The search for the perfect mate isn't seen much these days, yet the image of the ideal wife or husband was, not that long ago, a standard and frequently resurrected cultural myth. That story too was of a man who shaped a woman to fit his notion of an ideal, or highly improved, form. But over the years the impulse to idealize lovers pretty much disappeared. The one vestige of the ideal-mate image that still goes strong is the Miss America pageant. To be sure, this too adjusted to modern sensibilities last year when it took a national plebiscite on whether the bathing-suit competition should be continued.
Several explanations are possible for the disappearance of the idealized mate.
Divorce statistics have undoubtedly helped. The main cause is probably the women's movement, which began in modern force not long after Vertigo originally came out and which, like all politically driven events, contained both smart and stupid moves. The basic thrust for equality, however, was impeccable, and it followed as the night the night, that if women were to be the equal of men they would be seen as equally flawed. And there are the health clubs. Many young people have StairMastered themselves into such great shape these days that physically they appear to be closer to perfection than ever.