After the results of a survey about the trends in slimness, performed by the French Observatoire Société et Consommation (ObSoCo) for the Centre d’Information de la Diététique Minceur* (Centre for Information on Slimness Diet), slimness is an ideal that has constantly and dramatically changed within the last 40 years. It makes now 9 million French people face contradictory demands. However, it is still a milestone.
While summer is closer and closer, nine million French people will face the image of their bodies. In this context, the Centre d’Information de la Diététique Minceur has asked the ObSoCo to perform a study on the trends of slimness.
Why does slimness make us dream so much? How do French will react to the "No diet" injunction? This survey on trends comes back to the story and the evolution of slimness during the last 40 years, to enlighten us about how central it is to our society, and highlights interesting paradoxes about our relationship with our own bodies and slimness, which make experts wonder about the best possible actions to take.
Shaping one’s body to comply with the society’s criteria
Slimness has always been central to our modern society, though its meaning and depiction have evolved over time.
Slimness story is parallel to societies’ stories. For instance, from the end of the 19 th century to the beginning of the 21 st , it is a mark for the main dramatic changes in this period. In a bit more than a century, we went from stoutness as a symbol for prosperity to a slender body, a symbol of success. …
