How Historical Films Impact Desirability by Supporting Current Beauty Standards

A defining characteristic of society has always been its ever changing beauty standards. And yet with each decade that ushers in an emphasis on a new body type, this specific feature still becomes the most desired objective. Despite the fact that we know in ten to twenty years it’ll be gone or completely changed, its time in the spotlight still puts immense amounts of pressure on young people, and particularly women or femme identifying people. 

So how do societal pressures impact period films, and vice versa? 

Pride and Prejudice (2005)

The first name that pops into your head when you think period films is likely Kiera Knightley. She’s starred in her fair share, as has Winona Ryder, Elle Fanning and Lily-Rose Depp. And what do all these women have in common? They’re very slim. Pride and Prejudice (2005), Marie Antoinette (2006) and more recently The King (2019) and The Great (2020) were all released between the noughties and into the 2010s; a time when petite was the only shape being shown in the media. While it wasn’t as unattainable as the supermodel body of the 90s, it wasn’t too far off, and these women all reflect that standard immensely. It’s difficult to take an issue with (only) this when you’re coming from a media standpoint; if you look at any other mainstream film that stars a beautiful lead actress, chances are they’ll have a very similar figure. So why is it such an issue in relation to period films?

All the way up to the 19th century, before the industrial revolution, weight was a direct sign of class. Essentially the fatter you were, the wealthier you were, and thus the more desirable your social status was. A fuller figure marked the fact that you weren’t working in the fields and that you could afford to eat well; both very desirable traits at this time. 

Also, the primary responsibility of women during this period was caregiver. They were married to bare children and continue the family line - especially in relation to the characters the women in these films are playing, as they are predominantly aristocrats or from the upper class. This meant that wide hips and everything that comes with them, such as big thighs and a full tummy, were desired. It marked that a woman would be a great child bearer, and thus would be able to successfully do her ‘duty.’ It does need to be said that for women there was a cap on their weight in relation to beauty. Aristocratic men could get as fat as they wanted, but women were most desirable when they had a full figure, and a chunkier body.

Aristocratic Woman (17th century)

So how does all of this relate to period films? 

Well the women that play them don’t reflect the true historical figures. They don’t reflect the beauty standards of the time, or even the depth of meaning that was related to these bodily expectations. So when these actors and actresses are cast, it does two things. First, it erases history. We aren’t being shown the true nature of the time, the societal power struggles and the further inability to jump between classes, and the reality that beauty expectations come loaded with other meanings.

It also seriously enforces current beauty standards. By erasing different ‘desired’ figures that have come and gone, the narrative that this current beauty standard is the all important, all pervasive, all desired one gets stuffed down audiences throats. Young, impressionable people walk out believing that they would never have been, and will never be, the ‘desired’ protagonist because their stomach is too full, or their legs are too skinny, or whichever particular insecurity isn’t being portrayed.

Often these films are love stories, so we are being fed the idea that only one body type, the one that fits the current narrative, has ever been and will ever be the desired one. This is such a dangerous game to be playing.

The women who play these figures have the ability to get cast in almost any film being made today, because they fit the current narrative beauty wise. But if the women and femme identifying people who fit 18th century beauty standards aren’t even allowed to be involved in the telling of that narrative, then how are they ever going to be included in the current narrative surrounding weight? By excluding these different body’s and sizes, we’re further ostracising people who don’t reflect what we as a society currently deem ‘beautiful,’ and rewriting history. And the danger of that is immense.