Feminine Beauty

Fig 1: The WHR masculinization among both Miss Americas (late 1960s to mid-1980s, beyond which WHRs were not reported) and, especially, Playboy playmates from the 1960s to 2000 is clear.(2)  The Playboy trend is addressed in detail here.  The WHR trend in Miss Americas from the 1920s to the 1960s is addressed below.

Here is a description of fashion/high-fashion models from the 1920s:

The Masculine Silhouette of 1920s Females

After the war when women's dress became more mannish, each year seemed to get more severe in line which almost emphasised the feminine woman beneath. Female clothes became looser and more shapeless in fit. The bust was suppressed, the waist disappeared, the shoulders became broader and hair shorter and shorter.  Narrow boyish hips were preferred.  The silhouette emphasised a flattened chest and womanly curves were eliminated as the line became more simplified.

The Flat Chest of the Twenties

The slender flat chested tanned body and face of a 15-year-old became the desired silhouette of the bright young things of the 1920s.  Health and beauty clubs helped women refine their silhouettes whilst getting fitter and healthier.

It was a difficult time for the former matrons of Edwardian society, the previous leaders of fashion whose style of dressing became as passé as their rounded figures and older faces.  More youthful women who could party all night and carry the boyish fashions well were all the rage. 

Here is what happened in the 1930s:

The Female Form Returns

In the 1930s there was a return to a more genteel, ladylike appearance. Budding rounded busts and waistline curves were seen and hair became softer and prettier as hair perms improved. Foreheads which had been hidden by cloche hats were revealed and adorned with small plate shaped hats. Clothes were feminine, sweet and tidy by day with a return to real glamour at night.

So, here is what likely happened concerning the influence behind the 1920s-1960s WHR trend seen in Miss Americas in Fig 1.  The prosperity of the 1920s afforded enough freedom for homosexual fashion designers to become prominent, and their domination among fashion designers reflected in the skinny and boyish looks of high-fashion models then, which apparently influenced the selection of Miss Americas.  But then, 1929-1939 was the depression era, where one would expect the population to grow more conservative, and the prominence of homosexuals in the public sphere in the 1930s prompted a negative reaction from the public, leading to laws that forced homosexuals into hiding in the 1940s and 1950s.(4, 5)  Liberalization from around the 1960s helped homosexual men become more prominent and they have dominated the ranks of the top fashion designers since then.  Thus, the feminization of WHR in Miss Americas from the 1930s to the early 1960s likely represents diminished gay influence.

It is interesting to note that both glamour models from Playboy magazine and normal women have about the same height, yet the glamour models are reported to weigh about 20 pounds less (Table 1).

Table 1: Some anthropometric characteristics of women.(6)  Note that the fashion model measurements are from the mid-1990s; current high-fashion models are thinner.
Type	Number	Height	BMI	WHR	Waist-bust ratio	Bust-hip ratio	Weight (pounds)
Fashion models	300	5' 9.7”	17.57	0.71	0.72	0.99	122
Glamour models	300	5' 6.5”	18.09	0.68	0.66	1.03	114
Normal women	300	5' 5.4”	21.86	0.74	0.80	0.92	133
Bulimic women	30	5' 5”	23.66	0.77	0.83	0.93	142
Anorexic women	30	5' 5”	14.72	0.76	0.78	0.96	89
Notes: BMI = Body Mass Index = body mass in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters, WHR = waist-to-hip ratio. The 0.71 WHR may appear to be too feminine for fashion models.  The fashion model statistics are taken from a modeling agency and are expected to be reliable because the models need to be accurately reported in order for them to get work, unless there happens to be an unwritten industry rule to lie in a specified manner.  On the other hand, translating the data to bust-waist-hip measurements for a constant hip size of 35 inches, one gets fashion models (35-25-35), glamour model (36-24-35) and normal young women (32-26-35).  The glamour models chosen were Playboy centerfolds, a bad choice given their increasing masculinization from the 1960s to 2000 and also that too many of them have breast implants.  A better choice of glamour models would measure a natural 34C/D-23-35 (WHR = 0.657) if the hips are maintained at 35 inches.  The fashion models would have a natural bust that is 35AA or 35A, i.e., a much larger ribcage relative to the pelvis compared to glamour models, a condition more typical of men.  In front view, the broader and longer ribcage of fashion models would stretch out the waist region and their hips would look narrower given their greater height, sharply decreasing the odds of an hourglass shape, but if one looked at the fashion models from the side, then waist thickness will not be much given their skinniness.  In other words, one needs to consider the distribution of mass, not just the circumference; the increase in waist circumference compared to glamour models is small, but the distribution of mass in the waist region is changing by a greater degree, with a notable spreading out of the waist region in front view.

In a separate investigation from that in Table 1, Playboy centerfolds from 1978-1998 averaged a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 18.1 ± 0.8 and a WHR of 0.68 ± 0.03.(7)  Additionally, 72% of the centerfolds from the Feb ’94-Feb ’95 South-African edition of Playboy magazine averaged a BMI less than 18.(8)  BMI, defined in Table 1, is used as a proxy for percentage body fat in population studies.  From a medical standpoint, for the typical white person, a healthy BMI range is 20-25, a BMI of 25-30 is overweight, a BMI of 30-plus is obese, and a BMI less than 18.5 is underweight.(9)  Both the measurements in Table 1 and the appearance of Playboy glamour models suggest that they or the editors lie about their weight,(7, 8) an example of which can be seen in Fig 2.  Apparently, glamour models' weight is typically underreported so that they are not seen as inferior to fashion models.  Therefore, even if normal women look up to glamour models for comparative purposes, they will mistakenly consider themselves overweight.

Fig 2: The physique of Playboy model Amanda Rushing; at 5-foot-7.5 and 36A-26-35, she was reported to weigh 108 pounds!  There are too many similar examples to be explained away in terms of unintentional error.

By now, there is plenty of evidence that exposure to imagery involving skinny high-fashion models increases the likelihood of body dissatisfaction and a desire to lose body fat among women.(10-14)  This effect is not just limited to girls or women with excess body weight.  For instance, Field et al. evaluated the influence of media (fashion magazines) on the weight concerns of a representative sample of 548 girls, grades 5-12, in a working class suburb in Boston.(10)  69% reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of the perfect body shape and 47% wanted to lose weight as a result.  Controlling for body weight, grade level and ethnicity, compared to girls who infrequently read fashion magazines, girls who frequently read fashion magazines were more likely to diet to lose weight because of a magazine article [OR = 2.11, 95% CI = 1.19-3.75], more likely to exercise to lose weight because of a magazine article [OR = 3.02, 95% CI = 1.77-5.17], and more likely to feel  that magazines influence what they believe to be the ideal body shape [OR = 2.81, 95% CI = 1.72-4.58].(10)  In addition, moderate-frequency readers were twice as likely than infrequent readers of fashion magazines to report exercising because of a magazine article [OR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.14-3.30] and to feel that magazines influence what they believe to be the ideal body shape [OR = 2.03, 95% CI = 1.30-3.15].(10)  

A high prevalence of a desire to lose body fat has even been described among beauty-pageant contestants, none of whom are remotely overweight.  In a study of 131 American beauty-pageant contestants from 43 states, 89.6% of whom reported being a pageant finalist or winner and 55.2% of whom had competed at the national/international level, 26% had been told or believed that they had an eating disorder, 48.5% reported wanting to be thinner and 57% were trying to lose weight.(15)  Compared to women in general, higher rates of mild eating disorder symptomatology and illegal drug use -- presumably to maintain low body fat levels -- have also been reported among professional fashion models.(16)

Some obese or overweight women can be expected to diet irrespective of the influence of high-fashion models, but dieting on the part of women who weigh within the medically normal or underweight range is of concern.  Dieting in some women who are underweight or medically normal-weight results from mental illness, and it is possible that widespread and frequent exposure to high-fashion models or their approximations, in conjunction with imagery associating them with high status, may be a factor behind triggering some eating disorders in women with a liability toward such disorders (see this); the eating disorders of concern here are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa; anorexia nervosa being characterized by persistent undereating and bulimia nervosa being characterized by episodes of binge eating followed by purging.  On the other hand, one hardly doubts that a number of underweight or medically normal-weight women who diet without being mentally ill are attempting to acquire the looks and thereby the status of skinny high-fashion models.  The physical appearance of high-fashion models suggests starvation, and it is obvious that one may achieve the same look by eating less.  If high-fashion models were highly feminine-looking, it would be obvious that no amount of dieting or exercise would make one look like that.

Many high-fashion models appear anorexic.  A visual examination easily reveals that a higher testosterone-to-estradiol ratio compared to the feminine norm appears as the central tendency among female high-fashion models, as assessed via the increased masculinity and reduced femininity observed among them.  Interestingly, both anorexic and bulimic women have a higher testosterone-to-estradiol ratio than normal women; both these hormones are depressed in anorexic women, whereas testosterone is elevated and estradiol depressed in bulimic women.(17, 18)  Aggressive behavior is frequent in women with anorexia and bulimia, and in both cases, higher testosterone levels correspond to greater aggressiveness.(17, 18)

The skinniness of high-fashion models makes the sustenance of pregnancy difficult, and medically normal-weight women who diet to present an image of high status likely reduce their fertility (the likelihood of sustaining a viable pregnancy).  In ectopic pregnancy, the fertilized egg implants in the fallopian tubes rather than in the uterus and is doomed.  In the past few decades, rates of ectopic pregnancy have increased in the West.(19, 20)  Women with ectopic pregnancy tend to have low estradiol levels, and fallopian tube contractions depend on estradiol levels.(19, 20)  Both dieting and vigorous exercise reduce estradiol levels, perhaps accounting for the increased frequency of ectopic pregnancies.(19, 20)  Apart from anorexia, even bulimia is associated with menstrual disturbances and diminished fertility(21, 22), and dieting- or exercise-induced menstrual disturbances increase the likelihood of reduced bone mineral density in adolescent girls, increasing the likelihood that they will develop osteoporosis.(23)  Excessive exercise on the part of women increases the risk of reproductive function disruption (hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis dysfunction), something that need not result from a loss of body weight.(24)  Additionally, even estrogen supplementation does not prevent osteopenia (bone weakening) arising from exercise-induced amenorrhea (no menses).(25, 26)

In women, a lower WHR (more feminine) corresponds to higher estradiol(27, 28) and lower testosterone(27) levels, and a higher WHR (more masculine) corresponds to higher testosterone(27) and lower estradiol levels.(27, 28)  See Fig 3 for evidence that the best reproductive potential (fecundity and fertility) is found among women with large breasts and small waists, with the reproductive potential being better in women with a smaller WHR compared to women with similar breast size but a larger WHR; E2 in Fig 3 refers to estradiol and P refers to progesterone.

Fig 3: Data from 119 young, non-pregnant, non-lactating, regularly menstruating Polish women not on contraceptives or hormonal medications.(28)  Related study on estradiol and face shape here. 

Consistent with the data in Fig 3, in a sample of 500 Dutch women seeking artificial insemination, a 0.1 unit increase in WHR led to a 30% decrease in fecundity (probability of conception per menstrual cycle; hazard ratio = 0.706; 95% CI = 0.562-0.887) after adjustment for age, fatness, reasons for artificial insemination, menstrual cycle length and regularity, smoking and number of prior births.(29)  It has also been shown that infertile women tend to possess a male-typical body fat distribution pattern,(30-32) that is also seen among women with type-2 diabetes.(33, 34)  Furthermore, obese women, especially those with abdominal obesity, have higher testosterone levels compared to normal women(35-38) and obesity is associated with reduced fertility and increased likelihood of giving birth to a developmentally disturbed fetus.(39-43)

Nancy Etcoff has written:

Where is fashion heading? Sex is considered a cultural construction, and clothing is said to be veering toward a unisex ideal.(25)

Starting in the 1970s, high feminine voices were considered less attractive. They were incompatible with expressing the grown-up confidence of a sexually liberated woman, and very unconvincing in the working world. Women in the public eye lowered their voices. Margaret Thatcher took voice lessons to lower her pitch after she was told that her voice sounded shrill. Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, and Paulina Porizkova have all taken lessons to lower their voice pitch to sound less girlish. Supermodels may mimic youth in their appearance, but they are at least sounding more authoritative and mature.(26)

Therefore, given that high testosterone levels predict low voice pitch in men(46) plus evidence for androgens increasing voice hoarseness and decreasing voice pitch in women(47-49) and men(50, 51), it appears that the physical appearance of high-fashion models, implying an elevated testosterone-to-estradiol ratio, appears consistent with other traits of the fashion world.

In short, it does not help to have skinny and masculinized women occupy the highest status among female models.  Female models also come in the form of bodybuilders, fitness models and plus-size models; such models occupy their own niches without having a major influence on the general female population.  If female body builders, fitness models, or plus-size models occupied the upper echelons of modeling, then the public consequences would be adverse, too.  It should be clear what type of female models occupying the highest status in modeling would not lead to the adoption of unhealthful eating and excessive exercise on the part of many women: feminine and attractive women.  Indeed, exercise and dieting are not going to make medically-normal-weight women look more feminine.

Given the gay domination of the fashion business, feminine and attractive young women have few opportunities to come to the limelight, and those among them who refuse to pose nude or submit themsleves to the casting couch remain virtually unknown.  If this site can help it, things are going to change.

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