Shaping |
| The shape of the human body changes throughout life, but in many cultures people have found ways to permanently or temporarily sculpt the body. To conform to culturally-defined ideals of beauty, people have bound the soft bones of children's skulls and feet, stretched necks with rings, removed ribs to minimize waists and, most commonly today, sculpted their bodies through plastic surgery. The widespread practice of head shaping, dating back at least 6000 years, continued in many regions, including Europe, through the 19th century. Head shaping still occurs in some places such as isolated communities of South America. Becoming fat is a sign of health, wealth and fertility in some societies, and fattening may be part of a girl's coming of age ceremony or a way to proclaim the high status of a ruler, either male or female. Tiny waists, small feet and large or small breasts and buttocks have been prized or scorned as ideals of female beauty. Men's bodies have also been molded by deliberate fattening, weight lifting, head binding or wearing corsets. While some forms of body art mostly mark the body surface (the skin, hair, nails), other body adornments radically alter the silhouette or the actual shape of the body. Perhaps more so than in other forms of adornment such alterations are often based on a culturally validated aesthetic rather than on issues of role or status within the community. The shaping of the waist, through belting, corseting, girdling or hiding its natural curve, has long held universal interest. What is considered an acceptable shape for the torso is intimately tied up with cultural aesthetics, discipline and social status. Tight-lacing is defined as the conscious and visible process of artificial constriction of the waist. The act of tight lacing is as important as the end result. The binding and loosening of belts and corsets often have the ritual significance of the release or suppression of sexuality associated with them. The state of being tightly corseted is felt by some to be a form of erotic tension which demands erotic release. |