Gibson Girls

1. Gibson Girls The Gibson Girl was the personification of the feminine ideal of beauty portrayed by the satirical pen-and-ink illustrations of illustratorCharles Dana Gibson during a 20-year period that spanned the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in the United States.Some people argue that the Gibson Girl was the first national beauty standard for American women. Gibson's fictional images of her published in newspapers and magazines during the Belle Époque were extremely popular. Merchandise bearing her image included saucers, ashtrays, tablecloths, pillow covers, chair covers, souvenir spoons, screens, fans, umbrella stands. The artist saw his creation as representing the composite of "thousands of American girls. The Gibson Girl was tall and slender, yet with ample bosom, hips and bottom. She had an exaggerated S-curve torso shape achieved by wearing a swan-billcorset. Images of her epitomized the late 19th- and early 20th-century Western preoccupation with youthful features and ephemeral beauty. Her neck was thin and her hair piled high upon her head in the contemporary bouffant, pompadour, and chignon ("waterfall of curls") fashions. The statuesque, narrow-waisted ideal feminine figure was portrayed as being at ease and stylish. She was a member of upper class society, always perfectly dressed in the latest fashionable attire appropriate for the place and time of day. Gibson depicted her as an equal and sometimes teasing companion to men.3 In addition to the Gibson Girl's refined beauty, in spirit, she was calm, independent, confident, and sought personal fulfillment. (She could be depicted attending college and vying for a good mate, but she would never have participated in the suffrage movement.) She was also sexually dominant, for example, literally examining comical little men under a magnifying glass, or, in a breezy manner, crushing them under her feet. Next to the beauty of a Gibson Girl, men often appeared as simpletons or bumblers; and even men with handsome physiques or great wealth alone could not provide satisfaction to her. Gibson illustrated men so captivated by her looks that would they would follow her anywhere, attempting to fulfill any desire, even if it was absurd. One memorable drawing shows dumbstruck men following a command to plant a young, leafless tree upside-down, roots in the air, simply because she wanted it that way. Most often, a Gibson Girl appeared single and uncommitted; however, a romance always relieved her boredom. Once married, she was shown deeply frustrated if romantic love had disappeared from her life, but satisfied if socializing with girlfriends or happy when doting on her infant child. 1 2

2. Gibson Girls http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_Girl