In the habits not only is there frequently a pronounced taste for smoking
cigarettes, often found in quite feminine women, but also a decided taste
and toleration for cigars. There is also a dislike and sometimes
incapacity for needlework and other domestic occupations, while there is
often some capacity for athletics.
As regards the general bearing of the inverted woman, in its most
marked and undisguised form, I may quote an admirable description
by Prof. Zuccarelli, of Naples, of an unmarried middle-class
woman of 35: "While retaining feminine garments, her bearing is
as nearly as possible a man's. She wears her thin hair thrown
carelessly back _alla Umberto_, and fastened in a simple knot at
the back of her head. The breasts are little developed, and
compressed beneath a high corset; her gown is narrow without the
expansion demanded by fashion. Her straw hat with broad plaits is
perhaps adorned by a feather, or she wears a small hat like a
boy's. She does not carry an umbrella or sunshade, and walks out
alone, refusing the company of men; or she is accompanied by a
woman, as she prefers, offering her arm and carrying the other
hand at her waist, with the air of a fine gentleman.
Pages:
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592