I really enjoyed reading Bromberg’s piece on the changes of a woman’s self-image throughout the twentieth century. I was shocked to hear the story of Yvonne Blue because I was not aware that so many young women felt the need to be skinny and diet in the 1920s. However, it did make sense because this was the time period of the flappers and women bearing their arms and legs. It is interesting how a woman’s body use to be hidden underneath corsets and heavy dresses and sleeves. It was not until women’s skin was being displayed in the beginning of the twentieth century when women felt the obsession to be slim and fit in with their friends. Bromberg discusses how bras have revolutionized the emphasis on breast. Bras were used in the 1920s to create a flatter looking chest and many young adolescents and women resorted to making their own bras at home. Something really interesting about the market for mass-produced goods, brand name bras, is that you have to fit in to the standard sizes manufactured.
Bromberg talks about how young women who do not fit the standard sizes feel as if there is body is simply deviated. This is exactly what we were talking about in class the other day. We were discussing clothing sizes and how either stores offer sizes that do not correlate with other store sizes or they do not offer a size that fits you perfectly. This is a problem for many women because when they run in to this situation, they feel as if it is their fault not the manufactures fault that they cannot fit perfectly in to any pair of jeans. Something that really struck me as intriguing was the change in attitudes for bras for young girls. Bromberg discusses how the old idea was that bras are unnecessary for young girls. I remember when I was in fifth grade most of the girls did not wear bras. We had a fifth grade musical and the teacher told the girls we should wear a cami under our outfits. I remember being outraged because first, I was a tomboy and second I was completely flat. I did not understand why a girl would ever want to wear a bra because obviously they were gross. However, in junior high all the girls changed for gym class in a locker room. Most of the girls from the other two junior highs wore training bras or camis. I, under no circumstances needed one until mid seventh grade, bought a training bra simply because the other girls had one and it seemed mature. Wearing a bra was crucial to be considered an “older” girl.
Bromberg’s chapter encouraged me to see how bras and girdles have transformed throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. I came across this old commercial for a Playtex bra and girdle. It was humorous to compare this old Playtex commercial to a current Victoria’s Secret commercial. The Playtex commercial was very conservative and did not even show the bra on a woman’s body. Also, the woman in the commercial was fully dressed with a blouse covering her chest. This shows how bras have progressed from a necessary support item, to a fuller chest under a blouse and now finally to sex. Also, the Playtex commercial offers a new, slimming girdle as oppose to the old corsets used to slim women. This idea is so odd because it would make more sense for a woman to eat healthy and exercise to lose five pounds as oppose to just hiding the five pounds. I agree with Abby in that women are always trying to find the perfect body and always feel they are too heavy or too skinny. Why can’t all women work on having the best personality instead?
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