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Editorial
March 5, 1857
The Westerly Echo, & Pawcatuck Advertiser
Westerly, Washington County, Rhode Island
What is this article about?
The editor of the Scalpel criticizes young ladies' harmful practices of eating chalk and slate-pencils, drinking vinegar, and using tight lacing substitutes to maintain thinness, describing them as suicidal perversions of natural instincts.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
The editor of the Scalpel, has discovered that a frightful practice prevails among young ladies of eating chalk and slate-pencils, and drinking vinegar, to avoid gaining flesh. "Very few persons," he adds "imagine the extent to which this suicidal perversion of the natural instincts will go, in young women who are under the influence of their imaginary superiors, in graceful thinness: much has been said about tight lacing, and because the corset has partially gone into disuse, people imagine that compression of the lungs had ceased; it is far otherwise, hooks and eyes and whalebone have taken their place, and the insane devotee willingly starves herself by the year!"
What sub-type of article is it?
Moral Or Religious
Science Or Medicine
Social Reform
What keywords are associated?
Eating Chalk
Slate Pencils
Vinegar Drinking
Thinness Obsession
Tight Lacing
Women's Health
Suicidal Practices
What entities or persons were involved?
Editor Of The Scalpel
Young Ladies
Editorial Details
Primary Topic
Harmful Practices For Thinness Among Young Women
Stance / Tone
Critical Warning Against Suicidal Beauty Standards
Key Figures
Editor Of The Scalpel
Young Ladies
Key Arguments
Young Ladies Eat Chalk And Slate Pencils And Drink Vinegar To Avoid Gaining Flesh
This Practice Is A Suicidal Perversion Of Natural Instincts
Tight Lacing Persists Through Hooks, Eyes, And Whalebone Despite Corset Disuse
Women Starve Themselves Yearly In Pursuit Of Graceful Thinness