The feminine ideal

Why, at a time when women's liberation was gaining force and momentum, did the corset become more cinched and restricting than at any time during the entire preceding century? Why was bra burning a political statement for the feminists of the 1970s? How far is the harnessed and restricted female form an outward symbol of Victorian and middle-class ideas of discipline and self-control? In what ways are women forced to conform to a "feminine ideal"?

In The Feminine Ideal , Marianne Thesander examines the significance of the female body, beauty and culture. She shows how the female body is constantly being changed, and by various - sometimes punishing - means made to fit in with current feminine physical ideals. The use of corsets, bras, make-up, cosmetics and body decoration either emphasizes or plays down specific aspects of the female form.

Marianne Thesander considers: sin and virtue; the forbidden, the concealed, the alluring body; woman as object, fetish and erotic sign. With extensive use of illustrative material, she examines the fashion history of underwear from the eighteenth century to the present day, exploring the significance of changing 'models' of the feminine.

Choice 评论

A book so vast in scope as this one can easily become ponderous, but Thesander's study does not. Well written (and, thankfully, well translated), The Feminine Ideal remains focused on its topic, namely, an examination of how women alter their bodies to appeal to a prevailing cultural norm. From corsets to Barbie dolls, Thesander deals largely with the Western world of the last 200 years. This Western emphasis is the only weak aspect of the book. Though Thesander does discuss scarification and foot-binding, among other non-Western practices, a more in-depth review of non-Western cultural "norms" would strengthen the work's standing in anthropology classrooms. This criticism is, however, purely pedagogical, and the book is still useful for a wide array of classes in the social sciences and humanities. The large number of photos does increase the price of the book, so that many may choose not to assign it as a supplementary text. Yet, it will certainly stimulate thought. All levels. M. Kapell Wayne State University

《图书馆杂志》(Library Journal )书评

This mixed academic and journalistic study of women's lingerie and the image of women from the mid-1880s through the early 1990s is divided into two parts. The first chapters discuss the female body as status symbol, the morality and perception of the body, dress and fashion, and the means of promoting the ideal. The second part enumerates style changes, from the corseted woman through the slender look, the contoured slender look, then more clearly defined forms, physical desexualization, and, finally, the accentuation of female sexuality. The commentary, overall a quick read, is somewhat scholarly and includes endnotes, but the illustrations lack caption history. This volume may be of interest to some readers for the brief coverage of body deformations in various cultures. For specialized collections on costume history and women's studies.Mary Hamel-Schwulst, Towson Univ., Md. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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