Reducing bodies : mass culture and the female figure in postwar America / Elizabeth M. Matelski.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Matelski, Elizabeth M., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Body image in women--United States--History--20th century.

Body image in women.

Feminine beauty (Aesthetics)--United States--History--20th century.

Feminine beauty (Aesthetics).

Mass media and culture--United States--History--20th century.

Mass media and culture.

History.

United States.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

ix, 175 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Routledge, 2017.

Summary:

Reducing Bodies: Mass Culture and the Female Figure in Postwar America explores the ways in which women in the years following World War II refashioned their bodies - through reducing diets, exercise, and plastic surgery - and asks what insights these changing beauty standards can offer into gender dynamics in postwar America. Drawing on novel and untapped sources, including insurance industry records, this engaging study considers questions of gender, health, and race and provides historical context for the emergence of fat studies and contemporary conversations of the "obesity epidemic." Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Creating a Cultural Ideal: The Fashion Industry and Hollywood 13

2 "We Must, We Must, We Must Increase Our Bust": Uplifting the Feminine Breast 32

3 "The Longer the Belt Line, the Shorter the Life Line": Insurance Companies and the Medical Community Weigh In 58

4 Re-Shaping America: The Reducing Neurosis 76

5 What Men Want: Men's Magazines and the Girl-Next-Door 91

6 (Big and) Black Is Beautiful: Body Image and Expanded Beauty Ideals 108

7 Not over 'Til the Fat Lady Sings: Fighting Fat Stigma 129

8 Barbie Gets a New Body 146.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Matelski, Elizabeth. Reducing bodies.

ISBN:

9781138681644

1138681644

9781138681668

1138681660

OCLC:

978712661