Reubenesque! Let's hear it for gals with a little meat on their bones - Hoorah!
Sarah Bernhart was the most beautiful woman of her day. She was five feet tall and weighed 150 lbs.
Up until quite recently, a woman was supposed to have plump, round shoulders -and collarbones were considered repulsive.
In the novel, Lorna Doone the hero is telling about his cousin - the most beautiful woman in the area. One of the most appealing things about her were her beautiful round forearms. She was so plump that the bone on her wrist did not stick out.
The high-fashion magazines want us to look like 12 year-old boys. Well fooey on that! Let's appreciate the beauty of curves. Let's admire feminine roundness and softness. Let's enjoy our Reubenesque beauty!!
Perhaps in earlier times Reubenesque qualities signified wealth and the ability to afford fattening foods and live a life of leisure. Today's standard of "beauty" or model-like quality may have been considered waif-life and a symbol of commonness or poverty.
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Tossing It Out
I seem to remember books where someone is referred to as "pleasingly plump" or "voluptuous" and so on. Such fads and crazes to rule a woman's self image. Yet, it's hard not to look at a painting, say of Venus by someone like Rubens, and wonder what he was thinking of! But in the day, men were lusting and women were envying. Human Nature! Alice
ReplyDeleteOh, it's all about a show of wealth. In the olden days, being plump meant you had plenty to eat. Now it means you get lots of bad calories from cheap food. Likewise, it used to be cool to be pale because it meant you stayed out of the sun/work. Now being tan means you have time to lie about in the sun. (Not that these perceptions are necessarily accurate, mind you.)
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