Beauty in Heroines

[boswellbaxter]

Interesting blog post here:

http://riskyregencies.blogspot.com/2008/05/accessible-beauty.html

[Tanzanite]

Here is a link to a very cool "morphing" video that shows many of Hollywood's leading ladies and how concepts of beauty have changed (ties into part of the above post). If you read down through some of the comments, there is a listing of who is included in the montage. How many do you recognize?

http://glumbert.com/media/womenfilm

[LCW]

What an interesting blog! It is so true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think though that one constant is health and vitality. It can take many forms but someone who is healthy and with a zest for life will always be beautiful.

Personally, I prefer a woman who is curvier and most of the men I know do too. I have two Dads, five brothers, a fiance, a lots of male friends and none of them like the stick thin figure models. Of course, today, "curvy" can sometimes mean overweight and we all know it's not healthy to be medically overweight. But the ridiculous ideal that the modeling industry (it's not really even Hollywood so much anymore) keeps pushing isn't even attractive to most men in the real world. Why is it still so popular then? I have no idea! Old habits die hard, I guess!

[nona]

how odd, I was listening to Tyra banks show yesterday, I never watch Tyra but nothing was on and it was on larger women embracing their size, something of interest to me. Some of these women were very large others just full and curvy, which I consider myself to be and it was amazing the number of men that said if society didn't 'expect' them to be with thinner blondes with large breast they would choose a fuller, thicker curvier woman cuase they were more attracted to them. Some of these men also said that when they cheated on their wives or purchased sex it was with these thicker kind of woman. I've been losing weight thinking I'm heavy and unattractive to my husband when all along I should have listened to him when he said I was beautiful the way I was, but hearing alot of men and women on a tv show made me lift my chin a little higher.

[LCW]

I've been losing weight thinking I'm heavy and unattractive to my husband when all along I should have listened to him when he said I was beautiful the way I was, but hearing alot of men and women on a tv show made me lift my chin a little higher.

You rock those curves, girl!!! :D

[Spitfire]

my husband when all along I should have listened to him when he said I was beautiful the way I was, but hearing alot of men and women on a tv show made me lift my chin a little higher.

That's right, you have to listen to what the men are telling you, not what society is trying to market to us! My husband cant stant the ultra thin women with the imitation globe breasts that defy gravity no matter what position they are in. Natural is best baby, and what my husband says is a little jiggle is sexy!;) So, be confident in what you are, that is the biggest turn on!

[Leyland]

Whether Regency or contemporary, natural curves don't often fit into the current fashion. Modern models on runways are wearing clothes designed for stick thin women, who first have to be rich enough to buy them, and even the upscale department stores are selling dresses and skirts designed for 'hipless and thighless' women. The A-line skirt or dress is hard to find.

It seems that high fashion and curves have always been at odds. Full breasted women wouldn't look the same in the lowcut Regency gown and I'd think if the hip and thigh curves matched the full breast, then those women wouldn't appear as alluring filling up these types of dresses. What else could a member of the ton have worn then?

Corsets on the other hand are probably a curvy girl's best friend! I love the wasp figure, although most of the women couldn't breathe properly, all trussed up that way.

So could a fictional Regency heroine be described as very curvy and still be able to wear the fashion of the day? Would it work for the reader? Heaven forbid she has a wide generous mouth to go with those wide generous hips!

[donroc]

As Frank Yerby made his cliché, heaving bosoms and poppy-red lips.

[nona]

lol I agree some women have surgery for enhancement that is unneeded.

[Barbara Passaris]

My husband is NOT into skinny. (Good thing for me!) I'm one of those curvy gals--always have been, even BC--before children--when I was young and very "thin." I've always thought it interesting that the Hollywood women that have some "meat" on them (hard to find) are the ones that he thinks beautiful.

And he happens to like a little hip, as long as it's got a small waist to go with it. I don't know any men who really think bones are beautiful.

There's an old southern saying: "You have to have some meat on the bones to make good gravy."

Curves are beautiful. Shapeliness is alluring. And a little wiggle and roundness in a woman is something that a lot of guys really like. I've got brothers, male friends, and a husband who would attest to that.

As far as sexy, well, there's so much more to that than what meets the eye. Sexiness is only partially about out and out looks. It's so much to do with how one carries oneself, what's inside. That goes for men as well as women.

I'll never forget when I read one of Diana's Outlander books, (Can't recall which it was), when Claire had gained some weight and Jamie said to her, "I like ye fat, Sassenach." I could have KISSED DG for that! He also said, "If there were a skinny woman who was dripping wet, I wouldn't want her." (Paraphrased, b/c I can't remember the exact words. )

I rest my case! :D

[Divia]

Being a short chick 5'1 its hard for me to get that super thin look unless I decide not to eat for a month. I have hips, and breasts, but I have had them since I was 13. There is no changing that. My ex bf loved it and he said a lot of men do.

[LCW]

I'll never forget when I read one of Diana's Outlander books, (Can't recall which it was), when Claire had gained some weight and Jamie said to her, "I like ye fat, Sassenach." I could have KISSED DG for that! He also said, "If there were a skinny woman who was dripping wet, I wouldn't want her." (Paraphrased, b/c I can't remember the exact words. )

I rest my case!

Love that!! He also said many times what a "fine fat arse" Claire had! I told my fiance about it while I was reading the series and one day out of the blue he told me I had a fine fat arse! Honestly, I did a double take because coming from him my first reaction was like, "Are you saying I'm fat???" but then we just laughed about it really hard! Maybe he just needs to brush up on his Highlander accent! :D:p:D:p

[Rowan]

it was amazing the number of men that said if society didn't 'expect' them to be with thinner blondes with large breast they would choose a fuller, thicker curvier woman cuase they were more attracted to them.

So in other words these men are going to go with the dictates of society rather than with a woman they are attracted to no matter what her shape. And yet the men who cheat on their wives do so with women they're truly attracted to... Seems to me if men followed their heart (difficult for them to do, I know) rather than society's demands, there might be fewer divorces. Maybe.

[nona]

my point exactly! I don't think most men realize that evetually they will tire of trying to pretend they want something they truelly don't.

[MLE]

No different from women who are attracted to a man because he's 'dangerous' and then find themselves tied to a guy who won't bring home the bacon and help raise the kids. Except they are lucky if they get that type to marry them -- usually, they just get the kids.
Meanwhile, the guy who is reliable doesn't attract because he's 'dull'. (and maybe even 'too fat')

[Spitfire]

I can understand being attracted to a man purely on a physical level, but to actually marry a "Dangerous aka unresponsible" man I can not fathom. Unless a woman had a dysfunction for being comfortable with a man who disrespects her, I can't see how someone with a brain could make such a bad choice. I guess there truly are con artists out there, but I am talking about your regular good looking schmuck. Do some women's brains shut off when it comes to chosing a mate? I truly believe you can find your perfect match, emotionally and physically. You know, every pot has it's lid. I for one picked a very reliable, responsible and dependable man who I am still after 15 years of marriage incredibly attracted to on a physical level. He says the same about me...stretch marks n all! :D

[MLE]

Actually, there are a lot of women, some of them quite brilliant in other areas, who make this mistake again and again. My personal observation (20 years of working with women made temporarily homeless, usually by just such choices in men), which is verified by all the research, is that women who do not have a good relationship with their fathers (or some appropriate father-surrogate) as little girls spend their adult lives unconsciously seeking to mend the situation, but since they go at it from the wrong end, repeat it.

OTOH, a woman with a good background in this area usually pulls herself out of the mire pretty quickly if she makes one naive choice, and never do anything so dumb again. But it is very frustrating to watch the 'repeat stupidity' of bright women with shattered backgrounds.

[Charliekat]

I find it odd when a heroine from history is described as a stick, and the author acknowledges that he/she knows that this is unattractive of the time, but still creates the character in that way. I think this is just weird. Why not make your character normal size? Because it's modern beauty you want to give her even though you know men wouldn't have liked that?

[Leyland]

I can understand being attracted to a man purely on a physical level, but to actually marry a "Dangerous aka unresponsible" man I can not fathom.

That makes me think about all the bright, lithe pretty young things in the HF romances who do end up marrying the 'dangerous rake/rogue'. How do you think those marriages really turned out? Will the rogue change his spots? Or did the spunky heroine grow up and throw the rake out into the garden for good!?

[nona]

whats beautiful today was not yesterday. Imagine Jessica Simpson or Paris Hilton in the middle of a Scottish raid or in the mist of an Anne Bolyen....makes me want to laugh.