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. 2003 Apr 12;326(7393):823. doi: 10.1136/bmj.326.7393.823

Shapely centrefolds

Are women changing or is Playboy?

Petra M Boynton 1
PMCID: PMC1125727  PMID: 12689988

Editor—First, sexual images were blamed for causing sex crime. Now, it seems they're responsible for eating disorders too. Voracek and Fisher's analysis of the changing shape of Playboy centrefolds tells us more about the changing face of sexual material than the changing shape of women's bodies.1 The authors are correct to challenge existing research that claims that women in sexual materials represent the “hourglass” figure, but despite a more thorough analysis of Playboy, it is fair to point out that Playboy is only one sex publication and is well known for having close links with fashion and mainstream media.2

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BAL:KOBAL; REX

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BAL:KOBAL; REX

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BAL:KOBAL; REX

Had the authors chosen to analyse other magazines, they may well have seen an increase in women's shape, body size, or even age of models.2 Furthermore, they overlook other reasons why images of women in Playboy have changed. Anecdotal evidence shows that more women are looking at sexually explicit materials, particularly those seen as easily accessible and similar to “fashion magazines”; and evidence shows that they are more critical of female bodies than men are.3 Therefore rather than Playboy representing a changing shape of women, it may be that women's distorted views on body image are now being played out through pages of sexual magazines catering for an increase in female readership.

Whatever the explanation, it is important to remember two issues when analysing sexual materials. Firstly, the range of titles and topics covered is vast, catering for every taste. Secondly, it is overly simplistic to say that media images alone cause women's body image to change.2 Several complex social factors lead to eating disorders, not a picture in Playboy.

Footnotes

Competing interests: None declared.

References

  • 1.Voracek M, Fisher ML. Shapely centrefolds? Temporal change in body measures: trend analysis. BMJ. 2002;325:1447–1448. doi: 10.1136/bmj.325.7378.1447. . (21 December.) [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 2. Boynton PM. The contextual evaluation of research on sexually explicit materials. Birmingham: Aston Business School, Aston University. [PhD thesis.]
  • 3. Boynton PM. Is that supposed to be sexy? Women discuss women in “top shelf” magazines. J Community Applied Soc Psychol 1999;9.
BMJ. 2003 Apr 12;326(7393):823.

Sexual desire, fatness, and class are connected in sociohistorical context

Daniel McQueen 1

Editor—Voracek and Fisher analysed the changing shape of centrefold models in Playboy and found that they seemed to be becoming thinner.1-1 In fact, the principal eating disorder in the United Kingdom today is overeating. Its consequence, obesity, is vastly more important as a public health issue than anorexia nervosa. Obesity is also a progressive condition, unlike anorexia nervosa, which tends to ameliorate with age.

I speculate that in society the changes in the “maximally sexually attractive” woman's body, from the chubby Mrs Rubens to the sinewy model Eva Herzigova, are due to the social significance of fatness. In the 17th century being thin indicated poverty—the poor laboured hard, starved, and as a result of overcrowding and poor sanitation contracted infectious diseases. Being fat represented ease—the rich did less physical work, ate plenty, and lived in more sanitary conditions. In the 21st century, in this part of the world, this has reversed. Being fat implies a bad, cheap, energy rich diet and a lack of physical activity and is associated with being poor. Being thin is, however, associated with wealth, presumably through greater health awareness, a healthier diet, and more opportunity for recreational exercise.

With this theory you don't have to assume a genetically inbuilt attraction to a given body mass index, ratio of hip to waist measurement, or fertility. One only needs to assume (or observe) that people are attracted by social dominance (high social class). Social dominance is associated with health and longevity. In the 17th century the rich lived longer than the poor partly because they were better nourished. Nowadays rich people live longer because poor people are unhealthily fat and die earlier, from the so called diseases of affluence.

Of course there is geographical as well as historical variation, and I assume that in a country where starvation is significant the maximally sexually attractive body is fatter. The person with anorexia nervosa is, however, a different matter. By definition this is an abnormal case, and you should look for the individual causes, not the societal ones.

Footnotes

Competing interests: None declared.

References

  • 1-1.Voracek M, Fisher ML. Shapely centrefolds? Temporal change in body measures: trend analysis. BMJ. 2002;325:1447–1448. doi: 10.1136/bmj.325.7378.1447. . (21 December.) [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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