossibility for a woman to become a man considering women were viewed as inferior and imperfect. Gaspard Bauhin, a Swiss botanist, explained that this oddity must have happened due to nature always trying to reach a state of perfection.
At this point in history the body ideal for women was much slimmer than before. Art history shows us the ideal woman during this time being slender everywhere but her stomach area, the opinion was that the most beautiful women would have a slightly larger stomach mimicking the look of pregnancy. Men at this time were still expected to be very proportional as before.
Due to the coming of the scientific revolution many new ideas concerning human anatomy completely discarded the popular doctrines of Ancient Greece and the Middle Ages. This time in history paved the way for beginnings of modern science. Many new findings and ideas came about due to the dissection of human bodies, instead of animal bodies, previously used in scientific observation. The scientific findings due to this change led to first hand observations contradicting Claudius Galenus’ theories. Andreas Vesalius, a surgeon from Brussels, compiled the most complete description of the human body to date, in 1543. De humani corporis fabrica (On The Fabric of the Human Body), was considered a masterpiece. His findings directly challenged the theories of Galen, which had been so well respected. History shows that Vesalius was just one of the many contemporaries moving forward and away from Galen’s findings, laying the groundwork for the study of modern anatomy.
The body image for women at this time went again to the idea of being proportional, she was not just large in her stomach anymore, but slightly large all over. The ideal was a look that was soft everywhere. Women were portrayed within art much more sexually than ever before. With the history of body ideals for women shifting from religious pieces of art, to more provocative and much more worldly. Men on the other hand were expected to be very large, with puffed up chests, massive arms, and thick muscular legs. They were portrayed to ideally have very warrior-like features.
By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries anatomical study began to flourish. The newfound availability of the printing press gave great minds the chance to exchange ideas on such subjects. European intellectuals and philosophers were coming to the conclusion that there was a separation between the mind and the body. The findings brought a change to the idea of what differentiates a woman from a man. No longer was it considered a lack of internal heat, but a biological difference. Not only did these findings show differences between men and women but differences that far surpassed just an internalization of the male reproductive system. Jacques Moreau de la Sarthe, an anthropologist, went as far as to say that not only were men and women different biologically, but were different in every conceivable respect, physically and morally. Thus, coming out of the eighteenth century, the idea of male perfection and vital heat gave way to the studies of biological differences.
Women’s ideal shape changed drastically at this point in time. They were expected to be petite with very small waist lines. Using corsets to tightly pull and over time configure extremely tiny waists that would not normally be possible. Men on the other hand were portrayed ideally as very athletic, large in stature and very tall with thick muscular necks.
With the nineteenth century came the theory of evolution. Charles Darwin, an English naturalist, believed women were inferiorly developed. He said feminine qualities such as compassion, sympathy, and then want to nurture belonged to an inferior stage of human development. Darwin believed that masculine qualities such as reason, aggression, and intellect proved men superior, and further evolved. He is famous for observing that “The chief distinction in the intellectual powers of the two sexes is shown by man attaining to a higher eminence, in whatever he takes up, than woman can attain - whether requiring thought, reason or imagination or merely the use of the senses and hands.” Biological differences noted and aside at this point, it was still widely believed that a woman‘s body, no matter how different, was still inferior to man’s.
Women were finally free of the ideal body shape needing a tight corset to be attainable, the body ideal shifted back to a softer, thicker look reminiscent of over 200 years before. For once, after almost 2000 years, the buttocks became quite the center of attention when it came to the female image, expected to be large and round, women wore bustles under their dresses that made their backside appear bigger, rounder and were used to hold the heavy fabric up so that it didn’t fall limp causing a flat backside.
By the time of the turn of the twentieth century anatomy was no longer just a subject taught to doctors and medical students. Anatomy in simpler forms was being taught to everyone, all the way down to young school children. Things like paper dolls and full plastic anatomical models were being used to teach the ins and outs of the human body. Which due to extensive research with cadavers were finally extremely accurate. Today, students of anatomy can use high tech computer programs to more fully learn about the human body.
Due to World War I, the Great Depression and World War II, society as a whole changed drastically, right down to body ideals and gender roles. No longer were people worrying about curves or muscularity. It was the age of practicality, and the ideal body was one that was healthy and alive. History saw the line between men and women blur drastically. The need for women in the workplace and at war meant the beginning of equality between the sexes. Women were now performing jobs and had rights that were formally only done and given to men. The focus on which gender was superior and what were considered ideal body images were shifted to that of mere survival.
Today, we look for the popular body ideal from the same venue we did in Ancient Greece, art. Art today is very often brought to us through the media. Television, magazines, the internet all constantly bring us pictures of what the world looks at as the ideal body. Women in the modeling and print industry are ideally extremely tall and thin, very waif like, with little to no curves. On the other hand, women in the television and movie venues are often shorter, with small waists, large breasts and a round buttocks. Men are tall, very athletic and extremely muscular. Just as the body ideals of old needed corsets to be achieved, body ideals today are pushed to limits not normally attained by all people. Things as dangerous as eating disorders and steroid use and as serious as plastic surgeries are on the rise due to the emotional strain and pressure of attaining the societal body ideals.
Although we see so many different opinions and points of view throughout history, two things remain a constant. Science is always moving forward, always reexamining truths and there have always been certain body ideals put forth by society that personify the perfection of that era.
Angelina Lance
History Works Cited
"The Beginning of the Scientific Revolution." The Beginning of the Scientific Revolution. Ed. Serge Noiret. CARRIE, 10 May 2006. Web. 28 Nov. 2009.
Bergman, Jerry. "The History of Evolution's Teaching of Women's Inferiority." The History of Evolution's Teaching of Women's Inferiority. Revolution Against Evolution, 21 Apr. 1998. Web. 29 Nov. 2009.
Cichon-Hollander, G. W. "The European Ideal Beauty of the Human Body in Art." The European Ideal Beauty of the Human Body in Art. The Art History Archive, 31 Oct. 2007. Web. 29 Nov. 2009.
"Bustle." Bustle. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2009.
"Galen Biography." Galen Biography. Ed. Richard L. Gregory. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2009.
Gallagher, Catherine, and Thomas Laqueur, eds. The Making of The Modern Body : Sexuality and Society in the Nineteenth Century. N.p.: University of California, 1987. Print.
"Learning Anatomy in the 20th Century." Learning Anatomy in the 20th Century. Ed. Nancy Growald Brooks. Smithsonian NMAH, 1 Nov. 2001. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.
Norstedt, Gudrun. "Herms Place In Society." Herms Place In Society. N.p., 5 Jan. 2000. Web. 28 Nov. 2009.
"Sexual Dimorphism." Sexual Dimorphism. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2009.
