Goldengirl

‘You will see that although she is remarkably tall for a woman at one meter eighty-eight, and one would expect to somatotype her as an ectomorph according to the Sheldon classification, her upper development is unquestionably in the mesomorph range. Notice particularly the width of the shoulders and thorax. The facility of a larger-than-average rib cage allows, of course, for increased lung capacity. An individual’s aerobic capacity, which we define as the maximum amount of oxygen that can be absorbed, transported and used per minute of sustained work, depends on the size of the lungs and heart, the amount and hemoglobin content of the blood, and the mass of muscle tissue. If we now examine the muscular formation’ — the skeleton dissolved into the more pleasing image of Goldengirl fully fleshed — ‘we see that she possesses the well-muscled thighs and calves of women many centimeters shorter in height. The traditional criteria of beauty in women — the relative sizes of bust, waist and hips — are, I would say, in a pleasing ratio, while the back and buttocks — if you would kindly turn round, my dear — have the classic appearance’ — he made parabolas in the air with his pen — ‘of the female form.’

Dryden took a check on the rest of the audience. Valenti was biting the end of an unlighted cigar, and Armitage was leaning forward, with his chin supported by his right fist. Melody blew a small cloud of smoke at the screen.

‘It is a well-documented fact,’ Dr. Serafin continued, ‘that during the last hundred years there has been a tendency for children to reach the age of puberty earlier, grow taller and develop better physiques than their forebears. The trend in linear growth is about one centimeter per decade in the United States and Western Europe. Of course, I am speaking of the average. Already you will find some girls as tall as this one — taller, indeed. You are most unlikely to find one with a comparable physical capacity, and I speak with an experience of forty years of anthropometry. If the trend I described continues, we may expect our idealised woman of the twenty-first century to look like this, with the physiological advantages, the deeper chest, greater lung power, stronger cardiovascular system and muscular development to match her stature. Turn around, my dear. In short, this girl is eugenically thirty or forty years ahead of her time. And that, as you shall shortly see, has some interesting implications.’

The film cut to a shot of the girl in a gold leotard — they knew how to implant their message — standing beside a set of weights.

‘These are training weights of forty kilos normally used by male athletes,’ explained the doctor. ‘She will now give a short demonstration of her agility. This is not in any sense a test of her strength. I should merely like you to observe the fluidity and ease of her movements.’

She crouched at the weight and completed the power-clean movement with smooth control, repeating it nine times, followed by similar repetitions of bicep curls, half squats and bench presses.

‘Her pulse rate, if I took it,’ said Dr. Serafin when the girl had finished and stood breathing deeply but evenly at his side, ‘would have increased to over one hundred and fifty beats per minute during this exercise, but will return to its normal fifty within two minutes. I have undertaken an extensive program of tests and measurements with her over many months, using as a basis statistical data obtained from the Stanford Physical Performance Research Laboratory, the Harvard Physical Fitness Index, the Soviet GTO Mass Fitness Program and the Freiburg Institute of West Germany, and I am able to tell you with authority that this young woman’s performances place her in the top two or three per cent of women, irrespective of age, in each of the tests.’ Dr. Serafin made a dismissive gesture with his hand. ‘But physiological data are of consequence only to physiologists. An electrocardiograph is capable of exciting me, but I cannot expect it to stir the imaginations of men and women at large. No, there are other tests of physical capacity, rather less precise than the measurements we carry out in the laboratory, but sufficiently validated by mass participation over many years to establish criteria. I refer, of course, to popular sports. Measurable sports. In particular, track and field athletics. Here we have a mass of evidence of the ultimate achievements of men and women in a number of physical activities. Sports journals are filled each year with details of thousands of athletic performances from all over the world.