A study of the relationship between women's status and standards of female beauty

Abstract

Morrison and Holden (1973) hypothesized that the lower North American women's status is relative to men's, the more women will erotically adorn themselves, specifically, the more they will emphasize the appearance of their breasts. Conversely, the higher women's status is relative to men's, the less women will erotically adorn themselves, specifically, the less they will emphasize the appearance of their breasts. The purpose of this research was to test Morrison and Holden's (1973) hypothesis for the period of 1970 to the present. Data on the status of North American women as well as on North American women's fashion trends were collected for the time period of 1970 to the present. Sources included but were not limited to, North American demographics, literature on women's issues, books on women's history, general historical accounts, books on fashion history, fashion magazines and newspaper articles. Each data item was assigned a value and standardized scores were generated to produce graphs which depict women's changing status and fashion trends since 1970. Analysis of the data supported Morrison and Holden's (1973) hypothesis, revealing a consistent, inverse relationship between the two variables. These findings add to the credibility of the authors' theory and to the justification for using it as a predictive tool.