How the ideals of female beauty have changed in different eras. Women are no longer

What is the ideal chest? Is there a universal concept of the ideal shape and size of the female breast? Surely not. There are so many different views, positions and statements on this subject. At all times and epochs, there was a concept of beauty. For some, small, neat forms are preferable, for others - the standard of beauty is a large, high chest with a beautiful decollete. So what can be considered perfection today?

HOW WOMEN'S BEAUTY OR THE IDEAL BREAST OF THE STONE AGE CHANGED

In the days when man was a hunter and getter, a beautiful woman was either always pregnant or very full. There can be only one conclusion from this: beautiful breasts are big saggy breasts.

But already in the days of the Mayan tribe, the figurines found tell us that an attractive woman of the tribe is graceful with beautiful small breasts and wide hips (they are still for ladies who are not alien to the replenishment of the family).

But still, the ideals of female beauty in Mesopotamia can be judged by the images of the great goddess Ishtar (Astarte), many statuettes and images of which have been well preserved to this day. Judging by these images, we can conclude that women with especially magnificent forms, most likely, did not enjoy success.

HOW WOMEN'S BEAUTY CHANGED IN ANCIENT EGYPT, CRETE, CHINA

The ancient Egyptians believed that a woman should be slim, but not thin. At the same time, developed muscles were welcomed. The chest, oddly enough, was small. Greater emphasis was placed on the lips, huge almond-shaped eyes and a straight nose.

In the Crete-Minoan civilization that existed from 3000 to 1000 BC on the island of Crete, women emphasized large, puffy breasts, a thin waist and rounded hips.

And here is how a woman’s breasts are described in ancient mythology: “The breasts should be of good shape, like large pearls, but soft to the touch, and the breasts themselves, like lotus buds, are arranged so that there is no distance between them.”

In old China, according to custom, it was supposed to have a body of “straight lines”. From the age of 10-14, girls had their chests tightened with a canvas bandage or put on a special vest.

THE PERFECT BREAST FOR THE ANCIENT GREEKS

In ancient Greece, men believed that the body must be physically perfect. When a woman had an ideal figure, then she had an ideal soul. When the body is physically perfect, it cannot a priori have large breasts.

HOW WOMEN'S BEAUTY CHANGED IN THE MIDDLE AGES

In the Middle Ages, women spent a lot of time in prayer vigils, fasted and seemed like a corpse, because then deathly pallor and terrible thinness were valued. The ideal was the complete absence of any roundness in principle. For example, in Spain, lead plates were placed on girls' breasts at night to prevent them from developing. In Germany, wooden plates were used for this. Here is how they were described then: “Persy girls swaddle their tight bandages, because full breasts are not cute for the gaze of men.”

HOW WOMEN'S BEAUTY CHANGED DURING THE RENAISSANCE

In the Renaissance, the taboo imposed by the church is removed from the human body. In the pictures we see girls and women who enjoy life. You can see rounded shapes, beautiful elongated necks, and the body! How majestic and well-fed it is.

The Italian poet and playwright of the Renaissance Ariosto draws the ideal of a beautiful woman in the following words:

“Her neck is white as snow, her throat is like milk, her beautiful neck is round, her chest is wide and magnificent. Just as the waves of the sea run and disappear under the light caress of the breeze, her breasts are so excited. I would not be able to guess what is hidden under a light dress the gaze of Argus himself. But everyone will understand that it is as beautiful as what is seen ... ".

"Ax, Owl, I love the laughing wrinkle near your eye, not a juicy youth, but a creation of experience. When my greedy hands embrace your magnificent figure, your daughter's breasts do not appeal to me. I love a mature autumn, and for her I forget spring. Go ! I will rock you until winter covers the grapes with a white veil.

In a woman, they began to love curvaceous forms, exceeding prettiness and grace. The woman was supposed to be Juno and Venus in one person. A woman whose corsage portends a luxurious chest is valued above all. That is why the girl is already flaunting her magnificent breasts.

The preference that was given to a mature mother over a newly blossoming daughter, the idea that the mature charms of the first are more seductive, was expressed directly in the most diverse forms. The chest, which has already become a source of life, attracts and interests men most of all. That is why the artists so willingly depicted Mary feeding the baby. That is why also in the XV and XVI centuries. wells and fountains were so often built in the form of a woman, from whose breasts water splashes.

The most refined form of flaunting the beauty of the body, and especially the chest, was the image in the form of a Madonna. The most famous historical example is the Madonna portrait of Agnes Sorel, Maitressa of Charles VII, by Jean Fouquet. Holding a baby on her lap, la belle des belles (beauty of beauties.), as the Madonna was called in the gallant language of the era, exposed all the splendor of her beautiful breasts. It was indeed a tempting motive. In the image of the Virgin Mary, it was possible at the same time to depict the most sacred, sublime symbol and serve the world, exposing earthly beauty in the most piquant way. The woman thus became in one person both a saint and a devil, a temptress and a savior.

The apotheosis arranged by the beautiful female breast in art is not only not inferior, but even surpasses the hymn composed in her honor by poetry. Never in painting has the beauty of the breast been depicted with such ardent rapture as in the Renaissance. Her idealized image is one of the inexhaustible artistic motives of the era. For her, the female breast is the most amazing miracle of beauty, and therefore the artists draw and depict it every day to perpetuate it.

A demonstrative underlining of the chest was achieved with the help of a corsage, and in case of its insufficiency, with the help of stuffing with cotton. Women, by all means, wanted to appear full, to be distinguished by magnificent forms. They tried to raise the chest artificially. "The custom of wearing corsets, which has existed for centuries, was intended not so much to hide the chest (which was the trend of the Middle Ages: not having a chest corresponded to the ascetic worldview. - E.F.), but, on the contrary, to allow it to come forward more clearly above the lower and lower the upper edge of the dress "(S. N. Stratz. "Frauenkleidung" - Stratz. "Women's clothing").

The Renaissance adhered to the view that "a naked woman is more beautiful dressed in purple." Since it was impossible to always be naked, they showed at least as much as possible that part that has always been considered the highest beauty of a woman and therefore has always been revealed with the help of fashion, namely the chest. Exposing the chest was not only not considered a vice, but, on the contrary, was part of the general cult of beauty, as it served as an expression of the sensual impulses of the era. All women who are gifted with beautiful breasts have more or less decolleted their breasts.

In order to better draw attention to the beauty of the breast, to its most valuable virtues - elasticity and splendor, women sometimes decorated their halos with diamond rings and caps, and both breasts were connected with gold chains, weighted with crosses and jewelry. Catherine de Medici invented a fashion for her court ladies that drew attention to the breasts by the fact that two round cutouts were made in the upper part of the dress on the right and left, revealing only the breasts, but completely and usually naked, or by the fact that the breasts were artificially reproduced externally. A similar fashion, by virtue of which only the chest and face were revealed, reigned in other places. Where custom demanded that noble ladies cross the street only under a shawl or mask, as in Venice, they, it is true, hid their faces, but they showed off their breasts all the more generously.

Among the burghers and urban nobility, women did not decollete as much as at the courts of absolute sovereigns. But the petty-bourgeois women also decolleted very noticeably. There were several fashions among the burghers that made it possible to cut the dress so deeply that even the halos of the breasts were visible. This fashion can be seen in the drawings of Holbein and Dürer. In one description of costumes, dating back to the beginning of the 15th century, it says: "Rich girls wear a dress with a cutout front and back, so that the chest and back are almost bare." The Limburg Chronicle, also dating back to the 15th century, says: "Women wear wide necklines, so that half of the chest is visible."

HOW WOMEN'S BEAUTY AND THE IDEAL BREAST CHANGED DURING THE BAROQUE

The female body in the Baroque period, as before, should be "rich" with a "swan" neck, broad shoulders thrown back and lush hips. But the waist should now be as thin as possible, and whalebone corsets are in vogue. In addition, the corset performs another function - it visually raises the chest, usually almost open with a bold neckline.

Yet well-fed women began to be valued even more. Artists strive to depict the beauty of the female body (according to the then concepts).

IDEAL BREAST OR HOW WOMEN'S BEAUTY CHANGED IN THE ROCOCCO EPOCH

Exposing a woman's breasts, touching her and kissing her - from now on was considered quite decent. Modesty caused only ridicule: if a girl is ashamed, then there is nothing to boast about. Cavaliers sighed that "it is easier to touch a woman's breast than to win her heart." Ladies, on the other hand, constantly found a reason to show their breasts - either a rose fell and pricked, or a flea bitten - “look!”.

HOW THE FEMALE BEAUTY OF THE BREAST WAS CHALLENGED IN THE ERA OF CLASSICISM

After the era of Rococo, the time has come for classicism. During this period, bodily excesses were not encouraged. The figure had to be neither fat nor thin, so as not to offend the gaze of the beholder.

And finally, brunettes came to power over men:

The short Empire era is the era of transparency and bare chest. The ideal of beauty is a woman of Greek physique, but with a fairly wide pelvis, with full and strong breasts in a translucent tight dress.

HOW WOMEN'S BEAUTY CHANGED IN THE 19TH CENTURY

In the 19th century, magnificent forms returned, which were supposed to bulge out of corsets both from above and from below. Of course, there were also disagreements: the Impressionists, for example, preferred loose and plump ladies, whom you couldn’t grab with two hands with a running start, and the Pre-Raphaelites tended to be more slender, but they both agreed on the obligatory presence of outstanding forms.

THE IDEAL OF BEAUTY OR HOW WOMEN'S BEAUTY CHANGED IN THE 20TH CENTURY

Almost a century later, men got tired of wrinkling curvaceous forms, and nervous, passionate and demonic ladies came to replace the plump ones.

In the 20s of the 20th century, girls began to look like greyhounds: a thin figure, long legs, short haircuts that emphasize the length of the neck, eyes lined with pencils, thin plucked eyebrows and pearl necklaces around the neck.

But after the Second World War, everything changed dramatically: thinness was terrifying. Most likely, this happened due to a lack of food during the war. Instead of the cold divas of previous times with shoulder pads and small breasts, graceful fairies with small heads, sloping shoulders, large high breasts and a wasp waist appeared on the podium. In general, plump but slender girls began to attract men again:

HOW WOMEN'S BEAUTY CHANGED IN THE XXI CENTURY

But after the 60s, when the people “thawed out” from military fears, thin people returned again, who still thrive.

Each era of mankind differed in its own criteria for assessing the beauty of the fair sex, but the fashion for a particular type of physique, hair color, eye shape of a woman continues to demonstrate its variability in recent history, dictating its own conditions depending on the country, social and even economic conditions.

Almost at all times, the fair sex had to make considerable sacrifices in order to bring themselves closer to the ideal of female beauty. The sacrifice of the foremother could be much more significant than the strict diet and exhausting workouts of modern young ladies. Yes, today we will talk about the standards of female beauty in different historical eras and periods.

In the prehistoric period, the cult of fertility was dominant, therefore, judging by the archaeological finds, in the Paleolithic era, the beauty of a woman was determined by the massiveness of her hips, abdomen and chest, which is explained by the main purpose of a woman - procreation.

Narrow hips and slenderness in the body of a woman were valued in ancient Egypt. To highlight the eyes and give them a special shine, the ancient Egyptians dripped poisonous belladonna juice into them, and formed an almond-shaped incision with green paint from copper carbonate. The skin was considered beautiful only if it was a light yellow tint, so the women of Ancient Egypt achieved the desired color with the help of white, before resorting to epilation, which is also relevant in the 21st century.

But in Crete they did not perceive the greatness inherent in the Egyptians, so local women emphasized the splendor of their forms whenever possible, and fashion experts say that the first corset, with which a wasp waist was formed and breasts were raised, was used in Crete.

In a healthy body, a healthy mind - the ancient Greeks said and tried this truth not only on the young men of Sparta, but also on the fairer sex, as evidenced by the proportions of the sculpture of Aphrodite - far from the modern canonized 90-60-90, but suitable for a healthy woman with a short physique , broad-boned figure with soft rounded shapes.

In ancient Greece, light skin was in fashion, which was bleached with donkey milk, the proportions of women's facial features were achieved with the help of makeup, and their hair was bleached with alkaline soap and sunlight.

Ancient Roman women, in order to comply with the canons of beauty, dictated grace in the body, exhausted themselves with physical exercises, tightly bandaged their chest and thighs, and bleached their skin both with donkey milk and poisonous lead white.

The title of beauty could harm a woman during the Middle Ages, especially if she had red hair - these were called seductresses and witches, and during the heyday of the Inquisition they were publicly burned at the stake. From the X-XII centuries, asceticism was held in high esteem, as the Church demanded, so the femininity of the physique was hidden under spacious clothes. The owner of broad shoulders, thin waist, narrow hips, white skin was called a beauty, but everything in her image should have testified to purity.

Customs and laws, which softened somewhat in the XII-XIII centuries, allowed the world to remember the beauty of a woman’s body, therefore, during the so-called High Middle Ages, women were allowed to emphasize the harmony and flexibility of their condition, neatness of forms and the contrast of pale skin with a blush on their cheeks.

Europe rediscovered the canons of ancient beauty, including female beauty, only when the power of the church ceased to be all-encompassing. The beauties of the Renaissance (XIV - XVI) are plump women with heavy breasts and hips, which testified to sensuality, and pale skin and golden-red hair were considered a sign of aristocracy.

The Rococo era (beginning of the 18th century) only increased the artificiality and theatricality of a woman's beauty, along with massive wigs, pallor of the face and an excessive amount of makeup on it. The ideals of beauty received certain changes in the era of classicism, naturalness and the Empire style were added to the canons of female beauty, which brought solemnity and coldness to the image of a woman.

Narrow waist, rounded shoulder line and lush breasts, as well as a significant contrast between them on a wide level, were used by women for beauty in 1815-1848, during the so-called Biedermeier period, and thanks to technological progress, more women from different social groups could afford to be beautiful. layers.

The era of romanticism that followed demanded a sickly look from women. lean, even emaciated, with an unhealthy pallor of the skin and dark circles under the eyes, which were considered a sign of spirituality and a penchant for self-knowledge. A little health in a woman's body as a standard of beauty returns in the second half of the 19th century, when slenderness in moderation and blush on the cheeks are allowed.

At the end of the XIX century. in the so-called era of positivism, the standard of female beauty lost its clear outlines, in addition, in Europe and America settled by European settlers, the splendor of female forms was revered, and the men of France and England looked after thin and slender female silhouettes.

A certain idealization can be seen in the ideas about the beauty of women in the Art Nouveau period at the end of the 19th century. — Early XX century. Then the grace of forms and long, strands of hair falling on the shoulders, eyelashes emphasized with crushed coal were revered. With the beginning of the 20th century, fashion, having made another round of rapid changes, turns into a continuous struggle of women with extra pounds and alternating short garcon-type hairstyles with medium-length hair and artificial color, although it should be noted that after the Second World War, thinness was considered a sign of malaise.

The break of the XX-XXI centuries was marked by continuous experiments of women in the struggle for the right to be called beautiful, and the film industry and fashion for the images of Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, Liz Taylor, Gina Lollobrigida and others began to dictate the standards of female beauty to mankind.

The ideal of beauty of the 1950s with lush hips and breasts and bleached hair did not stay long in the minds, and the development of the fashion industry gave rise to the emergence of a special layer of female models and a whole army of followers of unnatural thinness, from which the leading fashion designers of the world are slowly disowning.

Interestingly, the canons of beauty are subject to both social and economic factors. It has been noticed that women corresponded to military and economic cataclysms with a thin figure and short hair, and puffy-bodied women were considered beauties in times of stability and prosperity. It is possible that in the future, men will make fun of the narrow hips and anorexia of catwalk queens, choosing as their ideal a woman with a body weight indexed to her height, a natural blush on her face and chubby cheeks.

There are scientific theories that prove that history develops in a spiral. This applies to the history of a single society, state and humanity as a whole. The concept of "standard of beauty" also has its own history, which began, perhaps, from the moment a person appeared on earth. Having studied the theory of the evolution of "beauty", we can conclude that history does not move in a spiral, but in a circle.

>Moreover, closed. Each era had its own views on beauty, and its personification - the Woman.

The basis for the formation of certain ideas about beauty was the social system, ideas about morality and spiritual values ​​of society. These shaky concepts in our world determined what should excite, delight and be called “beauty”. The basis is quite shaky, and it is not surprising that everything based on it is constantly changing, sometimes reaching extremes.

Paleolithic Venus

This is the name given to figurines in the form of female figures found by archaeologists and dating back to the Stone Age or thereabouts. They all depict women as plump, with very large breasts, hips and belly. Often without a head, or without a face, but what to do, it was not for that time. While some of the adepts of science are figuring out what exactly these first manifestations of creativity mean, another part decided that it was in this form that the ancients imagined the ideal woman.

If we imagine the conditions in which people lived in those ancient times, then such a “standard” fully justifies itself.

Fat women are often stronger, more resilient, easier to bear and give birth to children. What else is needed when it comes to the survival of the species.

There is no time for aesthetics, in our, perhaps, distorted understanding of it, at least. Although, a woman, at least round, is a symbol of abundance and fertility even now. So, nothing happened to our genetic memory.

Ancient Egypt

The next era, which left to the descendants not only a lot of unsolved mysteries, but also a cultural heritage that sufficiently gives an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bwomen, beauty and certain of its "canons". Almost all the girls depicted in the frescoes are quite slender, with small breasts, long legs, broad shoulders, narrow hips and well-developed muscles. A prerequisite is a long neck, plump lips, thick black eyebrows and large, expressive almond-shaped eyes, which were emphasized by “eyeliner” from soot or other natural dyes.

It is possible to treat this period in the history of mankind in different ways, because there were slavery, and a cruel struggle for power, and strange pagan cults, but, from the point of view of the history of the evolution of attitudes towards beauty, and the means of maintaining it, Egypt provided an invaluable service to everyone modern women.

Never before have women paid so much attention to their appearance and used so much cosmetics for this. Hair removal, wigs, lipstick, nail polish, eyeliner, creams, perfumes, and all this first appeared there, and was actively used by the Egyptians for personal care.

Ancient Greece and Rome

This is the time of building the beauty of the body almost into a religious cult. Not only many sciences come from there, but also the concept of aesthetics and harmony. During the time of the Olympian gods and Olympians, the ideal of beauty was

Venus de Milo. The statue depicts a graceful woman of short stature - 164 cm and with parameters close to modern ones - 86-69-93 cm.

She has wide-set eyes, a straight nose and a low forehead. The Greeks tried to apply a scientific approach to the search for the ideal of beauty, the main criteria of which were harmony and proportionality.

Between the eyes there should have been a distance of at least the size of one eye, and the lips should have been one and a half times the size of the eye. A really beautiful face, according to the Greeks, could be divided into three equal parts - along the upper superciliary edge and the tip of the nose.

The hair of most of the statues is gathered into a knot or bun, which is still popular today. Blondes with blue eyes and forms of Venus-Aphrodite were considered the standard of beauty. Greek women also used decorative cosmetics, but not in such abundance as the Egyptians. Natural beauty was in fashion, which was valued as the greatest gift of the gods.

The greatest empire of all time based its ideas about the ideal woman on the ideals of the ancient Greeks. True, over time, the "ideal" was a little rounded, especially in the hips. Hairstyles became much more complicated, different types of perms and hair bleaching were used, since blondes were still “in vogue”.

Middle Ages

Beauty, throughout human history, has been valued according to cultural, spiritual and worldly priorities in a given period of time. In the Middle Ages, Christianity became a political doctrine, a regulator of life, ideology and ethics, as well as a form of self-consciousness and self-consciousness in society.

Making the ideal of a woman a pale, to the point of ephemerality, skinny creature, wrapped "to the very ears" in several layers of clothing and spending all her time in fasting and prayer. A face without a shadow of cosmetics, which was considered the machinations of the devil.

The natural beauty of the face and body was considered shameful and sinful, given by the same devil to lead virtuous Christians into temptation. For beauty, one could pay with one's life, expiating this "sin" at the stake of the Inquisition.

Renaissance

The same story also confirms the fact that it is impossible to endlessly keep the mind and spirit of a person, under a cassock or whatever pressure. The rapid development of art, science and technology in the 14th-16th centuries proved this once again. Society has also changed, and with it the attitude to female beauty.

The canvases of Rembrandt and Titian, stunning in their skill, play of light and colors, depict beautiful girls with a healthy blush, swan neck, red or blond curls and seductive roundness. The embodiment of the beauty of the Renaissance - Simonetta Vespucci. Paintings by di Cosimo and Botticelli were painted from her, in particular, The Birth of Venus, which was portrayed by Simonetta.

Over time, the young ladies became more and more rounded in all places. During the transition from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, puffy women were popular.

Danae, Rembrandt

Baroque

The Renaissance idea of ​​a harmonious, grandiose universal personality is in crisis. Understanding the complexity of the world, its inconsistency and the drama of being, led to the complexity of forms, pomp and majesty. As usual, not without "excesses". The ideal woman is puffy, stately, stately and mannered. Not a drop of naturalness: whitewash, corsets, wigs, complex costumes and even more complex hairstyles with additional strands on frames, the height of which exceeded half a meter, are in fashion.

Rococo

A period of gallantry and melancholic grace, attempts to escape from reality in the midst of a pastoral idyll in the company of a charming shepherdess. And the “shepherdess”, as a collective image of all the charms most in demand during this period, was really charming. Moderate roundness of forms, especially in the area of ​​the shoulders, a small chest, a sweet, ruddy face with small features, framed by light or reddish curls, reminiscent of the faces of porcelain cupids. The expression of the doll's face is certainly playful and coquettish, with capriciously pouted lips and a languid look.

In fashion, after the exaggerations of the Baroque, everything is miniature.

Classicism of the Enlightenment

Having become a worthy continuation of the Renaissance and Baroque, the Enlightenment brought a return to the aesthetic and ethical standard of ancient art. Naturalness is back in fashion, and this is expressed by the rejection of the dominance of wigs, unimaginable hairstyles, costumes, whitewash and blush. Dresses on frames of incredible volumes are gone, and "antique" silhouettes with smooth lines have returned. A small amount of makeup, regular facial features and a pleasant roundness of the body are back in fashion. The main difference from previous ideals, which was especially expressed in painting, is the fashion for dark hair.

Bryullov, Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres

Romanticism

Having become more natural during the Enlightenment, women again reflected the state and mood of society, which, with the rapid development of industry, wanted to turn to the inherent value of the spiritual and creative life of the individual, rebellion and passions. In the image of the beauties of the era of Romanticism, an echo of the ideals of the Middle Ages is felt. With only one difference, in the past, young ladies had to torment themselves with prayers, fasting and repentance, so they looked thin, pale and detached from this world.

BUT late 18th century, girls of approximately the same appearance were considered beautiful, but not from reading prayers, but from fiction. A thin figure and a subtle mental organization, which was emphasized by a spiritual melancholy expression, moist eyes with dark circles, corsets and the ability to cry over poetry or be carried away into an imaginary world of illusions from harsh reality, became the standard of beauty in this period, which has another definition - the cult of morbid femininity.

In the second half of the 19th century the described image was somewhat condensed bodily and mentally. Rounded smooth lines of silhouettes, bodies bursting with health and natural blush. The image of a modest lady, a good housewife and mother is in fashion.

By the end of the century, with the development of industry, the influence of the bourgeoisie increased. including fashion and beauty. Elegance and sophistication have given way to brilliance and decorative details.

The 20th century presents

20th century brought an aesthetic protest of the intelligentsia of the well-fed bourgeoisie and emancipation. The beauty standard is losing weight again, acquiring the angular features of a teenager with narrow hips, small breasts and short hair. Both blondes and brunettes are equally held in high esteem, with languid looks of richly made-up eyes, full of tragedy and mystery, surrounded by clouds of smoke from a half-meter mouthpiece.

A relatively peaceful period, when Europe survived one war, but has not yet entered the second, is characterized by an active process of struggle for women's rights and the fashion revolution of Coco Chanel. As a result, the fashion and beauty industry has acquired an industrial scale and has become a cult, to which, to one degree or another, every woman tried to join.

The length and width of the dress rapidly decreased, revealing more and more charms to the eyes, chemists took up the invention of perfumes and cosmetics designed to make a woman even more attractive. All this gained such momentum that the ideals of beauty, which had previously held for tens or even hundreds of years, were rapidly changing, like pictures in a kaleidoscope. Each decade asserted its own standard of beauty.

30s blondes with short haircuts were put on a pedestal again, but now they have become more feminine, rounded and natural.

The Second World War contributed to the female image. Men's suits, men's work, the need to raise life from the ruins, made women stronger and more resilient. There was no time for cosmetics and fashion.

But a woman always remains a woman, therefore, as soon as the physical, emotional, cultural and economic front wounds healed, they breathed more freely and were ready to take care of themselves.

50s became a triumph of femininity that could be demonstrated. Skirts shrank a few inches with each fashion show. Corsets returned, which tightened the waist to "wasp" parameters. High voluminous breasts, thin waist and rounded hips: a woman with an hourglass figure is the ideal of beauty in the middle of the last century: Sophia Loren, Marilyn Monroe.

The 70s brought revolution again, only of a different nature. Sex, drugs and rock and roll have influenced the notion of beauty, rebelling against social norms and foundations, making fashion "public" and challenging at the same time. The appearance was supported by the youth, who adopted the new style of a tomboy teenager with a bang. Thinness and androgyny, torn denim and defiant war paint, that was at the peak of popularity during the years of the sexual revolution.

Twiggy

80s became a period of admiration for the tall, but not angular, healthy natural beauty of a woman with pronounced muscles. This was facilitated by a passion for aerobics, fitness and sports in general.

Women became more self-confident, tried to realize themselves at work. They wore suits with pronounced shoulder pads, complementing the image of a self-confident strong woman. These qualities were personified by the idols of that time - Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell.

90s-2000s became a cult of dystrophy. With the appearance of the angular teenager Kate Moss on the catwalk, the world has again recognized the standard of beauty for thin people.

extreme beauty

The concept of aesthetics and beauty is perceived so differently that some "standards" simply do not fit in the head. For example, women "giraffes" from Burma, who wear copper rings around their necks from childhood to lengthen it up to 20-30 cm. Women of the Mursi tribes from Ethiopia stretch their lips and earlobes to incredible sizes. The Amazonian Indians paint their faces with dyes made from grass or animal blood.

Maori from New Zealand consider blue tattooed lips and chins to be the standard of beauty. There are tribes in Guinea, where a beautiful woman's nipples should be at waist level. For Mauritanians, as for many Asians, a beauty must be plump. And the more the better. Favorite concubines of Genghis Khan were almost all with crooked legs. There are nations where vegetation on the body is welcome.

And all of the above, someone likes. And some people are terrified. A person is very different and full of contradictions even in the perception of beauty, which is defined as a harmonious combination of aspects that cause aesthetic pleasure to the observer.

For every inconsistency with beauty, or your idea of ​​it, there is a connoisseur who elevates to the ideal what others seem frankly ugly.

The 21st century has just begun, and it is quite difficult to single out clear canons of a modern beauty. Alternatively, because they don't exist. We can say that the ideals of female beauty of the 21st century are Angelina Jolie, and you can also look whatever you like, and this will not cause awe in anyone, as, for example, if modern girls were seen during the Inquisition or romanticism. One can only say that androgyny and dystrophy are no longer held in high esteem. A modern woman should be healthy and natural, of average build, without excesses in excessive thinness or friability. Well-groomed and tidy. The image of a beautiful woman for us is no longer associated only with external data, but with character and inner world.

Self-confidence, self-sufficiency and self-realization, psychological stability and charisma. These are the qualities without which a recognized beauty turns into a plastic doll, and a woman who does not meet the "reference" parameters achieves recognition and success. Because beauty is not only in certain dimensions of external forms, but in their combination with internal content.

And the canons of beauty, like fashion, are very changeable. Is it worth fanatically striving to match them? It's better to just love yourself, outside the canons, standards and someone else's ideas about beauty. Then someone will definitely appear who considers you to be their canon of beauty.

Since ancient times, people began to turn to the concept the beauty with some uncertainty. I propose to consider the beauty of man. Someone subdivided this word into two components: beauty external and internal. And some combined this concept into one whole. Not so long ago, a survey was conducted on social networks. It consisted in the fact that a group of people from 12 to 45 years old was asked the same question: “What is beauty?”. And they were asked to answer this question in just a few sentences.

After such a survey, all the collected materials were processed and this is what happened. The age category from 12 to 18 years old, in its total mass, answered that beauty is the appearance of a person. Category from 19 to 30 years old, that beauty is the relationship of internal and external data of a person, and people from 30 to 45 years old, that beauty is internal qualities. Moreover, in the third group there were, in total, married and married people.

One of the most interesting statements about beauty was the publication of a 30-year-old girl who has the nickname Alexa: “The attractiveness and beauty of a person are two different concepts. If you do not consider yourself attractive - this is only a huge plus for you. All the beautiful girls who studied in my group and who were surrounded by male attention from all sides lived a not very happy life, as they were constantly in the race for their beauty and were afraid to lose it. They were always so beautiful that they did not notice anything around and did not develop anything in themselves. With age, they only worked on how not to lose their youth and beauty. And if you are not very attractive on the outside, you are forced to develop an inner world. And your "highlight" can be your charm or your insight. If you are ugly, you have a huge number of chances to become attractive to yourself and the people around you. And if you are beautiful - often, you are just beautiful and that's it. Your inner world is empty and uninteresting."

So the girl under the nickname Alexa expressed her opinion. Her opinion for another person may be erroneous, but it has the right to exist. Based on the results of this study, we can conclude that beauty is an abstract definition. And each has its own beauty. And over the years, living conditions and internal perception of the surrounding world for a person, this concept changes repeatedly. Today you are a 12-year-old boy and your perception of the world around you includes brightness of tones, melancholy character and carelessness. And at this stage, all these components help you understand - the beauty whether it's beauty or not. With age, these concepts change and after a few decades, beauty appears to you in a different guise. In the guise of inner and outer harmony with yourself and the world around you.

Beauty external and internal.

Beauty, both internal and external, must be constantly developed. So for the development of external beauty in a person, one must adhere to the following rules:

• Proper nutrition is the key to good skin. We are what we eat. With the right use of the right food, the result will not be long in coming.
• Sports are our strength. In an athletic body, an athletic spirit. Sport is an integral part of a beautiful person. Heinrich Heine believed that in our life the definition the beauty It sounds exactly like this: "beauty is health." Namely, with the help of sports we can maintain our health.
• Well-groomed hair and nails - these elements are very important. Beauty requires care. And at the first eye contact with a person, these two elements (nails and hair) attract attention very strongly.
• Neatness in clothes. Clothes don't have to be the same style or expensive. But it must be clean and ironed.

To maintain external beauty, you need to follow your daily routine. First of all, behind the hours of sleep and wakefulness. Healthy and proper sleep is one of the components of external beauty. Nowadays, everyone is in a race for money. Because of this, we do not have time to eat on time, sleep is sometimes not included in our daily routine, and for sports there is no opportunity to talk at all. And when all these rules are omitted, then decorative cosmetics and cosmetic care products come to the rescue. One can get lost in the abundance of cosmetic companies. How to choose exactly those products that will emphasize natural beauty and help in solving problems.

The advertisement is engine of the trade. And it is through advertising that most women purchase this or that cosmetic product, but advertising does not always correspond to reality. The main tool in the selection of cosmetics for modern women is their own experience. Namely, after watching ads, women run to buy products in the nearest store. And if the product is right for you, then you recommend it to your friends and acquaintances. But your experience is not a panacea for all shortcomings. Just because something works for you doesn't mean it will work for everyone!

How to choose decorative cosmetics for yourself? With the advent of the Internet, we have facilitated and simplified the choice of anything to the maximum. There are many beauty blogs on the web. This is where you can find any information about a particular tool. If you doubt the veracity of this information, then there are ways to check it. You can contact the person who wrote this or that comment and ask him to try the tool that is discussed in the blog. And in this way, you do not have to buy an expensive product from advertising and hope that it will suit you. Otherwise, you will be wasting your money.

These basic rules must be observed for external beauty. But for the development of inner beauty, a little more is needed. No matter how strange it may sound, but these rules can be compared with the nine commandments of the Bible. If the development of external beauty may require some money, then it will not be required to improve your inner world.

The most optimal way of self-development is books. Depending on the genre of the book, you can find out about everything that interests you in it. Starting from the history of the development of planet Earth, and ending with etiquette in society. The main thing in self-education and self-development is desire. A person who wants to change himself can always do it. I think that everyone has had this when you meet a person who is not very handsome on the outside, maybe even disgusting. But when you start communicating with him, your opinion changes dramatically.

And it happens with accuracy and vice versa. When outwardly a person is gorgeous, but inside is empty. Then his external beauty "depreciates" and becomes unnecessary. And in the eyes of the interlocutor, a person who is beautiful only outwardly may not even become very attractive. Based on the above, a beautiful person must maintain a balance between the beauty of the external and internal.

Beauty in world history and the influence of beauty on its course.

From time immemorial, the classics of world literature have given their own definitions of beauty. Moreover, both the beauty of man and the world around. the beauty is a terrible force. With the help of this power, great things can be done and huge cities can be destroyed. So, for example, Wikipedia has this definition of beauty: “ the beauty- an aesthetic category denoting perfection, a harmonious combination of aspects of an object, in which the latter causes aesthetic pleasure for the observer. the beauty is one of the most important categories of culture. The opposite of beauty is ugliness. The following case from world history can serve as proof of the destructive forces of female beauty. In ancient Greek mythology, there is a mention of Elena the beautiful. Because of which the war broke out in Troy. Her the beauty, in this context, has become a destructive force. And thousands of innocent lives were laid on the altar of her beauty.

However, a few centuries later, another beauty appeared, which is admired even in our time - this is the beautiful Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt. With her beauty, she built her empire. Although, according to numerous sources of historians and art critics, Cleopatra was not distinguished by her external beauty. She had willpower, self-control and courage. These inner qualities gave her power over a vast kingdom.

As the popular saying sounds - "do not drink water from the face." This phrase means that the inner world of a person opens the real beauty without pathos. How many people, so many opinions. The definition of beauty can be made, but including all the components of this term, you will get a book in which each person will be able to make their own amendments as they read.

Changes in the ideals of beauty we can trace in the paintings of great artists. If in the Renaissance, Renaissance and Baroque the ideal of a woman was: plump, figureless, with long unkempt hair and short legs, a woman or girl. That has changed in our time. Models from the covers of glossy magazines have become the ideal of beauty for women all over the world. The type of these girls is very similar. They have a lean build, long legs and pronounced facial features.

Each era has its own understanding of beauty. In the Gothic era, gabled roofs of a bizarre, sometimes frightening shape were considered beauty. And in our time, most craftsmen and architects consider the Gothic style ugly and ridiculous. All these styles have changed under the influence of man. And, consequently, the beauty of the world around him depends on human beauty.

The beauty of a human being compared to the beauty of an animal.

Beauty, as such a definition, can be attributed to any subject. However, for each person beauty will be different. And there is nothing wrong with that. And it is a person who is the creature that can appreciate this quality. It is for a person in the definition of beauty that the shape, color, structure and many other number of components matter. Animals, for example, do not pay attention to beauty. They choose their partner according to smells and instincts. And some of them are color blind.

What is the beauty? Many scientists and ordinary people have tried to find the answer to this question. However, there is no unambiguous definition of this term. If we talk about the beauty of animals, then basically for a person they are all beautiful. But, at the same time, beauty in the animal world carries a danger. And often in the world of animals, the most dangerous are precisely the beautiful individuals.

Take, for example, the tiger. This is a member of the cat family. The cat is the animal that man tamed hundreds of centuries ago. Does this mean that tigers are not dangerous to humans? No, they are predators. And their bright colors should work as a deterrent, not as an attraction. Does this mean that beauty is dangerous?

If you delve into the history of the animal world, you can find out the following facts. In those times when people did not have information, all their learning took place by trial and error. People died in hundreds and thousands from animals. These were snakes, spiders, crocodiles and other individuals of the animal world. People, seeing the beautiful color of the animal, perceived predators as a toy, for which they sometimes paid with their lives. I wonder if it's the same among people?

A contact group survey was conducted, within which 20 people of unattractive appearance were selected. And they were asked to write a mini essay on the topic “How do I feel about beautiful people and are beautiful people a danger to society?”. After processing the data, opinions were divided. About 30% of respondents said that beautiful people bring goodness and beauty to the world, while the remaining 70% were sure that beauty is a destructive force.

As it was written in one of the works: beauty is a destructive force that can demolish everything in its path. And that it is precisely the people who possess this power that are greedy and soulless. And it is these people who bring evil and destruction to our world.” The dependence of the beauty of a woman and, for example, a tigress, is very pronounced. A beautiful person is beautiful in everything. A beautiful woman has both the intelligence and the skills of a predator. Therefore, the more beautiful a woman is, the more dangerous she is. But this is only if there is a threat to her or her loved ones. And if a beautiful woman is “stroked on the wool”, then her mind and beauty will be able to accomplish great things.

Beauty as a natural phenomenon

In beauty, only the beauty of nature can be compared with a woman. Each season of the year has its own beauty. In winter, these are patterns on the windows, the virgin purity of white snow and trees wrapped in “white fur coats”. In spring, nature pleases with the beauty of awakening. First, the return of the birds and the awakening of the animals. Summer has beauty and a variety of colors in everything. Summer is full of bright colors at every turn. Well, autumn is full of gold leaves.

However, this is abstract beauty. It is this beauty that artists depict on canvases and poets sing in their works. But people don't always see weather conditions that way. Some do not see beauty even in the brightest and sunniest day, and for someone a rainy and overcast day is the most beautiful day of his life. It is this kind of weather that will allow him to create some kind of masterpiece that will be recognized as “beauty” by the viewer.

Being in the mountains, I think, few people can refute the fact that nature is beautiful there. Standing on top of the mountain, you enjoy the scenery around. On the right you can see a mountain stream, which spills with its streams in different directions, on the left a mighty forest of firs and pines has spread. A squirrel sits on a branch above and cheerfully nibbles on a nut. Would anyone call this view not beautiful? I think no. Since these landscapes will inspire even the most inveterate choleric and skeptic.

Nature is perhaps one of the common components in the concept of beauty. Since the bulk of people's preferences are similar in this area. Beauty is harmony with yourself and with the world around you. The beauty of man can be compared to the beauty of nature. The character of the girl, which is similar to the silence of a quiet river or lake, is admirable. Since it speaks of humility and self-control in any situation. Although this statement can be argued. Perhaps someone likes the character, like a stormy mountain river.
the beauty the spiritual is reflected in the sound of the wind, the rustle of leaves and the color of the rainbow. In how exactly a person perceives everything that surrounds him. And how he reflects his thoughts on others.

If you ever catch yourself thinking that you want to have the same waist as the next Hollywood actress, or legs like your favorite singer, remember: the media concept of the ideal female body is not static. Lists of the "most beautiful people of the year" are just the epitome of what has accumulated on the surface of pop culture.

The silhouette of the ideal woman is influenced by fashion, movies, music and even politics, and it changes year after year. That is why the physical qualities that we adopt today are often at odds with the ideals of previous generations. `And to prove it, we offer a look at the evolution of the female figure over the past 100 years.

1910s: The Gibson Girl

The personification of the 1900s was the "Gibson Girl". Illustrator Charles Gibson was America's most popular fashion photographer in the early twentieth century. His vision of the ideal figure and appearance was broadcast on the pages of fashion magazines LIFE, Collier's and Harper's around the world. The Gibson Girl in the 1900s looked like the popular contemporary singer Beyoncé.

Women tried by any means to copy a figure that, with its curves, resembled the number 8. To do this, the waist was pulled into a corset as much as possible so that the hips and chest seemed larger than they really were. It was not enough for the girls of that time to have a pretty face. A sexy figure obliged a woman to be mysterious, royally arrogant and proud.

1920s: Flapperboards

Girls in the 1920s said goodbye to stately figures, expressive curves and sexy outfits. Unlike the cold beauty of the previous decade, flappers are fun, open girls who are constantly on the move. The exaggerated curves of the ideal "Gibson figure" disappeared, and their place was taken by a small bust and boyishly narrow hips.

The standard of the female figure has undergone dramatic changes, and with it the style of clothing has changed. The waist line in the dress has moved a few centimeters below the navel, thereby justifying the fashion for narrow hips. Although the focus shifted down to the legs, where garters could playfully show from under the short knee-length hem, girls in the 1920s clearly lacked sex appeal.

1930s: Smooth curves

After the collapse of the stock market, the mood of the public fell down, and with it the hem of the women's dress fell, which began to be draped along the oblique line. A more fitted and not as angular silhouette as before has come into fashion. The natural line of the waist and shoulders returned to its place.

The flat-chested ideal of beauty, which was very popular in the 1920s, is being replaced by the miniature bra, the most important invention of this era. The media is starting to tout slightly curvier body shapes, making the decade a stepping stone from the asexual figure of the past decade to the smooth curves of the next generations.

1940s: Power

The 1940s isn't "Goodbye Arms", it's "Goodbye to the smooth curves of the 30s". Thanks to the Second World War, military wide, square and aggressive shoulders became the trend of this decade. Angularity - is the personification of the ideal female figure. Even bras are beginning to be produced with pointed cups, which were called “bullet” and “torpedo”. The ideal physique still did not require women to exercise, but it was not the graceful and fragile girl of the 1930s that became attractive, but a tall woman, with long legs and a square silhouette. In addition to external changes, society demanded internal changes. Once-sweet and sexy girls have become more powerful, perhaps due to the fact that the entire burden of responsibility fell on their shoulders while the men were busy on the battlefield.

1950s: Hourglass

The 50s is the era of femininity. After the angular shapes of the last decade, the hourglass silhouette is back in fashion. The war is over, the men have returned home and the sexuality hidden behind the graceful forms is valued above all else. Thanks to movies and magazines that advertise round hips, slim waists, and raised breasts, skinny women are starting to take supplements to build up their sexy curves.

It was during this era that the iconic men's magazine Playboy and the world-famous Barbie doll were created, which had a very narrow waist and large breasts. It was thanks to the hourglass figure that dresses with a deep neckline and flared skirts came into fashion.

1960s: Skinny

The swinging 60s turned back the clock and set women back decades. In this era, rounded shapes are considered overweight, and unhealthy thinness turns into a trend of the decade. Fashion magazines actively advertise the image of a thin teenage girl, with rosy cheeks and an androgynous appearance. Models Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton represent the new ideal: doll-faced, super-slender and petite figure.

Fashion designers are happy to support this look, and short straight dresses are quickly replacing the flared silhouettes of the 50s. New styles require girls to have small breasts and narrow hips. Sounds familiar? In this era, women diet themselves to the point of being able to wear the petite clothes promoted by the icon of the 60s - Twiggy. By the way, it was in 1963 that a new service “weight monitoring” appeared.

1970s: Disco diva

Disco! Overalls! High platforms! This decade has been one hell of a party. But the "party girl of the day" still had to maintain a slim and athletic figure in order to be able to show off all the crazy outfits of the era on the dance floor. As it turns out, synthetic fabrics like polyester and spandex are much brighter but much more demanding on the silhouette than fabrics from the past. The general ideal of the figure remains thin, but slight curves are starting to come back into fashion.

As in the 1930s, this decade took a positive step forward from the non-sexual image of the 60s. During this period, the “black pride” and “black is beautiful” movement was born, and Beverly Johnson became the first black woman to grace the cover of Vogue magazine.

1980s: Supermodel

In the 1980s, the world was dominated by supermodels. These tall, long-legged women became the epitome of a new feminine ideal. Models like Elle MacPherson, Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista are stepping off the runways and invading the heart of pop culture: film and music.

The 1980s is also the era of fitness, aerobics, and jogging, thanks to TV lessons from Jane Fonda. For the first time, the presence of tightened and embossed muscles becomes acceptable and desirable for a woman.

1990s: Heroin chic

Supermodels still rule the world, only they have shrunk in size. The thin, exhausted and petite figure of Kate Moss has become the standard of the whole decade. Skeptics called her silhouette “heroin chic,” which was incompatible with the luxurious and regal image of supermodels of the 80s. Baggy jeans, an oversized sweater and a unisex fragrance are all fashion trends created specifically to emphasize the androgynous look of girls.

Hollywood did not stand aside and picked up the fashion for thin women. The personification of this era in the cinema was the actress Winona Ryder. She was so petite that comedian Ben Stiller once said, "She's like a little figurine on a coffee table!"

2000s: Fit Girl

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen, according to the fashion magazine Vogue, returned to fashion sexuality. It is she who is credited with the end of the era of "heroin chic". Gone was the pale, emaciated and thin image of the 90s. In the 2000s, we entered the era of natural light curves, medium-sized breasts, flat stomachs and bronzed tans.

Giselle has long been considered "the most beautiful girl in the world", graced the covers of the most famous magazines and defiled on the red carpet with Leonardo DiCaprio arm in arm. Hollywood actresses hired teams of fitness trainers, nutritionists, and layered self-tanners during awards season in an attempt to reach the benchmark of the decade.

2010s: Big Curves

Two words: appetizing forms. This is the benchmark for this decade. Nicki Minaj and J. Lo praise the Lord in their songs for the fact that he rewarded them with delicious forms. In 2010, tight and petite dresses, short shorts and deep cleavage are the most appropriate clothes that best emphasize the dignity of the figure. If in the 50s women took dietary supplements to add curves to a leaner figure, then modern women are not shy about pads on the buttocks and even plastic surgery to increase that very fifth point. But a modern woman is not enough just to have a great figure. In 2010, she must exude sexuality, be self-confident, daring and outspoken.

Models of the female figure, like everything else in pop culture, are just a fashion trend. As comedian Tina Fey wrote in her book: “Now every girl should have blue Caucasian eyes, full lips like a Spanish woman, a snub nose, smooth Asian skin with a California tan, a booty like a Jamaican dancer, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, hips of a nine-year-old boy, arms like a Michelle Obama, and doll breasts". Instead of chasing these ridiculous, media-imposed ideals of beauty, take pride in what nature has given you.

I wonder what awaits us in the 2020s?