Where's the beef? The feminisation of weight‐loss dieting in Britain and Scandinavia c.1890–1925

Abstract

AbstractRepresentations of the slim body have traditionally been at the centre of scholarly interest in dieting culture, whereas food often remains a shadowy presence compared with more persistent themes of body discipline, slenderness and anti‐fat messages. This article offers a different perspective on weight‐loss dieting, placing food at the very centre of the analysis. By examining different diets in British and Scandinavian ladies’ magazines from the 1890s to the 1920s, I argue that the gendering of different foods was central to the changes that weight‐loss diets went through at the turn of the twentieth century, when the meat‐heavy diets associated with male dieting were gradually transformed. That this process was initiated within the feminine beauty culture promoted by ladies’ magazines is reinforced by the fact that weight‐loss diets changed well before mainstream nutritional advice did. The empirical analysis shows that this process of feminisation tied weight‐loss diets to existing, vegetarian beauty routines for a good complexion, suggesting that modern dieting culture is not only about slimming, but can be seen as a variation of a theme within beauty culture that centres around the imagined impact of different foods on the gendered body.