On Sunday, in just one hour at the Brunnier Art Museum, Amy Bix gave a lecture that condensed a century of women’s history.

“Broads, Bikers, and Body-Builders: Contemporary Images of 20th Century Women” focused on women’s bodies and clothing, and how changing images of them reflected the social history of the times.

Bix made references to the ultra-realistic, life-size sculptures by Marc Sijan on display. The portrayal of women in Sijan’s sculptures is much different than how they have been traditionally been presented, she said.

“If you flip through a Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, those women have been airbrushed to perfection,” said Bix, associate professor of history. “They’re ultra-idealistic. Sijan’s women don’t necessarily fit into a one-dimensional stereotype of beauty and attractiveness. They have uneven tan lines, ragged nails, moles on the face, everything.”

Sijan’s sculptures can be looked at as products of our own time, she said. Bix referred to each decade of the 20th century to show how the image of women have evolved up until the present.

In the early 1900s women molded themselves into the ideal hourglass figure by wearing restrictive corsets.

“Women wearing corsets were seen as refined, under control, `proper women,’ ” Bix said.

As the century marched on to the 1910s and ’20s, the idea of a `new woman’ came about. These were women who wore shorter skirts and actively excercised, Bix said.

“The thing that really solidified change is the war,” Bix said. “Women’s roles expanded as they never would in peace time.”

Bix said women in each war left the domestic sphere to became ambulance drivers, pilots and telephone operators.

“Some changes just had too much momentum to go back,” she said. “Women had the right to vote. Fashions were changing.”

Jane Frerichs, Ames resident, said she agreed with Bix.

“I was born in 1930, so much of this I did see,” she said. Jumping hurdles was out of the question and I got fussed at for doing it.”