Female body shape or female figure is the cumulative product of female skeletal structure and the quantity and distribution of muscle and fat in the body.
Like most physical traits, there are various norms of a woman's body shape.
Attention has focused on the female body as a source of aesthetic pleasure, sexual attraction, fertility, and reproduction in most human societies. There are, and have, great differences in what should be regarded as ideal or preferred body shapes, both for attraction and for health reasons.
Women's bodies occur in various forms. Female figures are usually narrower at the waist than in breasts and hips. Breasts, waist, and hips are called inflection points, and their circumference ratio is used to determine the basic body shape.
Video Female body shape
Physiology
The impact of estrogen
Estrogen has a significant impact on the female body shape. They are produced in men and women, but their rates are significantly higher in women, especially in reproductive age. In addition to other functions, estrogen promotes the development of secondary sexual characteristics of women, such as breast and hip. As a result of estrogen, during puberty, girls develop breasts and hips widened. Working against estrogen, the presence of testosterone in puberty women inhibits breast development and promotes muscle development.
Estrogen levels also increase significantly during pregnancy. A number of other changes usually occur during pregnancy, including breast enlargement and increased firmness, especially due to gland hypertrophy in response to prolactin hormone. The size of the nipple may increase markedly. This change may continue during breastfeeding. The breasts generally return to size approximately earlier after pregnancy, although there may be some increased sagging.
Breasts may decrease size at menopause if estrogen levels decrease.
Fat distribution
Estrogen can also affect the female body shape in a number of other ways, including increasing fat stores, speeding up metabolism, reducing muscle mass, and improving bone formation.
Estrogen causes higher levels of fat to be stored in a woman's body than in a man's body. They also affect the distribution of body fat, causing fat to be stored in the buttocks, thighs and hips in women, but generally not around their waists, which will remain about the same size as before puberty. The hormones produced by the thyroid gland regulate the rate of metabolism, control how fast the body uses energy, and control how sensitive the body is to other hormones. The distribution of body fat may change over time, depending on food habits, activity levels and hormone levels.
When women reach menopause and estrogen produced by the ovaries decreases, fat migrates from the buttocks, hips and thighs to their waistlines; then the fat is stored in the stomach.
Recommended percentage of body fat is higher for women, because this fat can serve as an energy reserve for pregnancy. Males have less subcutaneous fat on their face because of the effects of testosterone; testosterone also reduces fat by helping rapid metabolism. Lack of estrogen in men generally produces more fat deposits around the waist and abdomen (resulting in "apple shape").
Muscle
Testosterone is a steroid hormone that helps build and maintain muscle with physical activity, such as exercise. The amount of testosterone produced varies from one individual to another, but, on average, an adult woman produces about one-tenth of adult male testosterone, but women are more sensitive to hormones. The muscles most likely to be affected are pectoral muscles, biceps and triceps on the arms and quads on the thighs.
On the other hand, estrogen reduces muscle mass. Muscle mass changes over time as a result of testosterone changes and estrogen and exercise levels, in addition to other factors.
Body Changes
The aging process has an inevitable impact on one's body shape. Female sex hormone levels will affect the distribution of fat in the body. According to Dr. Devendra Singh, "Body shape is determined by the nature of the distribution of body fat which, in turn, is significantly correlated with the female sex hormone profile, disease risk, and reproductive ability." The estrogen concentration will affect where body fat is stored.
Before puberty men and women have the same waist-hip ratio. At puberty, a girl's sex hormones, especially estrogen, will increase the development of breast and pelvis wider forward for childbirth, and until menopause a woman's estrogen levels will cause her body to store excess fat in the buttocks, hips and thighs, but generally not at his waist, which will remain about the same size as before puberty. These factors result in a woman's waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) being lower than men, although men tend to have larger upper body waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) giving them a V-shape appearance because of their more muscle mass great for example. they generally have much bigger, more muscular & amp; wider shoulders, pectoral muscles, the main muscles of teres & amp; muscle latisimus dorsi.
During and after pregnancy, a woman experiences a change of body shape. After menopause, with decreased estrogen production by the ovaries, there is a tendency of fat to spread from the buttocks, hips, and thighs of women to the waist or abdomen.
Breasts of girls and women in the early stages of development are generally "tall" and round, dome-shaped or cone-shaped, and protrude almost horizontally from the woman's chest wall. Over time, sagging in the breast tends to increase due to their natural weight, relaxation of supporting structures, and aging. The breast sags if the ligaments become elongated, a natural process that can occur over time and is also affected by bouncing breasts during physical activity (see Sports bra).
Maps Female body shape
Measurement
Breasts, hips, and hips, as well as the ratio between them, is a widespread method for defining the female body shape in Western culture for decades after World War II, and is still used in several North American subcultures for this purpose. This includes terms like "rectangle", "spoon", "inverted triangle", or "hourglass". Measurements are generally described using three numbers to describe body dimensions, or "BWH".
The measurement of a band is usually measured around a woman's torso, just below her breasts on the infrared crease, parallel to the floor. Cup size is determined by measuring across the top of the breast and calculating the difference between the measurement and the measurement of the band. The waist is measured at the midpoint between the lower edge of the last palpable rib cage and the top of the iliac crest. Hips are measured in the largest circumference of the hips and buttocks.
The waist is usually smaller than the breasts and hips, unless there is a high proportion of body fat distributed around it. How many breasts or hips go inside, toward the waist, determines the structural shape of the woman. The hourglass forms present only about 8% of women.
Forms of women in the fashion industry
Body shape is often categorized in the fashion industry into one of four basic geometric shapes, although there is a very wide range of actual sizes in each form:
- Rectangular
- Waist size less than 9 inches (23 cm) smaller than hip and breast size. Body fat is distributed mainly in the abdomen, buttocks, chest, and face. This overall fat distribution creates a distinctive (straight) ruler.
- Inverted Triangle
- Women who have an athletic shape have broad shoulders (er) compared to their (narrow) hips. The legs and thighs tend to be slim, while the chest looks bigger than the rest of the body. Fat is mainly distributed in the chest and face.
- Spoons
- Hip measurement is greater than breast measurement. The distribution of fat varies, with fat tending to be stored first in the buttocks, hips, and thighs. As the percentage of body fat increases, the proportion of body fat is distributed around the waist and upper abdomen. The women of this body type tend to have relatively larger backs, thicker thighs, and small chest (er).
- Hourglass or X shape (opposite triangle, facing inward)
- Hips and breasts are almost as large as a narrow waist. The distribution of body fat tends to be around the upper body and lower body. This body type enlarges the arms, chest, hips, and back before other parts, such as the waist and upper abdomen.
A study of the form of more than 6,000 women, conducted by researchers at North Carolina State University around 2005, for clothing, found that 46% were rectangles, more than 20% spoons, just under 14% inverted triangles, and 8 % hourglass. Another study has found "that the average waist female has expanded six inches since the 1950s" and that women in 2004 were taller and had larger breasts and hips than the 1950s.
Some variants of the above coding system exist:
- Sheldon: "Somatotype: {Fat: Endomorph, Muscular: Mesomorph, Slender: Ectomorph}", 1940's
- Douty's "Body Build Scale: {1,2,3,4,5}", 1968
- Bonnie August "Body Scale I.D.: {A, X, H, V, W, Y, T, O, b, d, i, r}", 1981
- Simmons, Istook, & amp; Devarajan "Female Identification Technique (FFIT): {Hourglass, Lower Sand Clock, Upper Sand Clock, Spoon, Rectangle, Diamond, Oval, Triangle, Triangle Reversed}", 2002
- "Rating Scale of Body Shapes" Connell: {Hourglass, Pear, Rectangle, Inverted Triangle} ", 2006
- Rasband: {Ideal, Triangle, Inverted Triangle, Rectangle, Sand, Diamond, Tubular, Spherical}, 2006
- Lee JY, Istook CL, Nam YJ, "Comparison of body shape between the United States and Korean women: {Hourglass, Lower Hourglass, Top Hourglass, Spoon, Triangle, Inverted Triangle, Rectangle}", 2007.
Lee 2007 paper propose the following formula to identify individual body types:
- Hours
- If (breast - hips) <= 1 "AND (hip - breast) & lt; 3,6" AND (breast - waist)> = 9 "OR (waist -
- Lower sand hour
- If (hip - breast)> = 3.6 "AND (hip - breast) & lt; 10" AND (hip - waist)> = 9 "AND (high waist/waist) & lt; >
- Top hourglass
- If (breast - hips) & gt; 1 "AND (bust - hips) & lt; 10" AND (bust - waist)> = 9 "
- Spoon
- If (hip-bust) & gt; 2 "AND (hip - waist)> = 7" AND (high waist/waist)> = 1,193
- Triangle
- If (hip - breast)> = 3.6 "AND (hip - waist) & lt; 9"
- Inverted triangle
- If (breast - hips)> = 3.6 "AND (breast - waist) & lt; 9"
- Rectangle
- If (hips - breasts) & lt; 3.6 "AND (breast - hip) & lt; 3.6" AND (breast - waist) & lt; 9 "AND (hip - waist) & lt; 10"
In addition, a number of national and international dress size standards define a body-coding system that groups a person by the chest to the waist and/or hip circumference value for example.
Dimensions
The dimensions of a woman are often expressed by a circumference around three inflection points. For example, "36-29-38" in imperial units means 36-inch chest, 29-inch waist, and 38-inch hips.
The size of a woman's breast is a combination of ribs and breast size. For convenience, women's bra measurements are used. For example, although the measurements were not consistently applied, a woman with 36B bra size had a 36 inch circumference rib and a 38-inch breast size; a woman with a 34C bra size has a 34 inches rib around, but a breast size smaller than 37 inches. However, women with 34C breast size will appear "bustier" because of the obvious difference in breast for rib ratio.
The altitude will also affect the appearance of the figure. A woman who is 36-24-36 at 5Ã, ft 2 in (1.57 m) tall will look different from a woman who is 36-24-36 at 5Ã, 8 ft deep (1.73 m) tall. Since the higher female figure has a longer distance between points of measurement, it will appear thinner or less plump than its shorter counterpart, again, although both have the same BWH ratio. This is because the taller woman is actually thinner as expressed by her height ratio to her body size.
The use of BWH measurements for anything other than garment fittings is thus misleading. BWH is an indicator of fat distribution, not fat percentage.
The British Model Agent Association (AMA) says that the female model should be about 34-24-34 (86-61-86 cm) and at least 5Ã, 8 ft deep (1.73 m) tall.
Cultural perception
The hourglass figure, seen as the ideal body of today by some, is not necessarily the desired body shape. The ideal body type imagined by members of society has changed throughout history. Venus age stone sculptures show the earliest preference of body type: dramatic steatopygia. The emphasis on prominent abdomen, breasts, and buttocks may be the result of a good aesthetic of eating and aesthetics become fertile, more difficult traits attainable at the time. In the statues of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome the female body is more tubular and regularly proportional. Basically no emphasis is given on certain body parts, not breasts, buttocks, or stomach.
Moving forward there is more evidence that fashion somewhat dictates what believers are the right female body proportions. This is the case because the body is primarily seen through clothing, which always changes the way the underlying structure is conceived. The first representation of a truly fashionable woman appeared in the 14th century. Between the 14th and 16th centuries in northern Europe, the bloating stomach is desirable, but the remaining stature of the figure is generally emaciated. This is most easily seen in the nude painting of the time. When looking at pictures of clothing, the stomach is often seen through masses hiding, steaming, and loose robes. Because the stomach is the only visible anatomical feature, it becomes excessive in nude depictions while other body parts remain minimal. In southern Europe, around the time of renaissance, this is also true. Although classical aesthetics are being revived and studied very carefully, the art produced over a period of time is influenced by both factors. This results in a beauty standard that reconciles both aesthetics by using numbers of classical proportions that have a number of non-classic meats and soft soft skins.
In nineteenth-century paintings, as Rubens had, naked women looked pretty fat. However, upon closer inspection, most women have fairly normal properties, Rubens only paints their flesh with rolls and ripples that will not be there. This may be a reflection of the woman's style of the day: a long, cylindrical girdle dress with a rippling satin accent. Thus the Rubens woman has a tubular body with rippling ornaments. While the corset continued to be fashionable into the 18th century, it was shortened, became more conical, and consequently began to emphasize the waist. It also lifts and separates breasts as opposed to a 17th century corset that compresses and minimizes breasts. Consequently, depictions of naked women in the 18th century tend to have very narrow and high waist, different breasts, almost as if they were wearing an invisible corset. La maja desnuda is a real example of this aesthetic. The 19th century retained the general figure of the 18th century. Examples can be seen in the works of contemporary artists, both academic artists, such as Cabanel, Ingres, and Bouguereau, and impressionists, such as Degas, Renoir, and Toulouse-Lautrec. When the 20th century began, the athletic awakening resulted in a drastic slimming of the female figure. This culminated in a flameprobate 1920s look, which has informed the modern mode ever since.
The last 100 years cover the period of time in which the overall body type has looked attractive, despite minor changes in the period. The year 1920 is the time when the overall ideal body image becomes slimmer. There is a whole-body dramatic smoothing that results in a younger aesthetic. As the century progressed, the ideal size of both breasts and buttocks increased. From 1950 to 1960 the trend continued with an interesting twist of cone-shaped breasts due to the popularity of bullet bra. In the 1960s, the invention of mini skirts as well as increased acceptance of pants for women, pushing the ideal of long legs that have survived to this day. Following the invention of push-up bras in the 1970s, the ideal breast was round, fuller, and larger breasts. In the last 20 years the size of an average American bras has risen from 34B to 34DD, although this may be due to an increase in obesity in the United States in recent years. In addition, the ideal figure has liked the waist-hip ratio is always low, especially with the advent and development of digital editing software such as Adobe Photoshop.
Social and health issues
Every society develops a general perception of the ideal female body shape. These ideals are generally reflected in the arts and literature produced by or for the community, as well as in popular media such as movies and magazines. Ideal or preferred female body sizes and shapes vary from time to time and continue to vary across cultures; but the preference for small waist remained fairly constant throughout history. Low waist-hip ratio is often seen as a sign of good health and reproductive potential.
Low waist-hip ratio is also often regarded as an indicator of female attractiveness, but recent research has shown that attraction is more correlated with body mass index than waist-to-hip ratio, contrary to previous beliefs. Historically, according to Devendra Singh, there was a tendency for women who were slightly overweight in the 17th and 18th centuries, as characterized by Rubens paintings, but in general there is a preference for a slimmer waist in Western culture. He notes that "The findings that the authors describe the small waist as pretty show that this part of the body - a known marker of health and fertility - is a core feature of feminine beauty that transcends ethnic and cultural differences."
New research shows that women who have an apple form have the highest risk of heart disease, while an hour-long bearded woman has the lowest. Diabetes experts suggest that waist measurements for women over 80 cm (31 inches) increase the risk of heart disease, but ethnic background also plays a factor. This is because the accumulation of body fat around the waist (form of apple) poses a higher health risk than fat accumulation in the hips (pear shape).
Waist-hip ratio
Compared with men, women generally have relatively narrow waists and large buttocks, and these along with wide hips make the hip a wider and lower waist-hip ratio. Research shows that waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) for women is highly correlated with perception of attraction. Women with 0.7 WHR (waist circumference 70% of hip circumference) were considered more attractive by men in different cultures. Beauty icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren and Venus de Milo all have a ratio of about 0.7. In other cultures, preferences vary, ranging from 0.6 in China, 0.8 or 0.9 in some parts of South America and Africa, and different preferences based on ethnicity, not nationality, have also been recorded.
Many studies have shown that the WHR is correlated with female fertility, leading some to speculate that its use as a gesture of male sexual selection has an evolutionary basis. However, it is also suggested that a clear relationship between the WHR-affecting hormones and relevant survival features such as competitiveness and stress tolerance may provide preference for a higher waist-to-hip ratio of its own evolutionary benefits. That, in turn, can account for the observed cross-cultural variation in the waist-to-hip ratio of waist-to-hip and waist-to-hip ratio for women.
WHR has been found to be a more efficient predictor of mortality in elderly than waist circumference or body mass index (BMI).
Agency as identity
Over the last few hundred years, there has been a shift toward seeing the body as part of one's identity - not physically pure, but as a means of deeper self-expression. David Gauntlett recognizes the importance of flexibility in physical identity, stating, "the body is an outward expression of ourselves, to be improved and worked on". One of the key factors in creating a desire for a particular body shape - especially for women - is the media, which has promoted a number of "ideal" body shapes. Fashionable figures are often unattainable by the majority of the population, and their popularity tends to be short-lived because of its arbitrary nature.
During the 1950s, fashion and celebrity models were two separate entities, allowing body time images to be shaped more by television and movies than high fashion advertisements. While fashion models of the 1950s, such as Jean Patchett and Dovima, are very thin, the ideal image of beauty is still greater. Since the fashion houses in the early 50s still served elite special clients, the fashion model's image at the time was not as desirable or viewed as a celebrity image. While the model that graced the covers of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar in the 1950s was in line with the thin ideal of the day, the most prominent female icon was Marilyn Monroe. Monroe, which is more plump, falls on the edge of the ideal feminine spectrum compared to high fashion models. Regardless of their size, however, both the time mode and Monroe's depiction emphasize a smaller waist and a fuller lower half. The late 1950s, however, brought the advent of a ready-made mode, which implements a standard sizing system for all mass-produced clothing. While fashion houses, such as Dior and Chanel, remain faithful to their clothes, specially made outfits, the emergence of these standardized clothing quickly resulted in a shift of location from Europe to America as a fashion center. Along with the shift comes standardization of measure, in which the garment is not made to fit the body anymore, but instead the body must be changed to fit the garment.
During the 1960s, the popularity of the Twiggy model meant that women liked the thinner body, with long, slender limbs. This was a drastic change from the ideals of the previous decade, which saw curvier icons, like Marilyn Monroe, considered a symbol of beauty. The shift in what was seen as a "fashionable body" at the time did not follow a logical pattern, and change happened so fast that one form had not been a trend for more than a decade. As with fashion itself in the postmodern world, the premise of an evolving "ideal" form depends on the fact that it will soon become obsolete, and thus must constantly change to prevent itself from becoming unattractive.
Early examples of bodies used as identity markers occurred in the Victorian era, when women wore corsets to help themselves reach the bodies they wanted. Having a small waist is a sign of social status, as wealthy women are able to dress more extravagantly and sporting goods such as corsets to enhance their physical attractiveness. In the 1920s, cultural ideals have changed significantly as a result of the movement of suffrage, and "fashion is for cut hair, flat breasts (tied) and lean and sexed body shape".
Recently, other popular magazines and media have been criticized for promoting an unrealistic trend of thinness. David Gauntlett stated that "the recurring celebration of the 'ideal' beauty of a medium that most women will not be able to match... will spend the time and money of the readers - and perhaps good health - if they try." In addition, the impacts on women and their self-esteem are often very negative, and resulted in the diet industry taking off in the 1960s - something that would not happen "to have a physical appearance not so closely related to identity, to women". Melissa Oldman stated, "No thin woman is more real than in popular media."
The importance of "the body as a work zone", such as Myra MacDonald asserts, further perpetuates the connection between fashion and identity, with the body being used as a means of creating a visible and unavoidable image for oneself. The tools used to make final copies of such projects range from extreme plastic surgery - to more benign ones, such as diet and exercise, which almost every woman who has been accustomed has been accustomed to controlling his body shape.
Body Changes
A study at Brigham Young University using MRI technology suggests that women are experiencing more anxiety about weight gain than men, while aggregate research has been used to claim that images of skinny women in popular media can cause psychological stress. A study of 52 older adults found that women may think more about their body shape and support thinner numbers than men even to old age.
Strategies are sometimes used to temporarily or permanently change the shape of the body. The most common include diet and exercise.
Sometimes artificial devices are used or operations are performed. Breast size may increase or decrease artificially. Falsies, breast prostheses or coated bra can be used to increase the size of a woman's breasts, while minimizer bra can be used to reduce the size of the visible. Breasts can be enlarged with enlargement using breast implants or reduced by systematic removal of the breast parts. Increased hormonal breast may be another option.
Historically, bony corsets have been used to reduce waist size. The corset reached its climax during the Victorian era. In the twentieth century the corset was replaced mostly with more flexible/comfortable foundation clothing. Where a corset is used for waist reduction, it may be a temporary reduction with occasional use or permanent reduction by people often referred to as binders. Liposuction and liposculpture are common surgical methods to reduce waistline.
Padded control briefs or hip and buttock padding can be used to increase the size of the hips and buttocks. Buttock enlargement can be used to increase the size of the hips and buttocks to look more rounded.
Social experiments on the ideal female body
Two social experiments conducted in 2012, which provide information about the ideal female body and argue that the ideal body is an inaccessible social construction meant to keep women struggling to satisfy men's sexual desires. The first experiment, conducted by researcher Lon Kilgore, involves measuring several people and comparing such measurements with Leonardo da Vinci's representation of the ideal human body, The Vitruvian Man. Kilgore uses the conclusions of this experiment to prove that there is no ideal body for women because the human body is always changing to adapt to its environment. In the second experiment, researchers Kara Crossley, Piers Cornelissen and Martin TovÃÆ' Â © e asked men and women to describe an attractive female body and the majority of them have the same diagram. The critical writer Kovie Biakolo uses this to argue that society has instilled in us the idea that the ideal woman is seen in a certain way.
Created in 1490, the famous Vitruvian Man is known as the perfect human depiction, which depicts all the proportions and perfect sizes between limbs and features. Because it is so perfect, comparing a person, man or woman, for it has been "one of the most familiar and easiest methods to determine whether an individual deviates from 'normal' anthropometry." However, Kilgore proves that the majority of men and women do not match this picture. In the experiments, Kilgore measured several body parts from nine male subjects and six female subjects, such as height, wingspan, hip width, elbows to fingertips, torso, and legs, and compared the measurements with Da Vinci image measurements. The results of the measurements and the comparison show that "no single subject in this study has the dimensional relationship suggested by da Vinci." Even the single measurement of individual limbs of this subject is incompatible with the figure, proving that the ideal man, The Vitruvian Man, may not be ideal at all.
Kilgore explains this anomaly through evolution; he states that the human body can never be exactly the same as the Vitruvian Man because the human body is always changing to fit the environment. "In more than five centuries since then, the height of humans has changed." In fact, when Da Vinci drew this figure in the fifteenth century, the average height of European descent men was 5'6 "-5'8"; But the average height of men today is 5'9 "-5'11". Kilgore concluded his experiment which stated that the Vitruvian Man did not accurately depict a modern man or woman.
In other social experiments, researchers Kara Crossley, Piers L. Cornelissen, and Martin TovÃÆ'Â © e explore an attractive body, asking many men and women to draw their ideal body using a virtual program in which they will increase or decrease the size of certain body parts. After seeing their participants' drawings, the researchers came to the conclusion that almost all had portrayed the same ideal body. The women who participated in this experiment drew their ideal bodies with enlarged breasts and narrowed the rest of their bodies, leading to the conclusion that the ideal representation of woman's size and shape is the narrowed hips, lower back, lower body, and enlarged breasts. The male participants also described their ideal partner with the same image. The researchers stated, "For both sexes, the main predictor of female beauty is a relatively low BMI combined with a relatively plump body." Biakolo authors use this to suggest both men and women expect women to be a certain way because society has taught that women who have big breasts, wide hips, and small waist will get a "grand prize", a good person who can take care of her and her children. However, Biakolo does not explain the preference for narrow hips and lower body as shown in the study by Crossley and colleagues. Preferred female body shapes are described in their study as being more accurate for inverted triangles (larger widths of breasts or shoulders that are tapered to narrow hips), compared with an hourglass or pear shape body in accordance with Biakolo descriptions.
See also
References
Source cited
- Gaullett, David (2008). Media, gender and identity . Abingdon, UK: Routledge. ISBN: 0415189608.
- MacDonald, Myra (1995). Representing Woman: Femininity Myth in Popular Media . London: Edward Arnold.
External links
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments