COWARD

J THE BOO'( BEAlmA JJ

]67

and beauty advice regularly give out information about this or make it the subject of lighthearted ..sides: "The nnty I:nown way to remove surplus body fat (short of

sexually attractive, The practice of shaving under the arms and shaving the legs removes the very evidence that a girl has reached puberty. It is considered attractive that these "unsightly" hairs are removed. Body hair is considered ugly, and beauty advice strongly recommends sbaving the body 10 restore prepubescent

an operation) is to consume fewer calories" (John Yud-

TIu: 13tJqy13~aJit!fid
ROSAUND COWARD
cultural critic Rosalind Coward . d. remmas us tne ideal oj female beauty In the Iv. t i moaern es In --" tImes emph~Sizes extreme slimness, Coward reads ads and other Images to conclude tho.t s I' . fi tmness masks a d ssgust or flesh, an anxiety abo ut power and compe. . tence, and sexual Immaturity. Overall ' mi I'dea Iputs il lS a. wom:n., and especially older women in c rjI' with their bodies. ' on let
t. . at

kin). Cosmetic

surgery is offered not just for ahering

Feminist hi'

sexy and shapely or ablong been the suhject of saucy seaside postcards, But this important strueFemale behinds-whether solutely enormous-have

the shape of your nose but for cutting away bits of flesh that cling stuhburnly to those prnblem areas, These exhortations leave us in little douht that the West has as constricting an ideal of female beauty and behaviour as exists in those non-European societies where clitoridectomy is practised. In the West, the ideal of sexual attractiveness is said (0 be upheld voJuntarily, rather than inflicted by a compulsory operaUOn10 change the shape of women's anatomy. But the obsession with one particular shape, everywhere pr0moted by the media, is no less of a defmite statement about expectations for women and their sexuality, Confronted with the strictness of this cultural ideal,

smoothness.

[. . ,J
It is no coincidence that this sexual ideal is an image which connotes powerlessness. Admittedly, the ideal is not of a demure. classically "feminine" girl, but a vigorous and immature adolescent. Nevertheless, it is not a shape which suggests power or force. It has already been fairly widely documented how women often choose (albeil unconsciously) to remain "fat"

sev can ~ake or mar flimsy summer clothes ... to

ay nothing of beachwear. If what goes on below

your back

IS

no joke to you, join Nanna Knox as she

because of the power which somehow accrues to them.' And it is certainly true that hig women can be
extremely imposing. A large woman who is not apolo-

looks at ways to smooth down, gently reshape generall y . Improve the area between your waist' your knees.

and and

,. ,W1 outaspareJl1hof rown, slim, lively, and lovely that' h would all like to see ourselves on holida .. He S ow We tips on achi . this y. re are a few ,evmg and maimaining it" (Ideal H Ever smce the sixties with its key . orne). there has rem a tende~cy within f uuhage ofTwiggy, . " as IOn and beauty wnnng and mtagery toward the idealization of a f ~ale ~y WIlli no fat on it at all. Concern with. . etug this 'fashionable slimness" has bec achiev-

flesh. "B

There is a definite female outline which IS' c 'de th .._. 'deal . onSl red e c ul nu~ I . TIlls "perfect" female bod between 5 foot 5 and 5 foot 8, long-legged =d be vrgorcus looking, hut above all.with ' . and

Woman's Own, 24 July 1982

We are encouraged to "beat pear-shaped buttocks tend to if they have lacked exercise flattenedd i n overt! igh t trousers the di saddle-bag hips" because wear badly in middle age

we need to understand the meanings and values attached to this shape. We also need to understand the mechanisms which engage women in a discourse so problematic for us; and we need to know how women actually perceive themselves in relation to this idealizedimage, What are the values which Westem society attributes to this body sbape? The shape is slim, lacking in "excess fat," which is defined as any flesh which appears not to be muscled and firm, any flesh where you can "pinch an inch:' as a current slimming dictum suggests. The only area where flesh is tolerated is around the hreaslS. The totally androgynous style of the sixties has relaxed somewhat(leIbaps men couldn't stand the maternal deprivation, when it came to it. BUI even with breasts, the emphasisis un the "well-rounded" and "finn ~ in keeping with the hulgeless body, The most striking aspect of this body is that it is

or have been constalldy

gizing for her size is certainly not a figure to invite the dominant meanings which our culture attaches 10 femininity. She is impressive in ways that our culture's n0tion of the feminine cannot tolerate. Women. in other words, must always be seen as women and not as impressive Persons with definite presence. The cultuJal ideal amounts 10 a taboo on the sexually mature woman. most important in maintaining women's concern with this ideal is that it is built on a disgWit of fat andflesh. It is not just a simple case of an ideal to which some of us are close and othets not, which we can take or leave, The ideal sayS as much abont its opposite, recause the war with fal and exceS5 f1esb is a war conducted in highly emotive language. And this language constructs the meanings and therefore the emotions which surround body image. The most basic point about this is that it is diflicolt to find a nonpejorative won! 10 describe what after all is the a1Terngefemale shape in a -rathe, sedentary culture.

(ibid.), Next we learn of a bileisa vantages of flabby thighs. We are told to "rid< e and fum up.,lackcalves andjIoppy thighs." Elsewhere we learn 0 f t behorrors of loose stomach muscles and Ih _ a ti up, elf dire consequence, "the potbelly." Bosoms are

Peibaps the mechanism

[.. 1

part of man?' women's lives; dieting.

you eat, feelurg guilty ahont food.
OS!

.. g what . an exerclsmg affect

::c~routine

,?1e
::ed

~ore recalcitrant but even these can be

,toned

m women to a greater or lesser de afteThe ideal outline is the silhouette W='is left rehind . r abolition of those areas of the hod w .
ton wntmg designaJes wprobl

the

ern areas,"

Y hich fashElm, bottoms: F

Rosalind Coward. "The Body Beautiful'" New York Grove .Press, 1985; 39<--46. .

which means "y nur bu' sl s firmness can be 110. . if the circulation is encouraged" (Annnbel, DeL ~ 1980), Finally we should "Take a Long Look at " eg (Waman's Own, I May 1982). The "re'1" are smooth , flawless , .._" . wwabby, and golden", But there IS good news ~ because "I egs are Ieaner ... thanks to Ul"t,.. ~,. . . mg and exercISe" (ibid.). And if all or an y 0fth esc problem parts cononne to . cause y~ trouble, you can always resort to the lmife-COSmetIc sur gery. 'n.7 ""omen s magazines ,beauty bOOks. .

:eminiscent of adolescence~ the shape is a version of an UDmature body. This is nOI recanse with the increase
the earnings of young people, the fashion industry now has them in mind (though there Q)ay be an element nf truth in this), recause the ideal is not exactly a young girl. Rather, it is an older w01l1illlwho lreepS an
In

When it come.s down to it, ~plump.,"'l "well-rounded."

"full," and SO on all sound like eupbemisms for fal and therefore carry negative connotations. No-one wants to be plump when they could he fmu; it wQUkl re like choosing to be Wtft when you could re bright. Bnt perhapS more importanl is that language pertaining to the female body has constructed a whole regime of representations which can ouly resnlt in women baving

10

emale Desires,

adolescent figure,

r.. ,J

'This valuation of i:mmatutity is confirmed bY other \lI1tCIil:es concerned ",~th rendering the female body

168 punishing

SECTION 6

CONSIIMER BEAl tTY CUlTIJRE' COMMODIFYING THE BODY

and self-bating

relationship

with their bod-

ies. First, there is the fragmentation of the body-the body is talked about in terms of different parts, "problem areas," which are referred to in the third person: "flabby thighs . . . they." If the ideal shape has been
pared down to a lean outline, bits are bound to stick out

women overspilling their proper space. Women who feel themselves to be overweight also invariably bave the feeling that their fatness demonstrates weakness and greed. Being fat is tantamount to walking around with a sandwich board saying, "I can't control my appetite." [... j The ideal promoted by our culture is pretty scarce in nature; there aren't all that many mature women who can achieve this shape without extreme effort. Only the mass of advertising images, glamour photographs, and so on makes us believe that just about all women have this figure. Yet the ideal is constructed artificially. There are only a very limited numberofmodcis who make it to the billboards, and the techniques of photography are all geared toward creating the illusioo of this perfect body. Somewhere along the line, most women know that the image is impossible and corresponds to the wishes of our culture rather than being actually attainable. We remain trapped by the image, though, because our culture generates such a violent dislike of fat, fragmenting our bodies into separate areas, each of them in its own way too big. Paradoxically, though, this fragmentatioo also saves us from despair. Most women actually maintain an ambiguous relation to the ideal image; it is rarely rejected totally-it pervades fantasies of Iransforming the self. But at the same time, there's far more narcssistic self -affirmarion among women than is sometimeS assumed. Because of the fragmentation of the body into separate areas, most women value certain aspects of their bodies: eyes, hair, teeth, smile. This positive selfimage has to be maintained against the grain, for the dice are loaded against women liking themselves in tIDS society. But such feelings do lurk there, waiting forthelf day, forming the basis of the escape route away frOIDthe destructive and limiting ideals which are placed on

:J{ouriJ!v"}5 OUYftt"Va
NANCY WORCESTER

or hang down, and these become problem areas. The

is that it becomes possible, indeed likely, for women to think about their bodies in terms of parts, separate areas, as if these parts had some separate life of their own. It means that women are presented with a fragmented sense of the body. This fragmented sense of self is likely to be the foundation fOT an entirely masochistic or punitive relationship with one's own body. It becomes possible to think about one's body as if it were this thing which foUowed one about and attached itself unevenly to the ideaJ outline which lingers beneath. And the dislike of the body has become pathological. The language used expresses absolute disgust with the idea of fat. Fat is like a disease: "if you suffer from cellulite ... " The cures for the disease are even worse. The body has to be hurt, made to suffer for result

Nancy Worcester, professor OJ nutnsilOn, points out the importance of a proper diet for the health and work needs of women. Arguing that the subordinate,status of women.across the world is responsible/or their malnutrition especially in a context of poverty or war, Worce~ter sees the needfor everyone to understand the . . consequences oj fi00 dd epnvanon a ndeat,ngd;.orders. Cultural as well as economic phenomena such as food taboos, dieting, ideals of slimness, and conditions of poverty all conmbiae to the ways gender affects health. What could be more ironic? Nourishing others is ~fundamental part of women's lives, but that very rol~ Itself limits the ability of women to take care of then own nutritional needs. Women are the world's food producers and throughout the world, within a wide range of family uruts,

food or a limited supply of quality food, women's diets are inferior to men's quantitatively and qualitatively. Even wben food supply is adequate. or abun~t, women's diets may be nutritionally inferior to men s. ,I I t rna tte ~. At some level we all have a feel for how "If ' ood diet is' "We are what we eat.bod we important a g. '

feed OUT bodies the basic nutrients, the health~

Y IS

amazingly clever at being able to take care of Itself An de te diet is obviously important . for every man. aqua d indi hiJd However '..both SOCIetally an in ,. woman, and c. 'dually , a terrible mistake IS , being made when Vl women's diets are inferior to men s. .. an's diet must be more nutrientA worn .. all y t ed" than a man's in.'order to be numnoru concentra less t e. Most women require considerably nod enadequa , d ergy than most men. For example. the U.S. F an Nutrition Board recommends an intake of 1,600-2,400 I Caonespe r day for women . age H-50. compared to "A , 300-2 700 Calories per day for men the same age. S food consumption survey showed tha: the average 23-;ear-old woman consumes only two-thirds as many alori as"the averaze 23-year.-old man. 1,600 comones Q f l However women's reqUirements. or pared to" 2400 '. !han . s. cific nutrients are identlcal to or ~ter rnan~ ~ amifications for this are most senOUS for menS. edr. The US. Food and Nutrition Board

its excess ....

It is almost as if women had to punish themselves for existing at all, as if any manifestation of this too, too solid flesh had to be suhjected to arcane tortures and expressions of self-loathing.

I have already suggested that one of the reasons be. hind this self-disgust may be the conflict surrounding the cultural valuation of the sexually immature image. h seems as though women bave to punish themselves for growing up. for becoming adults and flaunting their adulthood villbly about their bodies. It is as if women feel that they are too big, occupying too much space, have overgrown their apportioned limits. And a punishment is devised which internalizes the negative values which !his society has for such women. It is of course sensual indulgence which is seen as the root cause for

Women have responsibility for purchasing ~<yor p~~~ ing the daily food. Yet, both globally and within families, women are much more likely than men to be malnourished.Nearly universally, wherever there is a shortage of

L;

Nancy Worcester "Nourishing Ourse Ive5." Women's Ilea/Ill:) , e. , Readings Oft Social, Economic an d P 0 /.. J Issues (2nd lA: mea lIe

NancyWorcester and Mariamne H. Whatley, eds. 0;:'93.

Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1996. 38s-87.

calcIUm

3J]J

rroo.

Women's bodies.

<ognitive development

The development of
in a child.

~:::

NOTE
I. See S. Orbach, Fat ls a Feminist Isszw (Ham.1yn, 1979).

recognition

and understanding

intrauterine Wilhin ilte uterUS-

w!Jo follC)Ws"diet ""dtlSively vegetables. and whol<! lJIlI!ns and . meat&, dairy , and processedfOOlh <II any avOids

kind.