TOW #21- The Pear

The image above is a vintage advertisement by the Warner Brothers advertising their new girdle. In the time period, advertisements like this were very popular, and often considered normal on a day-to-day basis.

The advertisement uses a pear to say that a woman with larger hips without larger breasts to balance them out is unnatural, therefore not beautiful. The comparison to a pear makes the woman in question seem like an object opposed to a person. Though it is affective in the message is trying to send, body images are still something that we are trying to improve today. With modern images of the same message, we are failing to advocate for respect for our bodies in both men and women. Naturally, all people are born in different shapes and sizes. Wider hips, broader shoulders, and different attributes prepare the human body for different things depending on their circumstances. One may find that swimmers tend to have much broader shoulders and backs as well as flexible legs so they can properly traverse through the water quickly and efficiently. On the other hand, who run track tend to have much leaner upper bodies with stronger legs in order to guarantee maximum performance. If we reference the picture, a woman born with wider hips is considered the best for childbirth. Considering where a woman who is, by the bodily standard, 'pear-shaped', we may find that her origins of birth go back to a period in which childbirth was common and praises. Thus, the shape is natural. How is it then, that a shape like this is unnatural for women?

People these days blame photoshop and other media for the bad body image that the generations have faced. However, we fail to consider that it is just a way to make it much easier. If we go back and consider things like the girdle, the corset, and many other beauty devices, we may find that the negative images are tied much deeper down than we think.