Oh boy! It sure's hot in here!

The illustration above is once again by Gil Elvgren. Here the model has a perfect excuse to show off her charms; it's very hot in here! Hmmm...I wonder why. Elvgren uses a rich yellow color around the model to give us that feeling of summer hazy heat. As a matter of fact, it's so hot that just having a fan swirl air around is not enough; she has to put a big block of ice in front of it (I've never tried it, but it looks ingenious)to cool that gorgeous, feminine body. Her facial expression and smile are telling us, "I would never sit around like this you know, but what's a girl to do when it's so hot?"

As you can observe, Elvgren does not use many props. There is only a rattan cane chair, a fan and a block of ice that cannot compete with the alluring beauty of the model. In this way, the model remains as the main centerpiece in the illustration.

I think it's interesting that at the time of this illustration, it was common for women to dress in this fashion under their clothes. Pantyhose did not exist until Glen Raven Mills introduced it in 1959. Yet, today this looks like a depiction of a Playboy model. For Elvgren though, it was just an ordinary woman with wit and cheek.

During the 1970's, women's groups fought for equality with men at all levels. It was taken a radical step further and suddenly feminine qualities as illustrated above became outdated, oppressive and chauvinistic. However, as more women entered professions and even positions of power, they have wanted to gained back that sense of seductive femininity we see above. Thus, the success of fashion houses like Victoria's Secret, Frederick's of Hollywood and others.

Just last week, I was watching an episode from Dr. 90210 on the E! Channel. It featured a woman body-builder who actively competed for women's body building titles. Her boyfriend was her trainer and pushed her to be her best. However, despite success in this field, she confesses feeling that something was missing from her life.

Pushed by her boyfriend to do better, she worked very hard at the gym with heavy weights and different exercise routines. In time, this burnt out all the fatty tissue around the breast area. She felt she needed a lift, both physically and emotionally, thus visited a plastic surgeon to get breast implants. Her only worry was not being able to get back to the gym in time for competitions, after the operation. Despite the worry, she went ahead with the surgical procedure and was very satisfied with the results. Her self-confidence increased and she claimed to feel "sexy and feminine" again. Despite the titles won and having a successful career building muscle, which is a traditionally male fitness activity, she wanted to look at herself in the mirror and see a real woman behind all those muscles.

I think this illustrates, that no matter what job a woman does, or how she looks in the outside, inside she wants to feel like the picture above. It's a timeless feeling that no social, religious or political movement can erase.