Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
women profited by the licence
English answer:
women benefitted from the freedom to deviate from "normal" size
Added to glossary by
Yvonne Gallagher
Nov 12, 2018 14:29
5 yrs ago
English term
China
Native in: Chinese 
women profited by the licence
English
Art/Literary
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
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;
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;
Change log
Nov 26, 2018 10:36: Yvonne Gallagher Created KOG entry
Responses
+3
32 mins
Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Ireland
Native in English
&
English
Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: US, Canadian, Irish, UK) 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
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56
Selected
women benefited from the freedom to deviate from "normal" size
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
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
Peer comment(s):
| 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
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Many thanks:-)
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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
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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.
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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
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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 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+1
4 hrs
women who benefited from this gift of nature
They way I see it.
Peer comment(s):
| 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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Discussion
I do think you're parsing the sentence incorrectly - "women profited by the licence" is not a phrase.
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:What_Maisie_Knew_(Chicago...