Spectacular Bodies: Los Angeles Beach Cultures and the Making of the “California Look” (1900s-1960s)
This article explores the origins, whitewashing, and eventual fetishization of the “California look”—a body ideal centered on bronzed skin, bleached hair, and bulging muscles, which gained a prominent place within American visual imagery in the second half of the twentieth century. Rather than solel...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
2019-12-01
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/15480 |
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| author | Elsa Devienne |
| author_facet | Elsa Devienne |
| author_sort | Elsa Devienne |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article explores the origins, whitewashing, and eventual fetishization of the “California look”—a body ideal centered on bronzed skin, bleached hair, and bulging muscles, which gained a prominent place within American visual imagery in the second half of the twentieth century. Rather than solely focusing on representations of California bodies in popular culture, as other studies have done, the article locates the origins of the California look in the social history of Los Angeles’ beaches and, in particular, their use as sites of corporeal spectacles. Unlike in Europe and the East Coast, where hygienist justifications for seaside recreation endured, from the early twentieth century onwards Southern California beachgoers set medical concerns aside and focused on having fun, and shaping and parading their bodies. In parallel, consumer capitalism, aided by the rise of the beauty, exercise, and diet industries, transformed these local pursuits of health and fitness into a marketable lifestyle and coherent set of body aesthetics. Despite African-American, Asian, and Latino Angelenos’ continuing engagement with local beach cultures, national and popular culture representations of such trends systematically erased non-white bodies, thereby constructing the California look as a conspicuously white icon. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-086a061328b14ae995705ff6d11b691e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-086a061328b14ae995705ff6d11b691e2025-01-06T09:09:00ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362019-12-0114410.4000/ejas.15480Spectacular Bodies: Los Angeles Beach Cultures and the Making of the “California Look” (1900s-1960s)Elsa DevienneThis article explores the origins, whitewashing, and eventual fetishization of the “California look”—a body ideal centered on bronzed skin, bleached hair, and bulging muscles, which gained a prominent place within American visual imagery in the second half of the twentieth century. Rather than solely focusing on representations of California bodies in popular culture, as other studies have done, the article locates the origins of the California look in the social history of Los Angeles’ beaches and, in particular, their use as sites of corporeal spectacles. Unlike in Europe and the East Coast, where hygienist justifications for seaside recreation endured, from the early twentieth century onwards Southern California beachgoers set medical concerns aside and focused on having fun, and shaping and parading their bodies. In parallel, consumer capitalism, aided by the rise of the beauty, exercise, and diet industries, transformed these local pursuits of health and fitness into a marketable lifestyle and coherent set of body aesthetics. Despite African-American, Asian, and Latino Angelenos’ continuing engagement with local beach cultures, national and popular culture representations of such trends systematically erased non-white bodies, thereby constructing the California look as a conspicuously white icon.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/15480California; beach; bodies; Muscle Beach; Los Angeles; spectacle; surfing; bodybuilding; tanning; health; fitness; leisure; physique |
| spellingShingle | Elsa Devienne Spectacular Bodies: Los Angeles Beach Cultures and the Making of the “California Look” (1900s-1960s) European Journal of American Studies California; beach; bodies; Muscle Beach; Los Angeles; spectacle; surfing; bodybuilding; tanning; health; fitness; leisure; physique |
| title | Spectacular Bodies: Los Angeles Beach Cultures and the Making of the “California Look” (1900s-1960s) |
| title_full | Spectacular Bodies: Los Angeles Beach Cultures and the Making of the “California Look” (1900s-1960s) |
| title_fullStr | Spectacular Bodies: Los Angeles Beach Cultures and the Making of the “California Look” (1900s-1960s) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spectacular Bodies: Los Angeles Beach Cultures and the Making of the “California Look” (1900s-1960s) |
| title_short | Spectacular Bodies: Los Angeles Beach Cultures and the Making of the “California Look” (1900s-1960s) |
| title_sort | spectacular bodies los angeles beach cultures and the making of the california look 1900s 1960s |
| topic | California; beach; bodies; Muscle Beach; Los Angeles; spectacle; surfing; bodybuilding; tanning; health; fitness; leisure; physique |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/15480 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT elsadevienne spectacularbodieslosangelesbeachculturesandthemakingofthecalifornialook1900s1960s |