{"id":913,"date":"2013-07-07T15:24:42","date_gmt":"2013-07-07T19:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/imprint\/?p=913"},"modified":"2018-11-19T08:59:48","modified_gmt":"2018-11-19T13:59:48","slug":"bring-voluptuous-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/imprint\/bring-voluptuous-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Bring Voluptuous Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Jason Crews<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Attention Ladies!<\/b><\/p>\n

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I can\u2019t stand it any longer. This giant conspiracy that would put a James Bond villain to shame. It\u2019s on billboards, web ads, magazines and TV. I\u2019m talking about the notion that men prefer skinny women.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s not true. It\u2019s one giant sales tactic that has altered the entirety of Western culture. It needs to change, a change that will have to start with women like you reading this article and guys making a stand to bring voluptuous back. First, I\u2019d like to figure out why we lost it in the first place, starting a mere one-hundred twenty years ago.<\/p>\n

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CURVE 1101 \u2013 Introduction to Women\u2019s Figures Across the 19th<\/sup> and 20th<\/sup> Century<\/b><\/p>\n

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In the 1890\u2019s, a sketch artist named Charles Dana Gibson drew pictures of his ideal women with curves. This new \u201cGibson Girl\u201d, as it would be known, set a style trend, most famously matched by actress Camille Clifford. As you can see, it encouraged a large bosom and behind with a corseted waist. Things became more masculine as women wanted to be seen as strong during wartime. Women would become progressively thinner, but they still kept their curves as shown by Marilyn Monroe during the 1950\u2019s.Twiggy, however reset the standard with the super thin frame in the 1960\u2018s. Though not entirely due to Twiggy, the curvy ways of the early-century women have not been mainstream since.<\/p>\n

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Catwalking Craziness<\/b><\/p>\n

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I talked with three UCF students the other day about models. We will call them Brooke, Lindsay, and Joana. I asked, \u201cAs a woman, how do you view runway models?\u201d Each had a very different perception. Brook said, \u201cI look down on runway models because I feel like they are always struggling with their weight and looks and need to be perfect. I don’t look up to them as a role-model by any means.\u201d Looking for Lindsay\u2019s response, she said something quite the opposite. \u201cI usually view most of them as beautiful. Looks like I am another victim to this media trend.\u201d And as if to mediate the two of them, Joana replied, \u201cI kind of don\u2019t think anything of them. I don\u2019t think they are beautiful, but I don\u2019t think they are ugly. I think they are women who are trying to keep up with an idea of beauty that is constantly changing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The life of a runway model is a difficult and often unhealthy one. They are pressured to maintain the skinniness of a young girl while the rest of their body wants to grow up. \u00a0Any women admiring the look of a runway model should be aware of these facts from PLUS Model Magazine:<\/p>\n

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–\u00a0 Most runway models meet the Body Mass Index physical criteria for Anorexia.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0 Twenty years ago the average fashion model weighed 8% less than the average woman. Today, she weighs 23% less.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m a Barbie Girl, In a Barbie World\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n

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Obsession with your looks does not ensure you\u2019re attractive. Many women grew up playing with Barbies, a pretty pink doll that tapped into their early sense of femininity. But to actually look like a Barbie doll would be absurd, or, maybe not.<\/p>\n

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Meet Valeria Lukyanova, a Ukrainian model sensation and a leader of a new \u201cliving doll\u201d movement with the goal to be a human doll. Breast enlargement is the only thing she admits to, though unconfirmed rumors include rib removal for a smaller waist.<\/p>\n

\u00a0She has an amazing facial structure and applies makeup in a near perfect manner. To many men, including myself, she is very pretty, though in a forced way. But such a lifestyle oriented around an ideal carries with it several heavy burdens to a suitor:<\/p>\n

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