The ‘curvy years’ and their aftermath: Film, media and representations of femininity in 1980s and 1990s Greece

Abstract

Abstract The article explores the representational politics of femininity in 1980s and 1990s Greece. Using the body as its main analytical tool, it argues that in the 1980s the Greek mediascape paid limited attention to international trends that highlighted fitness and tautness in the production of new sex symbols. Thus, traditionally, most female sex symbols were curvy stars of cinema. Nevertheless, as Greek media came into further contact with international trends in the 1990s, new sex symbols originating from fields such as modelling and sports emerged. As lifestyle media developed as a crucial component of the Greek mediascape, beauty standards became stricter. Thus, although the aesthetics of cinema and television converged, cinema lost its role as the main producer of sex symbols.