The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-08-14
THE BEAUTIFUL SEX.
John L. Sullivan Compared
With the Venus of Milo.
OPINIONS OF LEADING ARTISTS.
1he Female Figure, Distorted by Las
ing' Rarely Approaches the
Ideal Of the Greeks.

Does woman deserve the credit she has
nad Tor such long time of monopolizing
the greater part Of the beauty in the world
Does the masculine or the feminine figure
approach nearer the ideal type of beauty I?
ana among men and women as they are
To-Day; IN which sex is the finer type of
beauty more frequently found? In short.
which deserves to be called the beautiful
sex?
Ihese questions were laid before the
leading figure artists of New York-artists
who have spent years in the study and
portrayal of the human figure-and these
are the answers which they made:
Il am inclined to think" said Mr.. Will
liam NJ. Chase, that the woman's figure,
In Its best development, is rather the
more beautiful. But the question is a
very difficult one to answer, for how can
anything be more beautiful than the form
of weIl-developed man of fine propor-
tons? After all, 1t must be answered diff
1erently for different epochs of the race.
If we consider the Greek ideals of beauty
as they found expression in Greek sculp-
ture, undoubtedly the female form is the
most beautiful of all things. The Venus
OF Milo is certainly the finest and noblest
embodiment of beauty Of which we have
any knowledge.
"But among the moderns, the people Of
the present time, it must be conceded that
the masculine figure has kept nearer to
the ideal type Of beauty. Probably the
reason is partly because men live a more
healthfui Sand more athletic life than
women, but mainly because they have
dressed more BEAUTIFULLY. The influence
OF the corset upon feminine beauty has
been ruinous. 1t is almost impossible to
find female figure that is not distorted.
Even when women themselves have not
laced, their figures show the hereditary
distortion that has come to them from the
generations of women who did lace.
81 do not want to be captious about the
modern style of dressing. do not think
women have dressed as picturesquely and
as artistically in long time as they do
now; but notwithstanding that fact, this
other fact still remains, that the corset
has so distorted the fine proportions of the
feminine form that one is seldom seen
nowadays that approaches the possibili-
ties OF feminine beauty. When you do
find beautiful woman, one whose figure
does not show the interference of clothing
with her artistic proportions, her figure is
more beautiful than the best mans figure.
But it is far more difficult to find"
II have often said to my classes" Mr..
J. Carroll Beckwith replied, 'that the pro-
portions Of mans figure approach the
ideal type of beauty more nearly than do
those of woman. If we carry the question
back to the Greek sculptures we find that
the strongly masculine types, such as the
Farnese Hercules. are not pleasing. The
excessive muscular development inter-
feres with the harmony of proportion.
The same thing is true of the feminine
types. Those that are markedly feminine
are not entirely pleasing. The Venus de
Medici, for instance, is not as pleasing as
the Venus of Milo. The former accents
too much the peculiar feminine character
istics.
''The most beautiful feminine types are
those that approach the masculine in their