Shape-Shifting: Ideal Female Body in Flux

Thursday, 20 January 2011 | by Pat's Picks

Marilyn Monroe may be an iconic sex symbol, but no one wants to look like her anymore says the Boston Globe.  That’s because the ideal shape for a woman has continuously shifted over the years: “Not only do they no longer want to look like Marilyn, they don’t want to look like Farrah Fawcett, Cindy Crawford, or even Linda Evangelista.” These days, personal trainers say lean and hard is the most sought after request they hear from clients. Many experts think the shifting ideals boil down to something primitive, namely finding a suitable mate.

Whereas a round figure once connoted wealth and health, these days an ample bottom does not necessarily mean the same thing. Similarly, men with big muscles were the ideal in the 1980s but nowadays, black-rimmed glasses and an iPhone seem like better indicators of financial success that huge deltoids.