
This year I signed up to participate in the “Beauty of a Woman Blog Fest”, organized by August McLaughlin. Please enjoy the entire Blog Fest by clicking the link.
It is with great pleasure I am able to present my blog participation with the following post:
Beauty changes during the time:
In the 50s and 60s, the ultimate beautiful woman had a so-called “hourglass” figure. A chest, a butt and a small waist. Let’s travel back in time: in all big “fashion houses” the dresses and clothes were presented to the potential customers. The presenters weren’t window dummies – but real life “Mannequins”. We would call them the predecessors of the Models and Top-Models.
They were women – chest, hips and a small waist were their trademark. Even the most beautiful actresses and female stars of this time were fuller-figured women with the same measurements. Female beauty ideal back then was curvy, beautiful, feminine, showing their amenities and being proud of them.



The 70s and 80s show women, who remarkably slimmed down, their curves are still there, but not as explicitly distinct anymore.
I don’t dare to talk too much about the hairstyle and makeup which in my opinion, used to make women of these times look a little bit like extra-terrestrial clowns… but in many ways, their styles showed how much they enjoyed being women.


The late 80s and 90s brought us breathtaking women, even slimmer, their features often gentle, almost delicate, their curves about to disappear.


And then, with the entrance into the new millennium the female beauty ideal quickly went into the “nothing”… just skin and bones, no hips, no breasts, nothing: walking skeletons on wobbly legs.
Is this really how we women should be, or how we want to be?
When I was talking about this to a group of people a few years ago, a wise man told me: “Don’t starve yourself to this kind of figure, girl. You are right, the way you are. Skeletons aren’t sexy.”
I still love him for this sentence.

Or: we got this kind of new, plastic surgical ‘beauty’:


Do I have to say something about it? Really?
Maybe a few might be curious why I was going through all these changes and travelling back in time: What made me? – How do I look then? What is my figure like?
I’m not saying too much. Except:

I have always been a little on the “more”-side and the criticism I had to take for this from all sides have hurt me deeply. During the years, when I had found out that my figure was very fashionable and once a beauty ideal all women wanted to have, I found this fact amusing – but not more. How was this useful for me? I wanted to be fashionable now. With my figure, I was born about 30 years too late.
Am I ever going to be most beautiful to someone who I’d like to welcome into my life? Someone who loves me, just the way I am? With my soft heart, all the love I have to give and my hips, breasts and hourglass figure?
Now I’m curious… Have you ever had experience with criticism on your figure? Are you happy with yours? Let us hear your experience.
Thanks for your visit.
I know where you’re coming from Aurora. My wife is also a hour-glass figure, along the Marilyn Monroe lines, and she’s had to struggle with clothing, bras that don’t work for her, the works. I hope that one day designers and Hollywood, will come to realize most men don’t want a stick figure, they much prefer curves and women with big hearts like yours.
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Thanks for this wonderful and thoughtful comment, Allan. It is very much appreciated!! I’m glad and happy to hear there are women like me – and there are man like you. It gives me hope.
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It’s heartbreaking, the way many, if not most, women are shunned by others — simply for looking as they do. Whether the shaming comes from others, societal messaging or both, it’s hurtful and simply wrong – in your case included! I’m so sorry you’ve been criticized for your hourglass, “more” figure. *hugs*
Thanks so much for participating in #BOAW16, AJ! You are gorgeous, inside and out.
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Thank you so much for this very nice and sweet comment, dear August. You rock!! And it’s such a pleasure to be part of this wonderful blogfest!! ❤
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” . . . their styles showed how much they enjoyed being women.” Yes. I’m frustrated with the modern “feminist” move toward universal androgyny. I enjoy being a woman, from cute shoes to a curly hairdo. Really enjoy this post and the pictures.
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Thank you so much for dropping by, taking the time to read and leaving your comment. It is very much appreciated. I too enjoy being a woman. Sometimes I only wished it would have been the other way around. LOL
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The first body shaming I remember was elementary school. Elementary school! A private Catholic school at that. The others said I had “carrot legs.” To this day, I don’t know what it means, but it hurt my feelings. In high school, other girls accused me of being too thin. That bothered me, too, but I learned to thicken my skin quickly and realized they were probably jealous. And now, I’m the biggest I have ever been, thanks to motherhood and a few medical issues. I dare someone to make fun of me today though. I’m beautiful as are you. Great post!
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Thank you very much for your thoughtful comment, your compliments and for sharing your personal experiences. This means a lot to me!
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What a great idea to show the changes over the years, Aurora. I love that Ursula Andress doesn’t have jutting hip bones! Although I think the anorexic models are the extreme in fashion and never have been anyone’s ideal beauty. But Hollywood is still looking for super-slim – Jennifer Lawrence has said she’s considered a “fat actress,” but isn’t going to change!
My “body-shaming” experiences growing up were the opposite of yours, more along the lines of “a carpenter’s dream” (flat as a board!). I never had a chance at an hourglass figure, more a slightly wavy line. But that’s me, who I am and who I’m comfortable being. Cheers to you!
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Thank you very much, Jennifer, for this great comment and for your experience you shared with us.
I’m not sure I fully agree with you on the beauty ideal of Models. I’ve seen fifteen years old girls collapsing under the influence of dieting pills, a lack of food, vitamins and even being dehydraded.
I work on my love to myself. But I’m not yet where I want to go with that.
Cheers back! 🙂
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It’s amazing to watch the progression of shapes into almost nothing. Like you, I’m about 30 years late with my figure, but I’ve learned in the last couple of years that it’s more important to feel healthy than to try to achieve a look my body isn’t capable of doing. Thanks for your insightful post!
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Thank you so much for your great comment, Diana. I doubt I will ever be thin. But a little less butt on me would be nice. My Jeans would appreciate it. LOL
However. I’m trying not to ‘fight’ myself but to go along with what I have and can do in harmony with how I feel.
Thanks so much.
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Sofia # 1
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She was a bombshell? Wasn’t she?
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Terrific post, Aurora. I really enjoyed it. So interesting to see how society’s ideals have changed. It’s hard to imagine any woman wanting to be skeleton thin, and shame on the fashion industry for encouraging that look. I’m sure it damaged many young girls, like you said.
I was Skinny Lynnie most of my life and didn’t like being so thin and basically flat chested. Yeah, I got the carpenter’s dream remark by a boy when I was only 11. Ouch! In my 50s I gained weight due to medication. I got to experience how people reacted to an overweight woman, even by 20 pounds. People’s judgments bite. I think I was my own worst judge, though. I started eating clean a couple years ago and lost that 20 pounds. I don’t ever want to be skinny again. I have a lot of food intolerances and have to work at not losing any more weight. What a twist! Being thin does not mean being healthy. Feeling good at the prime weight for our body types is what counts. I’d rather feel healthy than be thin and sickly or too heavy and sickly! And nothing beats feeling content and at peace with ourselves.
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Thank you so much for your valuable opinion and for sharing your experience, Lynn. I very much appreciate it.
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I loved this post. Ideals are a dangerous thing.
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Thank you very much for dropping by, reading and leaving your much appreciated comment. 😉
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Thank you!
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It truly is amazing Aurora Jean, how the “standards” change. And how we went along with it! Thank you for writing this. I try to love my body–it’s done a lot! Walked thousands of miles, swam and swam and swam, biked all over, and birthed three babies. My body is an accumulation of my life!
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Thank you so much for this wonderful positive message! What an uplift to my, and I’m sure, many other women’s view on their own body! You are a great example on how it should be looked at!
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Interesting walk down memory lane in terms of female body ideals. I hate the stick thin models of today. I won’t even touch a fashion magazine any more for that reason.
But I was more like Jennifer Jensen. I got called ironing board a lot in school. That totally stopped bothering me when I realized in my thirties that I really didn’t need to wear a bra. Except for sports bras when I exercise I haven’t worn them in over 30 years! 🙂
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I envy you! No need to wear a bra. 🙂
Thanks so much for reading and leaving your great comment Kassandra!
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My dear friend… While I haven’t been body shamed, I’ve known many beautiful women who were. It breaks my heart how a few pounds can cause a person to question their beauty and/or worth…
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Love this post, Aurora, thank you for sharing your thoughts and the wonderful walk-through-the-ages of societal beauty standards. It is interesting that the population’s girth increases, models have gotten skinnier. Almost seems that models must represent what most of us *aren’t.* Does that mean that in the 50s and 60s, relatively few women had the hourglass shape? It wasn’t too long after food rationing, Great Depression, and scarcity.
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I’m not sure how many women in fact had the hourglass figure back then. But I hope the ones who had felt adored and beautiful!
Thank you for your great comment!
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