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women profited by the licence

English translation: women benefitted from the freedom to deviate from "normal" size

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:women profited by the licence
Selected answer:women benefitted from the freedom to deviate from "normal" size
Entered by: Yvonne Gallagher

14:29 Nov 12, 2018
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
English term or phrase: women profited by the licence
In English, “Women profited by the licence” refers to “prostitute”, is that right?
quotation from What Maisie Knew (introduction part): Notwithstanding some very long lines everything about her that might have been large and that in many women profited by the licence was, with a single exception, admired and cited for its smallness. The exception was her eyes, which might have been of mere regulation size, but which overstepped the modesty of nature;
Jianing SHU
China
women benefited from the freedom to deviate from "normal" size
Explanation:
here licence means freedom or permission to be exempt from the norms (of size)

The text says all the parts of Maisie that "might have been large" ..were actually small (with the exception of her eyes)

However, IF these parts had been large, she could have been like other women who benefit from the freedom to be large in certain areas without anyone's disapproval or castigation.
I presume breasts and hips and possibly derrière are the usual parts of a woman's anatomy that have licence to be "large" whereas most people would criticise a big waist, belly or fat legs or ankles in a woman.



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Note added at 32 mins (2018-11-12 15:02:03 GMT)
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that's my reading of it anyway...

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Note added at 35 mins (2018-11-12 15:04:39 GMT)
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so in simple terms, women are "allowed" have big boobs etc. and be still considered beautiful or at least shapely
Selected response from:

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 12:39
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +3women benefited from the freedom to deviate from "normal" size
Yvonne Gallagher
3 +1women who benefited from this gift of nature
Vaddy Peters


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


32 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
women benefited from the freedom to deviate from "normal" size


Explanation:
here licence means freedom or permission to be exempt from the norms (of size)

The text says all the parts of Maisie that "might have been large" ..were actually small (with the exception of her eyes)

However, IF these parts had been large, she could have been like other women who benefit from the freedom to be large in certain areas without anyone's disapproval or castigation.
I presume breasts and hips and possibly derrière are the usual parts of a woman's anatomy that have licence to be "large" whereas most people would criticise a big waist, belly or fat legs or ankles in a woman.



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 32 mins (2018-11-12 15:02:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

that's my reading of it anyway...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 35 mins (2018-11-12 15:04:39 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

so in simple terms, women are "allowed" have big boobs etc. and be still considered beautiful or at least shapely

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 12:39
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 56
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Didier Declercq (X): Breasts and hips tended to be accentuated by clothing, whereas Maisie was "admired and cited for its smallness". Admired as in looked at with amusement, considered impressive for being the opposite of "impressive".
32 mins
  -> Many thanks:-)
agree  B D Finch: As this was written by Henry James (1890s), I think it would be more likely to refer to her nose, hands and feet, rather than the parts of her anatomy you mention. Skirts were long and clothes weren't generally ready-to-wear. Upwards-only deviation too.
33 mins
  -> Many thanks:-) yes, I was thinking of the Victorian hourglass shape with corsets and hoops emphasising boobs/buttocks and tiny waist. No fat ankles either! Nor big hands or feet.
agree  Charles Davis: (This is Ida Farange, Maisie's mother.) The parts of women that, if large, are thought becoming ("profited") are the ones you suggest, not nose/hands/feet. I think there's a suggestion that Ida, though beautiful, is not "maternal" in figure or nature.
5 hrs
  -> Thanks for the info that it's Ida.. I don't know this work and been years since I read any James. Yes, I think bodies that looked capable of childbearing were prized! (Even today it seems)
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
women who benefited from this gift of nature


Explanation:
They way I see it.

Vaddy Peters

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Arnoldas Zdanevicius: yes. I think to look at females as gift of nature is more human. So even if it means promiscuity. Still many women do not sell their body for pleasure because there are no vagina in this world which likes 1000 ejaculations per day...
45 mins
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