History of BBWorld Part VIII

By 1950, the HMW title had remained static for over thirty years, with the last claimant being Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (who reached 489 lbs in 1919); furthermore, although the widespread global dismantling of class-based weight tiers following the French Revolution made it possible for those of non-noble heritage to attempt to claim the title, no serious contenders had arisen due to the nobility’s continued dominance (by having a head start, they had remained at the forefront until they reached the presumable limit of natural mobility). However, outside of this extreme, the gradual increase in standard of living and the now-established philosophy of the balanced diet meant that the general population was seeing widespread improvements in health and affluence. In the United States, for example, life expectancy had risen to 65 for men and 61 for women, and the average woman stood 5’4” and weighed 187 lbs.

The United States was also somewhat unique in its establishment of cultural dominance following the end of World War II; Hollywood had already to some degree begun spreading the American culture worldwide, but America’s decisive role in bringing an end to WWII (in addition to being essentially the only global superpower whose homeland was largely untouched by the conflict) meant that American influence was at an all-time high. This made the developments of 1950 all the more impactful to the redefinition of the global feminine beauty ideal.

At the end of WWII, American scientists sought to broaden their findings from military use to civilian applications; they recognized that due to the haste involved in wartime development of musculoskeletal augmentations, they had to overlook drawbacks which were making themselves more evident now that veterans were returning to civilian life. Many vets complained of inflammation and joint discomfort, which were traced back to complications of bone strengthening agents, as well as heart conditions and alterations in primary and secondary sex characteristics, which were attributed to the anabolic steroid use. Numerous studies were devoted to the mitigation of these effects, but almost as numerous were those dedicated to developing compounds which could provide the benefits of augmentation without resulting in the previously mentioned side effects. Some of the latter studies began to incorporate female test subjects as well, though these were faced with the further complication that most anabolic steroids had masculinizing properties.

It was these circumstances that saw the rise of the “father of the modern female figure,” John Bosley Ziegler. Ziegler’s familial history involved multiple generations of physicians and scientists, and as such he took particular interest in the augmentation process he underwent during the war as an officer in the Marine Corps. In seeking out ways to mitigate his side effects following the war, he got involved with steroid research efforts and made multiple breakthroughs in developing treatments for steroid complications. Following closer examination of some of the compounds used in said treatments, he hypothesized that careful alteration of the structure of metandienone (itself a modified version of testosterone developed during the war to reduce side effects) could minimize or eliminate such complications entirely. After synthesizing and performing initial testing on one of his candidate molecules, Ziegler put out the call in October 1948 for test subjects, advertising that participants in the study could expect “unprecedented improvements in physical strength;” this would entice numerous applicants, including one whose time in the study would result in the aforementioned 1950 revolution in feminine beauty.