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Editorial
May 9, 1856
Bedford Inquirer And Chronicle
Bedford, Bedford County, Pennsylvania
What is this article about?
Editorial critiques Dr. Lydia Sayer's lecture on the physical and moral harms of heavy petticoats and corsets, praising her beauty but criticizing her oratory skills and 'masculine' ambitions, urging her to focus on domestic garment-making instead of public speaking.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
Dr. Lydia Sayer on Heavy Petticoats.
Dr. Lydia Sayer is a fine, dashing girl, fresh as her own Orange county butter, and as beautiful as the scenery of her own Orange county home. But fresh and fair though she is not a speaking ornament to a lecture-room. With a less masculine ambition, she might adorn the kitchen, the parlor, and the bedside, and enhance the beauty and respectability of an audience of which she formed a part; but with aspirations which are not comely in woman, and a boldness incompatible with refined sensibility, she neutralizes the good she is formed for doing, by aiming at what she is not fitted to accomplish. A construction of sentences in accordance with the rules laid down by Lindley Murray, and correct pronunciation, absolutely necessary to the success of any lecturer who presumes to improve and refine the tastes of the public. Lydia, with all her beauty is lamentably deficient in both. Her ambition o'erleaps Lindley, and her affectionate nature centres with all its power upon the last syllable of all the words she uses. There are many words worthy of esteem, but to place one's affections upon a monosyllable, and that always the last, is unworthy of a female. Lydia might easily find an object more deserving of her highest regard.
When speaking she seems possessed of the idea that, however much sentences may vary in length, they must all be finished within the same number of seconds. Her endeavor to carry this strange notion into effect offends the ear of her audience, and forces her to a flippancy which attains its object on washing days only. Her objections to "fashion morally and physically considered," are precisely the same as have obtained in all ages, and as are preached by the devotees of fashion to-day. Everybody knows and believes that heavy-quilted petticoats, fastened as they usually are, and corsets laced as is the custom, are injurious. If Lydia would have a change for the better, let her no longer waste her time in the preparation of maudlin lectures, but retire from the forum to the back parlor, and there, with scissors and needle, fashion garments which shall be becoming, convenient and healthful. If she succeeds in making such garments attractive, she will have accomplished more that is good than all the strong minded woman who exhibit themselves where men only should stand, will ever attain.—N. Y. Times.
Dr. Lydia Sayer is a fine, dashing girl, fresh as her own Orange county butter, and as beautiful as the scenery of her own Orange county home. But fresh and fair though she is not a speaking ornament to a lecture-room. With a less masculine ambition, she might adorn the kitchen, the parlor, and the bedside, and enhance the beauty and respectability of an audience of which she formed a part; but with aspirations which are not comely in woman, and a boldness incompatible with refined sensibility, she neutralizes the good she is formed for doing, by aiming at what she is not fitted to accomplish. A construction of sentences in accordance with the rules laid down by Lindley Murray, and correct pronunciation, absolutely necessary to the success of any lecturer who presumes to improve and refine the tastes of the public. Lydia, with all her beauty is lamentably deficient in both. Her ambition o'erleaps Lindley, and her affectionate nature centres with all its power upon the last syllable of all the words she uses. There are many words worthy of esteem, but to place one's affections upon a monosyllable, and that always the last, is unworthy of a female. Lydia might easily find an object more deserving of her highest regard.
When speaking she seems possessed of the idea that, however much sentences may vary in length, they must all be finished within the same number of seconds. Her endeavor to carry this strange notion into effect offends the ear of her audience, and forces her to a flippancy which attains its object on washing days only. Her objections to "fashion morally and physically considered," are precisely the same as have obtained in all ages, and as are preached by the devotees of fashion to-day. Everybody knows and believes that heavy-quilted petticoats, fastened as they usually are, and corsets laced as is the custom, are injurious. If Lydia would have a change for the better, let her no longer waste her time in the preparation of maudlin lectures, but retire from the forum to the back parlor, and there, with scissors and needle, fashion garments which shall be becoming, convenient and healthful. If she succeeds in making such garments attractive, she will have accomplished more that is good than all the strong minded woman who exhibit themselves where men only should stand, will ever attain.—N. Y. Times.
What sub-type of article is it?
Feminism
Social Reform
What keywords are associated?
Heavy Petticoats
Women's Fashion
Female Ambition
Public Lecturing
Gender Roles
Corsets
Domestic Reform
What entities or persons were involved?
Dr. Lydia Sayer
Lindley Murray
N. Y. Times
Editorial Details
Primary Topic
Critique Of Dr. Lydia Sayer's Lecture On Heavy Petticoats And Women's Public Ambitions
Stance / Tone
Critical Of Women's Lecturing And Advocating Traditional Domestic Roles
Key Figures
Dr. Lydia Sayer
Lindley Murray
N. Y. Times
Key Arguments
Dr. Sayer Is Beautiful But Unfit For Public Lecturing Due To Poor Grammar And Pronunciation
Her Ambitions Are Masculine And Incompatible With Refined Female Sensibility
Heavy Petticoats And Corsets Are Injurious, A Known Fact
Women Should Create Practical, Healthful Garments At Home Rather Than Lecture Publicly
Strong Minded Women Exhibiting In Male Spheres Achieve Less Good Than Domestic Reformers