The 'Perfect' Woman

[AiA in Atlanta]

Wouldn't call her "fat," just large-boned.


The 'Perfect Woman' In 1912, Elsie Scheel, Was 171 Pounds And Loved Beefsteaks

We generally hate any attempt to describe what the "perfect" woman looks like, weighs or does. But reading the articles written about Elsie Scheel, the 24-year-old Cornell student who was declared the ideal woman in December 1912, drove home just how much our idea of "perfection" has changed since the early 20th century.



Elsie Scheel was interested in automobiles and horticulture, loved to eat beefsteaks, never drank tea or coffee, was an "ardent suffragist" and according to the New York Times, she didn't "know what fear [was]." The Times also called Scheel "the most nearly perfect physical specimen of womanhood."

Cornell University's medical examiner, Dr. Esther Parker, selected Scheel from a pool of 400 Cornell women. The New York Times described her as "a light-haired, blue-eyed girl whose very presence bespeaks perfect health," and The Star, a Wilmington, Del. paper, reported that Scheel was 171 pounds, 5 ft. 7 in. tall and had similar proportions to the famous Greek statue, Venus de Milo.

All of which proves that American culture in 1912 upheld a very different ideal of female physical perfection than the one we see promoted today in the majority of women's magazines, on TV and in movies. In January 2010, blogger Kate Harding calculated what Scheel's BMI would have been. She wrote:

Miss Elsie Scheel’s BMI would have been 26.8, placing her squarely in today’s dreaded “overweight” category. At Banana Republic, to pick a random contemporary store, she would wear a size 8 top, a 12/14 bottom, and probably a 12 dress with the bust taken in.

See there, what constitutes the "perfect specimen of womanhood" is totally subjective and cultural. Glad we got that sorted out. In the meantime, we'd totally hang out with Elsie Scheel, perfect or not.

[IQS.RLOW]

...needs a flat head and love of tubesteak

[wog_girl]

So to be perfect I just have to eat beef steaks? I must have died and gone to heaven.

[boxy]

Sir Talbot Buxomly: The fact is you are regent, appointed by God, and I shall stick by you forever, even though infirmity lay me waste and ill health curse my every waking moment (Sits down).
Prince George: Well, good on you sir, and don't talk to me about infermity! Why sir, you are the hardy stock that is the core of Britain's greatness, you have the physique of a demigod, purple of cheek, plump of fetlock, the shapely ankle and the well filled trousers: the tells of a human body in perfect working order!
Blackadder: (Feeling Buxomly's pulse) He's dead sir.
Prince George: Dead?
Blackadder: Yes, Your Highness.
Prince George: What bad luck, we were rather getting on.

[AiA in Atlanta]

So to be perfect I just have to eat beef steaks? I must have died and gone to heaven.

Like beef steak, do you?

[AiA in Atlanta]

100 years ago few Americans could afford to be as *robust* as Miss Scheel.

[Sexy Lady]

The perfect woman now days, if populism has anything to say on the matter, is the tall athletic physique and multitasks to perfection, however, if reality has a say, the perfect woman is about 5'5", over weight and rather happy go lucky.

[Rorschach]

Are you saying in reality the perfect woman is the "average" woman?
I'd have thought they were not the same thing.
I doubt Multitasking comes into it also.

[Sexy Lady]

Are you saying in reality the perfect woman is the "average" woman?

Are you saying that the average woman is 'happy go lucky' Rorschach? I'd disagree with you on that... the average woman is a bit of a stress head, worrying the little things too much and too often.

I'd have thought they were not the same thing.

If we are talking about the perfect woman for the perfect man, then certainly the boundaries I would form would change significantly. But, I don't think that is what is being explored here... I think we are considering the perfect woman for the average man.

[Rorschach]

Are you saying in reality the perfect woman is the "average" woman?

1/Are you saying that the average woman is 'happy go lucky' Rorschach? I'd disagree with you on that... the average woman is a bit of a stress head, worrying the little things too much and too often.

I'd have thought they were not the same thing.

2/If we are talking about the perfect woman for the perfect man, then certainly the boundaries I would form would change significantly. But, I don't think that is what is being explored here... I think we are considering the perfect woman for the average man.

1/ No, I thought you were. I'm guessing if you wanted to know for sure there would have to be a huge census taken.

2/ I don't think there is a perfect woman or a perfect man... too many variables and of course perfection like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I didn't think we were discussing anything about perfection in a man.

But your original description does tick some boxes for me.