A Brief History of the Female Form and Eating Disorders in the Twentieth Century

Reports of eating disorders, especially anorexia nervosa (although not by that name), date far back into history. Primarily, however, these incidences were isolated and usually religious in nature. As a social phenomenon, eating disorders achieved recognition in the western world as early as the 1850s. However, it was not until the twentieth century in the United States that these illnesses became widespread. Despite much research and discussion, the root causes of eating disorders are still not fully understood. Several risk factors have been cited, including genetics, personality, and external stressors. One of the most significant influences, however, is the American society’s evolving ideal for the feminine form.

One particular incident in twentieth century fashion clearly indicates the link between the idealized female form and the mindset of American society. In the roaring 1920s, fashion for women took a masculine turn. Women’s fashion began promoting angular, athletic bodies and boyish haircuts—a significant departure from traditional femininity. Fashionable flappers would even wrap their torsos tightly in cloth under their clothes to make their chests as flat as possible. Significantly, after the crash of the New York stock exchange in 1929, when the nation tumbled from the heights of excess and abundance to the depths of the Great Depression, women’s fashion made an abrupt return to the feminine. The androgynous ideal of the twenties was quickly forgotten, as more matronly figures came back into style. This situation illustrates the emotional investment that society makes in the feminine form.

Eating disorders are a primarily a western-world phenomenon. Because of this, they are thought by some to be a result of affluence, i.e., assured biological survival. This theory would seem to be supported by the above anecdote. However, some research has shown that affluence alone does not cultivate widespread existence of these illnesses; the real culprit is a society in which women are most highly valued for appearance. For example, some research points out, eating disorders are not prevalent in the Middle East among affluent classes, where women are highly valued both for beauty and for their reproductive abilities. As a direct threat to reproductive viability, it would not be reasonable for eating disorders to achieve viability.

The mass manufacture of ready-made clothing first occurred during the Civil War. Uniforms were manufactured according to standardized sizes. Standardized clothing sizes for women, however, first began popular during the 1920s. With the rise of an affluent urban class, mail order catalogs and department stores found a vast new market. The mechanization of industry made ready-made clothing seem cutting-edge. As a direct result of the new standardized sizing, however, women were placed in direct comparison to other women in a whole new way. This contributed to an even more strictly articulated idealization of the female form.

Although recognized as early as the 1850s, eating disorders did not really enter the American social consciousness until the 1970s. The mantra of the 1970s—“you can never be too rich or too thin”—was taken to heart by some very public figures, like the singer Karen Carpenter. Carpenter eventually died of complications resulting from severe anorexia. The American media began paying some attention to this mysterious condition which was causing young women to starve themselves. In addition, the sexual liberation of the 1970s introduced a distinction and even separation for women between sexual activity and procreation.

In a way, the 1970s took up where the 1920s left off. Women were beginning to see themselves and their bodies as capable of far more than just domesticity and reproduction. For better and for worse, this contributed to a new idealization of the female form divorced from procreative ability. On the negative side, however, some experts have argued that this new view invited extremes for the female form. Unhinged from physiology and ungrounded by relation to functionality, the female form was free to become idealized as an abstruse objet d’art (entirely subject to the whims of fancy or fashion) or as a purely sexual object.

Incidence of eating disorders has doubled in the United States since the 1960s. The normal attributes of the mature female form are widely viewed by society as imperfections. Women who have children are encouraged to erase all signs of gestation and childbirth through exercise and even cosmetic surgery. Currently, female celebrities in the U.S. and around the world often go to extremes to achieve and maintain “perfect” bodies. The competition that began with the introduction of standardized sizes for women’s clothing in the 1920s, and has reached an incredible culmination. Female celebrities strive for that most elusive of sizes—size zero. The symbolism is difficult to ignore.

References

Bemporad, Jules R., M.D. The Prehistory of Anorexia Nervosa. The Psychoanalytic Approach to Psychosomatics and Eating Disorders, The Newsletter of the Psychosomatic Discussion Group of the American Psychoanalytic Association. Retrieved June 30, 2008 from http://www.cyberpsych.org/pdg/pdghist.htm

A Healthier You. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2005. Retrieved June 30, 2008 from
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/healthieryou/html/chapter10.html

Eating Disorders. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, National Mental Health Information Center, 2003. Retrieved June 29, 2008 from http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/ken98-0047/default.asp