10 Cultural Practices that should stay buried forever
Since I already spouted my opinion about things that shouldn't have died, I thought I'd make you all two cents richer today by sharing the things I'm glad are gone. (It was going to be another “Top 10,” until I realized it's hard to prioritize bad things like that.... these are just off the top of my head and meant to amuse. :)
1. Muumuus. Really?
3. 13-inch waists.
During the reign of Catherine de' Medici in the 16th
century, it was considered an abomination for any female courtier to
have a waist that she could not span with her two hands. Ribs were
removed; lung diseases flourished; lots of women suffered and died.
And, not that it's really relevant, they looked even funnier than
muumuus.
4. Rabatos. All I can
say in their favor is that at least they weren't in style
simultaneously with muumuus.
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| Elizabeth is probably suffering from both the above styles, which may be why she was so grumpy. |
5. Ratcatchers.
Actually ratcatchers themselves were probably decent, upstanding
people, and I'm grateful that terminators still exist. I refer more
to the lack of hygiene (can you say Bubonic Plague?) that necessitated their flourishing career in
the Middle Ages. With all my griping about modern culture, I still name Lister and Pasteur as personal heroes and am thankful I was born
after they were.
6. Blood-letting. And
leeches. (I don't care if modern science has proved leeches actually
weren't as bad an idea as we once thought. They're still disgusting.)
7. Polygamy.
8. Giving babies
cocaine to pacify them. Victorian housewives once kept a jar of the
stuff in their kitchens.
9. Nero's Circus and
Gladiatior fights. As I'm sure you noticed, these were a major
influence on The Hunger Games. But Nero was even worse than
President Snow. In addition to the games themselves, he once had a
line of Christians doused with oil and lit as human torches
illuminating the arena. The rabble of Rome was much pleased.
10. Almost every style
from the 1980's.
Chime in--what practices/fashions do you think should stay dead forever?
I knew about the rats but some of these things make me shudder even more than rats. Lighting people as torches because of their religion? That is just sick. Sounds like Hitler and the Nazis.
ReplyDeleteStirrup pants.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree about the 80s. And mumuus. Sort of. Although being 7 months pregnant I'm kind of seeing the appeal. Is a maxi dress any different than a mumuu? Or is it just a new name?
ReplyDeleteI never knew about the cocaine thing, scary! The other thing that should stay dead (and will stay dead) forever is out houses. So grateful for modern plumbing!
ReplyDeleteHmmm. I am sitting here in my mumuu with my hair powdered. Am I no longer in fashion?
ReplyDeleteThe things I didn't know ... Wow! I'll add two things to your list: the practice of sati (widow is burned alive on her dead husband's funeral pyre) in India.
ReplyDeleteChild-marriage.
I feel utterly blessed to live now. As much as I like to read historical fiction, I much prefer running water, a good stove, a garden, mosquito repellent, and some modern medicines. Yup.
Elizabethan neck ruffs.
ReplyDeleteYour follow up is hilarious! Yes. Leave these things in the past, please. I wonder if box hair will make it onto someone's bury list in a hundred years. :)
ReplyDeleteLove this--you're hilarious!
ReplyDelete~Debbie
Ewwww, that powdered hair had so much vermin in it! I remember reading about how they did it up, with forms and stuff attached to the scalp to make it so high. Unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteAmen to all of the above. Especially the 1980's. I did not know that about the waist size. And I thought our modern culture was hard on women! Bloomer shorts: a fashion travesty of this decade.
ReplyDelete