Sylphan Lovelies
Sylph. Lynn Johnston just loves that word. I had thought that the name originated in Greek mythology, but upon looking it up discovered that the term originates in Paracelsus in his Liber de Nymphis, sylphis, pygmaeis et salamandris et de caeteris spiritibus, who describes sylphs as invisible beings of the air, his elementals of air. Traditionally, there are four types:
gnomes, earth elementals
undines, water elementals
sylphs, air elementals
salamanders, fire elementals.
Because of their association with the ballet La Sylphide, where sylphs are identified with fairies and the medieval legends of fairyland, a slender girl may be referred to as a "sylph".
The term does not appear in the AMU reprints archive of the strip, but it does appear in the old classic monthly letters. In this letter, Mike Patterson is complaining about his work at Portrait Magazines and launches into an odd attack on an advertisement in the magazine:
Mike's Letter, March 2006
The most memorable portrait we've printed recently wasn't an interview, but an advertisement. Four pages, set in the front, middle and back of the mag, featured a sylphan lovely removing her garments - with the last page showing her holding a bottle of perfume in such a way that her obvious assets were obscured. Not a bad idea, really - and the money generated by that one bit of branding likely paid for the publisher's implants - however. The look on this girl's face was way beyond raunchy...and they tell me she's just seventeen.
I am not sure why Lynn Johnston considers big butts to be funny. Certainly Sir Mixalot would not agree.
gnomes, earth elementals
undines, water elementals
sylphs, air elementals
salamanders, fire elementals.
Because of their association with the ballet La Sylphide, where sylphs are identified with fairies and the medieval legends of fairyland, a slender girl may be referred to as a "sylph".
The term does not appear in the AMU reprints archive of the strip, but it does appear in the old classic monthly letters. In this letter, Mike Patterson is complaining about his work at Portrait Magazines and launches into an odd attack on an advertisement in the magazine:
Mike's Letter, March 2006
The most memorable portrait we've printed recently wasn't an interview, but an advertisement. Four pages, set in the front, middle and back of the mag, featured a sylphan lovely removing her garments - with the last page showing her holding a bottle of perfume in such a way that her obvious assets were obscured. Not a bad idea, really - and the money generated by that one bit of branding likely paid for the publisher's implants - however. The look on this girl's face was way beyond raunchy...and they tell me she's just seventeen.
Notice he used the word "sylphan". That is my one and only other reference to the word in For Better or For Worse.
As for today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse, this is one in a series of strips where Lynn Johnston likes to show the enlarged bottoms of the female protagonists for comic effect and no one is immune. Usually Anne Nichols is the recipient of the largest bottom award, like in today's reprint. In the new-runs, sometimes Lynn forgets that Connie Poirier was skinny and sticks her with the big butt.
I am not sure why Lynn Johnston considers big butts to be funny. Certainly Sir Mixalot would not agree.
posted by howard at 9:42 PM
16 Comments:
The reason we see this sort of 'humor' is, of course, that Lynn has the same issues with her personal appearance that Cathy Guisewite has; both women have made a public confession of having eating disorders and both have avatars that are fatter than they are in real life. As a matter of fact, Cathy the character is pretty much supposed to be morbidly obese; her lack of a nose is supposed to indicate that her face is so fat, her cheeks hide her nose.
I love how we're supposed to believe Mike's a 30-something straight male. If my experience with 30-something straight males is anything to go by, if Mike even noticed the ad, he'd think the girl looked too skinny and sad (I don't really know how someone's expression can be "raunchy"), then get back to work and forget all about it. And that catty "pay for the publisher's implants" remark is pure Lynn.
DreadedCandiru2,
As a matter of fact, Cathy the character is pretty much supposed to be morbidly obese; her lack of a nose is supposed to indicate that her face is so fat, her cheeks hide her nose.
I had not heard that before. I had just assumed Cathy Guisewite was making some kind of artistic decision, like when Lynn Johnston occasionally decides not to draw eyes on her characters.
Clio,
If my experience with 30-something straight males is anything to go by, if Mike even noticed the ad, he'd think the girl looked too skinny and sad (I don't really know how someone's expression can be "raunchy"), then get back to work and forget all about it.
Some men do like extremely skinny women. I am not one of them; but Mike may be one of them, since his wife is easily one of the skinniest women in Milborough. Nevertheless, your point is well-taken that his reaction is not typical of most 30-something straight males. John Patterson may be another story, since there was one monthly letter where he talked about a sexy calendar featuring skinny older women carrying chainsaws.
a sexy calendar featuring skinny older women carrying chainsaws
O_o. I've never heard of such a thing. Lynn's kink is definitely unique!
I've mostly discussed the "what do guys like" thing with men who either like women whom they class as "normal with curves" and up, or with guys who just like women, period. I had one very short discussion with the boyfriend of a friend of a friend (a very skinny young woman) who said that ALL men liked women who were very skinny, and that's all they cared about. In other words, all men were supposedly exactly like him. I asked him if all the guys I'd dated were lying when they said they liked how I was shaped, and he said yes. I ended the conversation there, because it was just too stupid. I think he and Lynn would get along beautifully.
howard,
I remember seeing the oldest Cathys somewhere and was shocked by what I saw. While I found it sort of reassuring that the Irving, Andrea and Charlene of 1977 look much like they do now, I was horrified to see the jowly, heavy-set woman referring to herself as Cathy. She wasn't pleasantly plump at all; she was disgustingly, slovenly, sloppily fat. The one we see today is still supposed to be the same revolting porker; Guisewite just made the appalling bucket of goo more toyetic for the masses. We should thank her and Lynn for this terrifying look inside the mind of an anorexic after we spend an hour shivering in fear.
This strip always makes me think of the monthly letter, too. Lynn has some odd fixations. Notice that at the "sylph" page at Dictionary.com, the adjectival forms given are "sylphic" and "sylphlike," not "sylphan." And if you Google "sylphan", most of the hits seem to refer someone who uses "Sylphan" as an online user name. And the tenth hit is this very blog entry. :)
It looks like she's combining Sylvan with Sylph.
Clio,
I've mostly discussed the "what do guys like" thing with men who either like women whom they class as "normal with curves" and up, or with guys who just like women, period.
The last guy seems to be the most accurate. No matter what shape a woman may have, there is a guy out there who likes it. As to whether the woman with that shape will like the guy who likes that shape, is a whole different story.
DreadedCandiru2,
While I found it sort of reassuring that the Irving, Andrea and Charlene of 1977 look much like they do now, I was horrified to see the jowly, heavy-set woman referring to herself as Cathy.
So, in many respects,early Cathy is like early Garfield.
aprilp_katje,
Notice that at the "sylph" page at Dictionary.com, the adjectival forms given are "sylphic" and "sylphlike," not "sylphan."
Oh dear. Bad use of words in a Mike monthly letter. It’s hard to imagine the delicate genius making such a mistake.
Danielle Faye Schumacher,
It looks like she's combining Sylvan with Sylph.
That is probably the reason. Fortunately, she appears to have used the word “sylphs” correctly in the comic strip.
Bad use of words in a Mike monthly letter. It’s hard to imagine the delicate genius making such a mistake.
::snerk::
Oh, I know. How out of character. ;)
Perhaps a "sylphan lovely" is Mike's updated description of a "blonde nubile".
"Pay for the publisher's implants" Breast implants? Hair implants?
???
Mike's writing is too confusing...
BTW, Cathy used to look different? Could you show me a pic? I'm curious! I couldn't find one myself online.
I wouldn't mind seeing one of those pictures also. My internet search for one has come up empty.
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