History of BBWorld Part II

Over time, the correlation between royal women and excess weight trickled down though the class system of many civilizations and often resulted in weight “tiers” based on a woman’s place in the population. Although higher weight was associated with more prestige, this was balanced against societal expectations of “knowing one’s place” in order to avoid jealousy and retribution from those in higher classes; in rare cases those with wives whose weight far exceeded the average for her class were able to ascend in class, but on most occasions an overly large woman brought penalties upon her family (such as restriction of food resources until the woman slimmed back down to an acceptable range for her class). This balance meant that weight tiers managed to remain reasonably static over large stretches of antiquity, though gradual creep upwards was inevitable.

As an example, consider the reigns of the first and second female pharaohs, Sobekneferu and Hatshepsut. Sobekneferu inherited the throne from Amenemhat IV (likely her brother or husband) and reigned for approximately 4 years starting in 1807 BC. She took power at a time of decline for Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, and indeed her presence would further destabilize the kingdom and result in the collapse of her dynasty. Modern analysis in large part attributes this to her uncompromising identity as both a woman and a ruler, which is lauded today, but at the time her subjects had little confidence in the former figurehead of their country assuming actual power to directly reign over them. Regardless, tablets dating from Sobekneferu’s reign recorded four class-based weight tiers. The highest was of course that of the royal family, with the upper bound represented by the woman of highest stature- in this case, Sobekneferu herself, who (in modern units) tipped the scales at approximately 275 lbs. Royal women below her were expected to maintain a weight of at least 230 lbs; below them was the second class/weight-tier, representing women associated with the priestly ranks whose designated range was around 195-230 lbs. The third tier was for women associated with the merchant class (weighing between 165-195 lbs), and the lowest tier was for all other women- the common folk making up the vast majority of the population.

In comparison, Hatshepsut seized the throne from her stepson Thutmose III after previously serving as his regent; she would reign for approximately 21 years starting in 1479 BC. Her rule was somewhat more well received and stable than that of Sobekneferu, partly due to the circumstances she inherited but also because of her different approach to rule. Though she had assumed the role of a traditional figurehead during the rule of Thutmose II (her husband and the pharaoh previous to Thutmose III), attaining a recorded weight of approximately 293 lbs, upon assuming the role of pharaoh she took on traditionally male roles in terms of both traits and garb.

As a result of this attempt to conform to the masculine nature of pharaohhood, she slimmed down considerably and focused on building up her musculature instead. This worked remarkably well in gaining acceptance amidst the Egyptian culture of patriarchy, and indeed her weight went unrecorded for a good portion of her rule (in line with traditional practices for male rulers). Over time she would gradually reintroduce aspects of her femininity, and though she would never return to her previous size, shortly before her death her weight was recorded at approximately 280 lbs. The tablet recording this also listed the weight tiers of the time, which showed remarkable similarity to those of Sobekneferu’s rule despite a jump of nearly 300 years in time- royal women were at least 240 lbs, priestly women were between 210-240 lbs, merchant women were between 175-210 lbs, and common women were of course below 175 lbs.

Indeed, the general concept of weight tiering by class persisted for a significant number of years, with surprisingly similar systems and ranges (though varying somewhat in implementation) being employed across the globe. Though the breakdown of this system was inevitable, for a good portion of history in the interim, further developments in the feminine beauty ideal were restricted to the continual redefinition of the upper bound of a woman’s weight.