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

Abstract

Representations 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.