History Extra podcast
False rumps & rotten teeth: 400 years of bizarre beauty practices
Aug 27, 2024
Join Margarette Lincoln, an author who explores women's historical beauty quests, and Ellie Cawthorne as they discuss 400 years of bizarre British beauty practices. Delve into the shocking use of toxic substances like lead and arsenic, and discover how societal pressures shaped women's extreme measures, including corsetry and insect-laden wigs. They also uncover the evolution of beauty standards from the Victorian era to today, revealing the relentless pursuit of youth and the significant impact on women's health and self-image.
34:45
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Quick takeaways
- Historical beauty practices, often involving harmful substances like arsenic and lead, reveal the extreme lengths women went to for societal acceptance.
- The evolution of beauty standards reflects broader societal pressures and moral judgments, highlighting persistent inequalities among women across different classes and races.
Deep dives
Historical Beauty Practices and Their Implications
Over the past 400 years, women in Britain have engaged in various extraordinary beauty practices, often involving harmful substances. For instance, in Victorian times, some women consumed arsenic wafers to achieve a pallid complexion, while others applied toxic lead-based makeup. These practices reflect a long history of women's resilience and creativity in navigating societal pressures around beauty and social acceptance. The exploration of these historical regimes reveals how beauty standards have profoundly influenced women's lives and the lengths they went to achieve them.
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