Adolph Heilborn’s Theories on Women

I can learn little personally about Adolf Heilborn (1873-1941). But his book THE OPPOSITE SEXES caused a bit of a stir when it appeared in 1927, given that he described the female human as the missing link between ape and male human. Naturally, there was, um, a little pushback.






Original article here.


Here is the bio of his opponent.



But maybe it was all a joke! If this bookplate belongs to the same fellow, we can see he had a sense of humor.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 26, 2016 - Comments (7)
Category: Animals, Eccentrics, Feminism, Forgotten Figures and Where Are They Now?, Science, Anthropology, Stereotypes and Cliches, 1920s, Men, Women

Skinny Suicides Survival Rate

I had this post in the queue before Alex did his story about the woman jumping yesterday. Maybe this is the explanation for her miracle.

Apparently, it's best to put on a few pounds before jumping from a high place, if you are serious about doing yourself in.

Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jun 27, 2016 - Comments (4)
Category: Suicide, 1980s, Women

Scientist who thought women were like apes

The wikipedia article on Oxford anthropologist Arthur Thomson (1858-1935) notes that he's best remembered for formulating Thomson's Nose Rule, which states that ethnic groups from cold climates tend to have thinner noses than groups from hot climates.

Apparently he's not remembered for his "Women Are Like Apes" theory, which he presented to a meeting of the Royal Academy of Sciences in 1927. The basis of this theory was that, "woman's legs are usually shorter, and her arms longer, than man's" — and this, Thomson felt, made women more ape-like.

I was curious whether Thomson was actually correct about female body proportions, and after some googling I've concluded that he probably was — at least about women (on average) having shorter legs as a proportion of their total height than men do. See, for instance, this article by a designer of bicycles for women, which says that's the case.

Harrisburg Telegraph - Oct 5, 1927

Posted By: Alex - Sat Jun 25, 2016 - Comments (6)
Category: Science, Anthropology, 1920s, Women

The Easy Woman:  1963

Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Jun 12, 2016 - Comments (8)
Category: Sexuality, Stereotypes and Cliches, 1960s, Women, Mental Health and Insanity

The Anatomical Venus

This new book about the "Anatomical Venus" looks to be fascinatingly weird. Lots more photos at the link.

Posted By: Paul - Sat May 21, 2016 - Comments (2)
Category: Art, Body, Surgery, Women, Eighteenth Century

Judo Girls

Posted By: Paul - Sat May 14, 2016 - Comments (5)
Category: Martial Arts, 1950s, Women

Follies of the Madmen #281

Those puny digits of females--how can they even grasp a writing instrument?

Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Apr 24, 2016 - Comments (12)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Writers, 1960s, Men, Women

Only man never to have seen a woman

October 1938: 82-year-old Mihailo Tolotos died. He had lived his entire life in Greece's Mt. Athos monastery, which women were (are) not allowed to enter, and he was therefore believed to have been the only man in the world never to have seen a woman — or rather, the only man never to have been in the presence of a woman (except his mother, who died giving birth to him), because as the folks over at The Straight Dope point out, anyone who is born blind will have never seen a woman.

The Edinburg Daily Courier - Oct 29, 1938

In 1949, the Nixon Furniture Company featured the story of Mihailo Tolotos in one of their ads. They were worried that just as Tolotos had never seen a woman, perhaps the readers of the Raleigh Register hadn't seen all of Nixon's new furniture.

The Raleigh Register - Jan 7, 1949

Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 20, 2016 - Comments (7)
Category: Gender, Men, Women, 1930s

Sexy Lingerie

More in extended >>

Posted By: Paul - Sun Apr 03, 2016 - Comments (4)
Category: Advertising, Underwear, 1910s, Women

Follies of the Madmen #277

Consider the iconography: woman who forgot to rinse off all the soap bubbles from her bath provokes love and/or lust among male subway riders.

Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 17, 2016 - Comments (8)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Hygiene, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods, 1950s, Men, Women