The Venus of Willendorf is one of the earliest sculptures of the body made by humans during the Paleolithic era. She was made from limestone native to her location and covered with red orche. Despite standing only 4.4 inches, the purpose of the Venus of Willendorf is widely debated. Some will say the exaggerated breasts, navel, and vulva connects her to fertility as a representation of a mother goddess. Others, such as those in my class, believe her to be a figure of body image. The stumpy female figure features hanging breasts, an obese middle and belly, and distinct buttocks in all, represents a realistic form of a severely overweight woman. Due to the hash ice-age environment of where she’s from leads one to believe fatness and fertility would have been highly desirable. Whether the sculpture was based on a fantasy or a real life model the infatuations with the idea of self-acceptance through body …show more content…
She was meant for women to aspire for, but there was no chance they could ever become her size due to their style of living. Little did the admirers of the sculpture were encouraging an unhealthy lifestyle. Focusing on today’s body shaming and how there are so many promoting skinny is better I believe we also need to bring into the limelight the problems of obesity. The Venus of Willendorf is an icon of obesity; fat hangs over her waist and knees. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), approximately 62% of American women greater than 20 years of age are overweight. Obesity carries tremendous adverse medical consequences for women. Leila Azarbad and Linda Gonder-Frederick in Obesity in Women says obesity in women “is associated with increased risk of hypertension, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, systemic inflammation, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, polycystic ovarian syndrome, stroke, and
It offers and understanding that women were held at a different standard then than they are now. This figurine shows that women had a larger mid-section but was because they either needed the body fat for long, cold winters or the better idea was because it showed they were fertile and they were able to produce babies and keep the legacy going on. It also provides a better image of what the men and women had to go through in order to survive, like the long hard winters, the needing to hunt for food and could mean sometimes not having food. Venus of Willendorf was not considered an obese women, “where features of fatness and fertility would have been highly desirable”, (PBS, 2006). I can use this article because it explains the whole point about a women’s image. Women were not looked at how skinny and “good looking” they were in a pair of jeans. Women, in this time, were looked at as if they can be fertile or not. Being able to have children was a huge thing in this time since it was one of the point of living, to have a
...e of Knidos, created by Praxiteles, can only be found in copies today, but at the time was the first sculpture of a goddess nude. He had transformed marble into the soft and radiant flesh of the goddess of love and taking on a worldly sensuousness. Originally located in a rotunda where it could be seen from all angles. Female nudity was very rare to the Greeks, especially that of a goddess. The sculptor made it look like Aphrodite’s nudity was nonchalant, which made it more sensuous with a welcoming look on her face. With several copies, all being found to be slightly different, all still capture the goddess’s womanly beauty that is not too sexually aggressive. With he hourglass torso, sloped shoulders, large hips and thighs, slim calves and ankles, and small feet and hands, this statue is the polar opposite of any manly figure, which is why it is known to be luring.
In the article, “Too ‘Close to the Bone’: The Historical Context for Women’s Obsession with Slenderness,” Roberta Seid goes in depth on the emotionally straining and life altering trials women take on to try to portray society’s “ideal” body over time. She delves far into the past, exposing our culture’s ideal body image and the changes it has gone through over time. The article brings to light the struggles of striving to be the perfect woman with the model body. On the other hand, in the article “Rethinking Weight”, author Amanda Spake, details the many differing views of obesity. Spake voices her opinion on the idea that being overweight, and not losing weight, is caused by laziness. “Too Close to the Bone” and “Rethinking Weight” both deliberate about weight issues that are
Both Goddesses stand nude, slightly covering their genitalia; It’s as if Botticelli took on the modest look Praxiteles put forth. The only difference in the modesty shown is Venus’ long flowing locks some how managed to cover her slight indecent moment in time. Both men set forth a type of admiration for the women pictured in their pieces considering they gave them some kind of covering. When looking at the goddess’s facial expressions, we can see a very apparent deviance in their half smiles, as if they were caught. The Aphrodite represents a quite symmetrical body with even the softest features easily recognizable but, Botticelli was quite close to mimicking such. The Venus’ elongated neck with shoulders slightly sloped still can be compared to the soft features of Aphrodite. Aside from the standing contrapposto, the softness featured in both pieces is what simply draws them
It is determined the Antonine Woman as Venus is a woman of aristocratic status. The portrait is made of fine-grain marble, a medium only upper-class persons could afford. Also, only persons of wealth could afford to have such a protrait made. The woman is portrayed as Venus, a goddess who is connected to the imperial family, and members of a royal family would often have themselves depicted as a deity. (De Puma 26) We know she is being portrayed as Venus because of her bare breast and the upper-arm ring. The bare breast is a key to Venus because she is the goddess of sexuality and desirability. The upper arm ring can be an attribute of Venus as the Statue of Aphrodite (Venus) by Praxiletels displays the same jewelry on a nude body. (Fantham 175)
Peter Taylor’s short story Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time tells the tale of an odd brother-sister duo, Alfred and Louisa Dorset, who reside in the small, presumably southern, town of Mero. From the very beginning, readers are led to believe that the Dorsets are more than just brother and sister – they are lovers. Several occurrences throughout the story hint at a depraved relationship, however the story offers no firm confirmation of an incestuous relationship actually occurring. Despite their peculiarities, Mr. and Miss Dorset seem to have a great deal of influence on the social traditions of the town, the most important one being the annual party they host for the young children in the community. These parties are exclusive events that
...t they look ill to me. The sad past of this matter is that this seems to be the look that sells and that guys find attractive. All of this causes the indirect weight struggle that almost all females face from a very young age through out most of their lives. To see that beauty can come in all sizes make me for once feel comfortable when I look at another women's body. There is more to Venus though then her weight. She also has so much color to her. Her skin is of a healthy and natural glow, which makes her seem more human to me. Color is also displayed in the hair that has been given a wonderful color that is in fact too much for words. Looking at Venus makes me respect the beauty and dignity that women pose. This is the first painting that has ever given me this feeling. As I mentioned before I believe that this is caused by the way that Botticelli paints Venus.
Within the past ten years, the rise of eating disorders has gotten more public attention. This spark increased scientific research geared toward explaining and responding to this disaster. It is now widely recognized that body image dissatisfaction, broadly defined as strong negative feelings about the body, are persistent among women, especially concerning weight and dieting. Merely being a women in our society means feeling too fat (Wolszon 542). Survey data indicate that three fourths of normal weight women in the United States feel fat, more than half of adult women in the United States are on a diet, and on study showed that nearly 80% of fourth grade girls are watching their weight (Shelly Levitt 64).
Nowadays, a standard stage of growing up is feeling the stress of one’s body image due to the growing pressure from society and media. In 2012 there was a survey that said “A full 50 percent of children from 8 to 10 years old report being ‘unhappy’ with their bodies” (ProQuest Staff). This is because when girls are growing up they see models/ actresses on TV and magazines that are thin and look beautiful and they think that’s what they are supposed to look like; unfortunately this is unrealistic. In 2006 there was a fashion model named Luise Ramos who died of a heart attack moments after she steps off the runway during fashion week in Montevideo (ProQuest Staff). News accounts later report that Ramos, 22, had been eating only lettuce and diet
“The beginning of female art found in this Aphrodite depict her as a slightly overweight, broad-shouldered, wide-hipped figure with rougher textures and harsher lines” (Berz). The Greeks found this so appealing because it looked very similar to themselves in form but because Aphrodite is na...
Body image is among of the top reasons for developing psychological conditions in the country based upon the bias of what is shown through the screen. Since the nineteen-nineties an alarming trend has come to pass as a result in the growing epidemic of obesity in the United States, to oppose this the exact opposite became popular to become skeletal in appearance with bones showing naturally through the skin. Becoming an accepted notion to starve in order to attain this new angelic appearance, rising above the notion of overly plentiful food by not eating until the body became undernourished. Even the naturally thin models were not skinny enough trying to appeal to this new craze. The resulting effects became depression in this pursuit of perfection, with competition becoming higher among women with finding mates, with this idealized persona becoming the image to men of what women should
Given the accuracy of the representation of the anatomy depicted in the Venus of Willendorf, that is the way the breasts hang and the way the “fat” sags at the knees, it is very possible the image was actually made after a real person (Witcombe, sec. 4) lending credence to the belief the figurine was carved to symbolize a woman of importance. If made after a real person, that female must have had considerable significance within her community to have grown so corpulent which supports the idea of matriarchal society (Witcombe, sec. 4). Witcombe further speculates that these statuettes may have served as a representation of the Mother Goddess, also referred to as Earth Mother and that the deity may have been represented in the form of a leader or matriarch.
At times I was dangerously thin, and my arms have always been longer than they should be for someone of my height. Nonetheless, my body has never gone under scrutiny and in fact, was common and celebrated among male basketball players. This is one of the many benefits of my male privilege. Female athletes, on the other hand, are subjected to a contradictory ideal that they should maintain a strong athletic body for the sport they play, yet also remain thin and appeal to the sexual ideal men hold them to. Nita Mary McKinley states in, Weighty Issues: Constructing Fatness and Thinness as Social Problems, “The construction of ideal weight parallels the construction of the traditional ideal woman and ideal weight becomes gendered” (99). This is unfair to the female athlete as it creates a conflict between physically exceling in their sport and being sexually discriminated against by men. As a male, there is practically no sexual consequences I suffer from that pertain to the body type I maintain. One of the most publicly scrutinized athletes for her body shape is tennis legend Serena Williams. Male sports writers in their attempts to objectify Williams, have shared their thoughts on how she is too strong and too muscular to sexually appeal to men. Serena has since reclaimed her sexuality by posing in ESPN Magazine’s body issue, along with appearing in Beyonce’s “Formation” music video. American celebrity culture, European fashion culture, and international advertising are all responsible for the development of thin female body types being the most sexually desired among males in America. It is important to apply locational context and recognize that other female body types are celebrated throughout other cultures. For instance Fatema Mernissi confesses, in Size 6: The Western Women’s Harem, “In the Moroccan streets, Men’s flattering comments regarding my particularly generous hips have for decades led me to
Models of Rubens, Rembrandt, Gaugin and Matisse were all rounded, plump women.A plump and healthy women was admired as it reflected wealth and success.(14). Where as images of women have become slimmer since the 1950’s according to Jennifer A. (Australian journal of nutrition and dietetics).
Botticelli depicts Venus standing a relaxing pose with long golden wavy hair that falls to her knees skin blemish free and pale as the seafoam she’s born from with one hand (right) gently placed over her right breast she uses the other (left) grasping for