The elusive perfect body

Hollywood has had a love-hate relationship with the women’s figure.


Saba Khalid December 11, 2011

KARACHI:


The 90s were a funny era. As women all over the world were piling on the pounds, and obesity levels were reaching an all-time high, runway models and Hollywood actors were starving themselves silly to sport the ‘heroin chic’ look. The waif-thin look epitomised long ago by Twiggy and Audrey Hepburn had suddenly made a comeback in the 90s with Kate Moss and Paris Hilton becoming idols for their size zero figures. In came Jennifer Lopez in 1999 with her debut song, “If You Had My Love” in all her butt-jiggling, thigh-thumping glory, turning the entire fashion industry on its head and initiating a global debate on body shape. According to model Daisy Fuentes, “It takes someone as confident as Jennifer Lopez to turn a body part that’s often considered a flaw into something hot.”


Flab vs abs battle

Hollywood has had a love-hate relationship with the women’s figure. There are years when the only figure considered sexy is the curvaceous hourglass figure of Marilyn Monroe. But, before you know it, the trend changes and skeletal goddesses are in vogue.

Throughout history, body shape has been a never-ending debate. According to anthropologist Ann Bolin at the Elon College, “During periods of female liberation, like the 20s, when women had gotten the vote, and the 60s, when the pill became available, the ideal shape for women deemphasised their reproductive characteristics — the nourishing breasts, the wide, childbearing hips.”

The reign of bootilicious beauties

Despite Lopez being the butt of many a jokes and snide remarks in the late 90s, it was her body revolution that led to the acceptance of the Beyonce Knowles, Cheryl Cole and Kim Kardashian’s bodies.

More recently, it was Kim Kardashian with her famous rear who widened the spectrum of acceptable body types. Pint-sized and curvy — she was the opposite of stereotypical supermodels and still managed to be more popular than many Amazonian beauties of today. The fashion industry has capitalised on her fame by introducing Kim Kardashian workouts as well as the controversial derriere enlargement surgeries.

Countries where beauty isn’t stick thin

There are several countries that do not follow Hollywood’s unrealistic standards of beauty. According to Julia Savacool in her book The World Has Curves: The Global Quest for the Perfect Body, “There are many countries who don’t idealise the Keira Knightley physique. The spread of Aids in South Africa has given rise to a pro-body-image movement with thinness now being associated with illness.” For Jamaican women, “it’s socially essential to have a little junk in the trunk as the dance styles most popular in the country rely heavily on being able to shake what you got.” In Afghanistan, “beauty is more defined by a pretty face that a toned body”.

Although there are no statistics to support this basis, when it comes to the Pakistani mindset, this trend is best demonstrated by Punjabi and Pashto films where heftier women are cast in the lead roles. Interestingly, the booming Bollywood industry accepts a range of body types. From stick-thin Kareena Kapoor and Malaika Arora to full-bodied Bipasha Basu in her smash hit Jism, beauty has a varied definition. Very recently, Vidya Balan gained 12 kilogrammes for her role in The Dirty Picture.

On the other hand, in China, unhealthy and sometimes dangerous surgical procedures like nose jobs, breast augmentation or limb lengthening are so popular with the elite that there’s even a contest to reward such efforts called the “Miss Plastic Surgery”.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2011.

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