BIG GIRL

Ross Campbell writes…

THE smaller people at our place are very selective readers of The Australian Women's Weekly.

Certain features, like the portrait of Mouseketeer Annette, have made a big hit. Wendy and Sally Weekly, with their various garments, are strewn about the house.

Adult material in the paper, however, is apt to leave these junior readers cold.

So I was surprised by their eager interest in Freda Irving's recent account of a picnic with Sabrina.

The pictures of Sabrina were closely examined and frankly discussed.

The general opinion was that she was a pretty lady, but the dimensions of her figure had been exaggerated.

I was appealed to for my opinion. Did I think she was as big as people said?

I picked up the magazine, frowning, and studied the pictures for some time.

Finally I replied: "If that's not big enough for you, you're hard to please."

They went away shaking their heads. Someone muttered: "I bet her tummy is more than 18 inches, anyway."

Sabrina's reception in Australia has been rather different from what was expected.

As far as I can make out, men have not shown wild enthusiasm for her charms. She even complained that very few asked her for dates.

Women are inclined to say: "All very nice, but I'm glad I'm not like that."

But our visitor has won a large, fascinated following among children, especially little girls.

I base this opinion on the talk I have heard and the questions that are asked. Does she hold the world's record? How did she get like that? Has she got any babies? Will I be like Sabrina? And so on.

Certainly she is treated, to a large extent, as a comic character. Spectacular pictures of her cause screams of laughter.

Nevertheless, little girls seriously take their own measurements, to see how they compare.

"My stomach is bigger than Sabrina's, but I'm only 22 inches up here," my younger daughter said in a puzzled tone.

When Noeline, from the next street, came to spend the afternoon there were howls of mirth from behind closed doors.

I heard cries of: "Put the sweater in, too!" "No; we'll have to use the cushion!"

Noeline came out in dressing-up clothes with a synthetic 41-inch bust, and everybody seemed to think it was a great joke.

Don't ask me if this trend is a good thing or not-though I can see no great harm in it.

All I know is that members of the doll-owning set regard Sabby as the shape of things to come.