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4 The Misogynis t Phase: 1920S-1960S Because th e basic dimensions o f hostility to fat and thei r comple x cultural root s wer e wel l establishe d befor e 192 0 i n th e Unite d States, on e nee d no t linge r ove r ever y detai l t o trac e subsequen t developments. Dietin g becam e par t o f American faddism , whic h means the significance o f fundamental feature s i s not matched b y the gyrations of specific die t formulas and products. The interest in dieting fairly steadily accelerated, which also provides new opportunities to follow its impact in individuals' lives. The link with a need for discipline and guilt persisted an d clearl y intensified alon g with heightened consumerism , accountin g fo r som e o f the ton e o f the diet literatur e o f the midcentur y decades . Non e o f this wa s automatic , but it can be portrayed with some efficiency . Nevertheless, there wer e some strikin g new developments. Th e most importan t wa s the ga p that opened u p betwee n a persistent , widely articulate d se t o f cultura l standard s an d th e actua l eatin g and weigh t patterns o f the America n public . Befor e tacklin g thi s huge anomaly , however , we need t o treat some special feature s o f the ongoing culture, beginning with the several decades in which, despite relativel y gender-fre e origins , i t turned t o focu s primarily , and often ver y nastily, on American women . What happene d her e — in th e mos t familia r aspec t o f moder n weight attitude s — was i n man y way s rathe r simple , bu t i t ha d vital repercussions . Wit h dietin g establishe d a s a mora l category , available t o compensat e fo r rea l o r imagine d indulgenc e i n othe r facets o f American society , i t coul d b e ratchete d u p t o attac h additional moral issues posed by particular segments of the popula71 72 I The Misogynist Phase: ig20s-ig6os tion. Greate r licens e fo r wome n (a s consumer s an d i n othe r re spects ) called down a heightened need for compensation by people implicitly hostile t o women bu t also by many women themselves . The resul t wa s a frenz y o f die t material s explicitl y directe d a t women i n th e decade s afte r 192 0 a s over t attentio n t o weigh t became a new gender divid e in a period when gender distinction s of other sort s were diminishing. This was not the only result to be noted i n th e intensificatio n o f weight control , despit e th e under standable feminis t focu s tha t ha s bee n place d o n th e topic . Me n participated, a bi t les s stridently , i n th e ongoin g cultur e a s well, particularly afte r 1950 , when th e basi c pattern s becam e les s gen dered onc e again . Bu t th e us e o f dietin g t o monito r wome n i n response t o ne w development s afte r Worl d Wa r I was an undeni ably importan t innovatio n i n th e standard s applie d t o weight, extending a s it did th e servic e o f these standard s i n mora l compen sation . Fo r a generation, a t least , weigh t moralit y bor e dispropor tionately o n wome n precisel y becaus e o f thei r growin g indepen dence , or seeming independence, from othe r standards. Ladies First In 192 1 the first Miss America stoo d 5 feet, on e inc h tall , wit h a twenty-five inc h waist and a weight of 108 pounds. Sixty years later her counterpart s wer e a t leas t five inche s taller , bu t thei r waist s were three inche s smalle r and thei r weight was only...

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