Vienna: Woman of My Choice


This is me next to a statue of Empress Elizabeth, also known as Sisi. She married emperor Frans Joseph at age 16, the story goes that he was going to marry her sister, until he saw her and changed his mind. He was quite smitten, but it sounds like she wasn’t. Apparently she was known as the most beautiful woman of her time. She was born in 1837 and lived a surprisingly carefree childhood that made adapting to the royal life quite hard for her. Although she didn’t love the royal life, to quote Mary Ann: “it loved her”. With her ankle length hair braided with diamond stars and impossibly tiny waist, the people adored their beautiful empress. She spent as much time as she could, away from it all and traveled extensively, her mother in law took over the main caring of her children and they had a tense relationship. When her son died by suicide she never recovered and while she was away traveling to escape again, she was stabbed to death in 1898 in Geneva by an Italian anarchist.


So what did she leave us with, what was her historical contribution? The answer is some very problematic thinking. Although she escaped the royal life as much as she could, she bought into the idea that her worth lied in her beauty that the people adored so much. She had disordered eating, dealt with ageism, excessive exercise, and wouldn’t let people take pictures of her past the age of 30. Historically and culturally looking back we wonder “does a woman have to be beautiful to be loved and respected?” Or “is a fascination with beauty what we should be focusing on?”


Sissi has more monuments and publicity than her husband, despite the fact that he worked so hard, rebuilt major portions of the city and made concrete contributions. Sisi did help with Hungarian relations, which was very important, but what she really is remembered for is her beauty. I have seen her face of sweet shops, fans, statues like this one, and more. So I do believe that she has been commemorated enough but I wonder if she is really being commemorated for the right reasons. Because if the narrative goes that we remember women who are beautiful and not those that are notable, what does that say about how we value women? It’s an interesting thought to be sure so I’m not sure if her commemoration is a good thing or not.

Comments

  1. Caroline CaineJune 1, 2024 at 5:10 PM

    You wrote such an interesting blog post, Anna!! After learning about her negative experience with her physical beauty and body image, it reminded me that even in earlier centuries, these were still very prevalent issues with women. It shows that Vienna, like many other cities in our own country, have women who face challenges with body image, and it is so unfortunate. She had such an important role in Vienna, but I can't help but wonder if her being in the spotlight was worth all of that. I loved reading your post!!!!

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  2. Marie PetersonJune 7, 2024 at 8:31 PM

    Awesome post, Anna! I think learning about Sisi deepens our understanding of Vienna as a cultural capital because she played a big role in shaping the Habsburg court’s image. She had a big influence on the city’s cultural and social life as well. Her intriguing life story that ended tragically attracts a lot of interest and tourism centered around her legacy. I think Sisi’s life and impact is used by the city to illustrate Vienna’s ongoing celebration of cultural and historical figures who have shaped its identity.

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  3. Audrey FergusonJune 15, 2024 at 1:05 PM

    Great post Anna! Learning about can deepen our understanding of Vienna as a cultural capital because she had a huge impact on the social life. Her life shows the negative impact having a social life in Vienna royalty can be and how it can have an impact on your life and choices. She struggled with an eating disorder which shows that cultural capital can struggle with that. She can be an example to women who struggle with disorder that they are not alone and even the royalty struggles with that.

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  4. Sayler SchlosserJune 19, 2024 at 2:19 AM

    Hi Anna! Sisi faced many obstacles that hampered her contributions. These pressures led to her having disordered eating and other issues. Today, we still see pressures on women to meet beauty standards, but there is more awareness and effort to value women for their accomplishments and character. While it's improved, the challenge hasn't fully disappeared.

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