The Hourglass Figure Is In. Yay. But Wait, Is That Good News?
Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks’ body has been declared the “ideal” female body by British Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone.
It’s great that Ms. Hendricks is getting ahead in the entertainment industry despite (maybe even because) of her non-skeletal figure, and I was just as upset as anyone when the New York Times fashion blogger had called Hendricks “A big girl,” but declaring Hendrick’s figure as the new “ideal” is a different matter. Think about it: Is Hendrick’s pronounced hourglass figure any more attainable to most women than fashion models’ extreme thinness?
And doesn’t this go back to the issue of extremes that I’ve discussed in the past – so we either have size zero, or Hendrick’s size 14, as coveted figures – but all the average, healthy, in-between sizes are completely ignored by the media. What does that do to women’s and girls’ body image?
As a naturally thin, narrow-hipped woman, I can tell you right here and now that as hard as I may try, puny little me will never get to Ms. Hendrick’s impressive, beautiful proportions. Should I feel bad about not having an “ideal” or a “feminine” figure? Or should I be happy that I am active and healthy and that my body weight is within the normal range?
The voluptuous Ms. Hendricks at the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Cocktail Reception; Puny little me at the local park last week
Why exactly do we need to set ideals for women anyway? What is this obsession with an ideal female figure? We truly do come in so many shapes and sizes (not to mention colors), that declaring one shape as the “ideal” shape is just plain silly. And while it’s fine for the fashion industry to do this – after all, they ARE in the business of creating a fantasy, and creating an unattainable fantasy is how they sell, anyone else should be very careful about declaring any type of female figure as the “ideal” figure.
As far as I’m concerned, the only ideal women should have in terms of their bodies is eating healthfully (OK, most of the time) and exercising regularly. If you stick with a healthy lifestyle and take care of your body (no smoking, no suntanning, limited alcohol and caffeine, you know the drill), then you’re doing an awesome job and should be proud of yourself.
A fit, strong body should be the ideal female body, regardless of its shape.
Filed under Women & Feminism —
Email This Post,
Subscribe To Comments, Trackback,
Subscribe Via 
David "CrazyKinux" Perry responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 6:43 am →
Women come in all sizes &shapes. As long as they take care of themselves as you mention through a healthy lifestyle, they should all be seen as “ideals”. Otherwise the world would be a boring place! :p
Tracy responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 6:48 am →
Vered, my figure is like yours only with a few extra baby pounds that I haven’t got around to losing. I went from being stick thin to being a wider stick.
It used to drive me crazy and make me feel excluded and put down when other women would go on and on how “real women have curves” and “men like a woman with some meat on their bones”. I was accused of being anorexic, bulimic and family members even speculated that I *must* be on drugs like crack because I was so thin (about 5’10, ~115-120 lbs until I had my 3rd son). It got to the point where I was anxious about eating or not eating and felt scrutinized by those around me.
Because of that experience, I agree with you, I dislike any talk about “ideal” or “real” or “natural” shapes for women. We come in all shapes and sizes and as long as we’re doing the best we can to take care of ourselves, that’s great. Heck, if some of us don’t want to take care of ourselves 100% ideally, that’s fine, too. We are much more than our bodies and faces.
Memarie Lane responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 6:49 am →
On the radio a few days ago the female DJ was talking about how great she thought it was that people are starting to recognize the body types of “real women” and not those “skinny people who don’t really exist.” Yes, she got an angry letter. I am a size 1 mother of three and am very real. I also have a very hard time finding clothes, because clothing sizes have migrated to the degree that an XS is now more of an 8. I don’t understand why the clothing manufacturers can’t make clothes for ALL the different sizes of women. And I don’t understand why women can’t recognize and respect one another as “real,” no matter their size or shape.
Dot responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 7:54 am →
I agree completely. If there has to be an “ideal” shape for women, maybe they should choose pear-shaped, as that is the most common.
Carla responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 9:53 am →
Vered, Ill take “puny” over my naturally fat building in the wrong areas (apple shape) body type any day. Its only through strict diet and very regular hard core exercise that I’m able to curtail that. No matter what the body type du jour is, you still have the most ideal body – according to society. I guarantee by next season, Christina Hendrick will be classified as “fat”.
Michelle @ Find Your Balance responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 11:10 am →
I guess it’s nice for something other than Victoria Secret model figures to get attention. As far as I’m concerned, healthy is always “in.” When you see someone who takes care of themselves, they look great nomatter what size pants they wear.
MomGrind responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 1:28 pm →
Oh Carla, but I hope she won’t be labeled as fat! What I want is for her, for me, for your apple-shaped body and for pear-shaped bodies to be considered acceptable, no make that beautiful.
Jannie Funster responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 2:15 pm →
Remember Twiggy from the 60s, the Chubby Reubens and the shorter curvier gals like Doris Day and Marilyn Monroe? Funny how ideals change. I do think muscles are a nice look, not too big ones, tho. A little tone, a spring in the step, a confident walk, a smile and a head held high — that’s the good stuff, oh yeah. Which reminds me, I need to do some buttocks work again. I’ve been sliding a bit this summer.
xo
Kelvin Kao responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 2:26 pm →
That’s right, Vered. You will never have the ideal body type.
Oops, did I say never? I mean, until another expert somewhere declare that your body type happens to be the ideal one.
Gappy responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 2:41 pm →
Bah, it’s just the same old, same old isn’t it. Now we have to have a perfect size fourteen figure instead of a perfect size eight one. I’m a similar shape to you Vered, and could never look like Hendricks – it would just be a physical impossibility. Am I not a real woman now?
Patricia responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 3:55 pm →
wow two posts to write on in one day for me…..I was late to the marshmallow party!
I am an hour glass figure but not a size 14….and I work out and am strong, but I do not look muscular…Popeye upper arms…huge thighs….wide hips….and I am not flat chested….I will never get an honorable mention even for being almost 5′ 9″ ( shrinking a bit)
I just want to be healthy and able to find something to wear…..when I am at my ideal I wear a combination of 16-18 Let me tell you they made some ugly clothing in my size now…. Oh when will we ever get on with it and stop labeling everyone…
MomGrind responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 4:09 pm →
Laughing at the idea of doing some “buttocks work.” Thanks Jannie for the lovely image.
Tweets that mention Christina Hendricks Hourglass Figure | Blogger For Hire -- Topsy.com responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 4:15 pm →
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vered DeLeeuw, jen holberg. jen holberg said: Amen! RT: @Vered The Hourglass Figure Is In. Yay. But wait – is that good news? …]
Kelly@SHE-POWER responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 6:21 pm →
Christina Hendricks is beautiful and has a great body, but as you say Vered, it’s not one that is any more attainable than yours is for many women. I think the problem here isn’t necessarily labelling a body type IDEAL – this is pretty natural for humans as there are attributes both men and women find attractive in the opposite sex. Tall with wife shoulders, muscular arms and chest is widely considered desirable in men, and will not be attainable for many people either. The problem to my mind is that with women the message everywhere is your self-worth is determined by how closely you resemble the IDEAL body and look.
Women and beauty is still inextricably linked, with this being the primary method for a woman to obtain value and standing in society, while men can choose to increase their power and status in an assortment of ways much more closely linked to achievements, and therefore more within their control. That is the most destructive aspect of this focus on beauty and ideal female body types. Young women across the world are looking to what’s in the mirror to determine how they feel about themselves. Media tells them they can and should be primarily concerned with controlling and moulding their faces and bodies in order to be loved and acceptable. The only problem here is that our looks are one of the hardest things to change about ourselves unless we go the plastic surgery route and butcher ourselves in pursuit of the ideal face and body captured at the ideal age. Because god knows we wouldn’t want to grow older and change, would we! A man can be handsome while being grey and lined, but a woman, she should tuck, botox and colour for decades. Anything to try and look younger. So where does that leave these women? Receiving the constant message that they’re not good enough no matter what else they do with their lives. It’s shit and really jacks me off!
MomGrind responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 7:26 pm →
Powerful, Kelly. Thank you. I love comments that are better than the original post – reminds me why I love blogs so much!
Cath Lawson responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 8:15 pm →
Hi Vered – I hate reading about the ideal anything. Even though they’re saying we don’t need to be skeletal, as you say – most women won’t be able to achieve this.
This woman is obviously quite tall. If I was a British size 14, I would look like Humpty Dumpty. A British size 14 is a US 10 and looking at her I would say she is no more than a 12 – which is an 8 but, she’s probably closer to a 10 (6)
Lawyer Mom responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 8:36 pm →
The whole hour-glass thing is primal, evolutionary. Broad hips mean childbirth with less risk of death to the mother. Bosoms feed the offspring. And on and on it goes. No matter what “they” put in fashion magazines, men will always be more attracted to an hour-glass shape. Fair or not, it’s instinctive.
And now, it makes good copy, too. Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Penelope Cruz . . . are all the rage now. People are even buying underwear padded in the seat!! Even the thin-preferring fashionista magazine writers must eventually bend to the will, or is it the waists(?), of their readers.
This is fairly self-evident, but I’ll say it any way: the more we pay attention to this “perfect body” nonsense, the more attention gets paid to it, which doesn’t do us any good, or our daughters.
“As far as I’m concerned, the only ideal women should have in terms of their bodies is eating healthfully (OK, most of the time) and exercising regularly.” — I couldn’t agree with you more.
How about we concentrate our energy on the size of the deficit? A size zero there would suit me just fine.
Barbara Swafford responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 11:17 pm →
Hi Vered,
I think any time we label someone as ideal it makes others start comparing themselves to “that” and feeling greater than, or less than. We should be happy with who we are and what we were blessed with and like you said, concentrate on living a healthy life.
Davina responds:
Posted: July 28th, 2010 at 11:24 pm →
“Why exactly do we need to set ideals for women anyway?” Exactly!
I guess we like to have something we can strive for or master. But as you say, we all can’t achieve the same when it comes to body type. I think Christina is beautifully voluptuous. You look fit, cute and sophisticated. The clothes, facial expression and posture also play a role. Her form-fitting dress and come hither expression accentuates the sexiness. Your dress is casual and you appear more relaxed and natural. I would take you more seriously than she.
MomGrind responds:
Posted: July 29th, 2010 at 10:25 am →
Thanks Davina.
I’m trying to imagine myself dressed like Ms. Hendricks and wearing the same facial expression (and a padded bra, I guess, in my case) and it actually makes me laugh. I would look ridiculous! So yes, we should be who we are, not try to be someone or something we’re not.
Stephanie - Home with the Kids responds:
Posted: July 29th, 2010 at 1:16 pm →
Aw, come on Vered! Why won’t you just bow your head and admit you’re not good enough? Come on! Here’s a nice fashion magazine to help! /sarcasm
I’m with you on people looking great so long as they treat themselves right. Eat mostly healthy foods, do moderate exercise, most of us will look just fine.
As for me, I’m still wondering if the last of the weight from baby #3 is going to come off quietly or if it’s going to stick around. Either one works, as my husband doesn’t mind the extra curves, but I’d sure like to get some of my old muscle tone back.
Dr. J responds:
Posted: July 29th, 2010 at 2:41 pm →
I give your opinion the Dr. J seal of approval
I have long felt that if you eat a healthy diet and stay active, that your body will settle out at the best size and shape.
Variety is a beautiful thing!
Marelisa responds:
Posted: July 30th, 2010 at 2:36 pm →
I think that beautiful women come in all shapes and sizes. There’s a woman on Squidoo who is always featuring plus-sized models on her lenses, and each one is more beautiful than the next. Then again, I’ve always thought that thin, toned bodies are attractive. The important thing is what you do with what you have.
Tess The Bold Life responds:
Posted: July 31st, 2010 at 5:49 am →
I have way too much on top and a short torso. Each time I look for new clothes I’m traumatized. I need someone who sews clothes just to fit me so I can get on with my life. Consequently when I find something that fits I take four of them. Then I just look the same everyday;) Men objectify women…that’s where it all came from. Augh
Jean at The Delightful Repast responds:
Posted: July 31st, 2010 at 5:50 am →
I will bless the day when people start paying as much attention to their inside as they do to their outside. If more adult women would accept themselves as they are and put the emphasis on being better people rather than having a “better” appearance, maybe there wouldn’t be so many young girls having painful years of unhealthy focus on superficial things not easily changed.
J.D. Meier responds:
Posted: July 31st, 2010 at 11:57 pm →
It’s interesting how what’s been valued as beauty has shaped over time and how it’s varied by culture.
Sagan responds:
Posted: August 2nd, 2010 at 9:32 am →
Agreed. I have a very boyish shape – I’m not super thin, and I don’t have the “voluptuousness” that is the other end of the spectrum. I’m just… average. And I think that’s totally okay. Having an in-between body can be beautiful too! It’s a shame that society focuses so much on having one ideal version of beauty, when in reality beauty comes in so many forms that it is nearly impossible to define.
Living healthy is a great way to develop our own personal beauty.
Hilary responds:
Posted: August 4th, 2010 at 10:29 am →
Hi Vered .. your figure is just great .. and who would have an hour glass figure – you’d have to work so hard to keep it up .. actually to me you’re way more attractive .. so go with the flow .. accept our bodies for what they are .. eat and exercise sensibly .. and our bodies should sustain us into old age!
Go well .. have a good week .. from a slightly overweight silvering haired not old Hilary!
Ann Taylor Photoshopping | Blogger For Hire responds:
Posted: August 10th, 2010 at 5:01 am →
[...] looking at what was done here, and I’m thinking back to my recent rant about the “new female ideal,” and you know what? I take it [...]