The twelve Animal Signs

for Women

Rat woman
Her physical background

People often say of the Rat woman, "She's not beautiful, but she's interesting." Indeed, apart from very few exceptions, the native is as a rule never noted for being a stunning beauty or sex symbol. In compensation, anyone who comes into contact with her would readily recognize her charm, vivaciousness and attractiveness. Brusque in her manner and skilled at repartee, she has her own arms of seduction that are somewhat modest but by no means negligible. Nevertheless, she lacks "true" feminity to the eyes of many.

The subject's entire physical appearance presents nothing that shocks or catches the eye; everything is so-so about her. She has regular features, a moderate forehead, relatively high cheekbones, an average nose, a fairly large mouth and sparkling blue or gray eyes. (The Chinese Rat woman has faint-brown eyes, of course.) Like her masculine counterpart, her most distinctive element is perhaps her pointed chin which makes her face resemble an inverted triangle.

Gifted with an agile body, she can remain wasp-waisted up to her fifties and even sixties. However, many natives of this sign begin to lose their fine figures around their forties as they love eating and are too weak-willed to keep their appetite under control. A fair skin that easily gets a tan, small but firm breasts, small and well-rounded shoulders most fit for décolletages, muscular and moderately long limbs, graceful gestures - these are all the habitual attributes of the Rat female. Another characteristic trait is her youthful look that hardly wanes with age.

The reason why it is almost impossible to find a Rat woman in the category of pulpy and voluptuous creatures is unknown. In any case, This woman never minds that. There are certainly less physical differences between the males and females of this sign than between those of all the other signs of the Chinese duodecimal zodiac. The Rat woman, like her brother, has the appearance of an androgynous adolescent during a major part of her life; there is persistently something boyish about her. But the situation does not bother her in the least. She often deliberately accentuates her equivocal aspect by wearing bobbed hair and blue jeans. She also prefers the company of men to that of women. It is as if she had always been a male in all her previous existences!

The days when this woman feels as fit as a fiddle are not rare, for she is endowed with a basically sound physical constitution, and doctors seldom find something really wrong with her health. However, her hypersensitive organism tends to make her overreact to two sets of stimuli - material and psychological .

She often gets out of a "cold" to enter into a fever. Chinese tradition dubs her a "snail" because of her delicate patterns of reaction. In the light of modern science she is simply a highly allergic person. Her constant reactions to pollen, dust, mold spores, smoke and other allergens can make havoc of her entire respiratory system. Sometimes she suffers from allergic alveolitis, her lungs being as vulnerable as those of the male half of the sign; but more often her nose and bronchi make her feel miserable. Fortunately, her troubles can go as easily as they come.

While she can hardly avoid the harmful substances, an earnest treatment with immunosuppressive drugs is likely to bring her some relief. Water cures may also prove beneficial. In any case, the intensity and frequency of her allergic reactions will tend to decrease gradually from the age of fifty onwards, and her long-standing troubles may disappear completely in the end.

It is in her interest to think of preserving her precarious and most sensitive nervous system. She is certainly liable to some mild form of manic-depressive psychosis. When everything goes well, she feels unduly elated and appears optimistic, cheerful, talkative and impulsive. But as soon as a problem presents itself, be it a sentimental deception or a financial difficulty, she becomes utterly upset and begins to suffer from a varied number of ills that may range from giddiness to constipation, from muscular pains to gynecological troubles, from dark gloom to suicidal tendencies. These pathological symptoms, obviously, are only a physical translation of her fears, anguish or dissatisfaction, and no medicines or surgical interventions can be expected to cure them.

In all logic, she must be careful never to disturb her nervous and psychological equilibrium. Alcohol, cigarettes, sleepless nights, a hectic way of life - all this is most detrimental to her well-being. On the contrary, fresh air, a balanced diet, moderate sports and relaxation can help her round many a difficult cape. She should also avoid all conflictual or highly emotional situations, and adopt a serene and complacent attitude toward life and people.