The perfect woman

(written by lawrence krubner, however indented passages are often quotes). You can contact lawrence at: lawrence@krubner.com, or follow me on Twitter.

Ideals about feminine beauty have changed a lot of the last 100 years..

the old newspaper clippings themselves are delightful; headlines include “BEEFSTEAK HER MAINSTAY” (caps necessary!) and “Is Very Strong, Weighs 171 Pounds, and is 5 Feet 7 Inches Tall — Means to Grow Vegetables.”

Some fun facts about Elsie, who did not have a “single physical defect”:

She was an “ardent suffragette.”
“She says she has never been ill and doesn’t know what fear is.” !!!!!
“The girls at Safe College, she thinks, work too hard at their studies and too late at night.” Elsie is so chill.
She studied horticulture, but “if she were a man she would study mechanical engineering.” If Elsie was around today, I’m pretty sure she’d be the CEO of Google. Or President.
She has never had tea or coffee in her life!
“She knows many of the industrial conditions at first hand, such as the cotton mills and the oyster canneries. Welfare work is a subject of vital importance to her.”
Her mother, who studied medicine after her children grew up, is her “ideal woman.”

Post external references

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    http://jezebel.com/5970466/meet-1912s-perfect-women-pear+shaped-171-lbs-doesnt-know-fear
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