Dark History - 117: The Dark History of Beauty Standards: Beauty is Pain

Episode Date: January 10, 2024

Hi friends, happy Thursday! Welcome to the Dark History podcast. We all know that “beauty” often comes with a high price to pay. I mean, worth it though, right? Who doesn’t like feeling beautiful? But what if I told you that  “beauty” practices throughout history have been down right ugly? And not just any ugly–we’re talking foot binding, bone crushing, pube-plucking ugly. I guess the takeaway is that beauty standards have a shady past. And the question becomes: Who are we doing all this for? I appreciate you for coming by, and tune in next week for more Dark History.  Want some cool Bailey Merch?  Shop Dark History Merch: https://www.baileysarian.com For a limited time, you can get $30 off the first box–PLUS free Croissants in every box–when you go to https://www.wildgrain.com/DARKHISTORY to start your subscription. Go to https://www.zocdoc.com/DARKHISTORY and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Then find and book a top-rated doctor today. Go check out https://www.Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch, go to https://www.Squarespace.com/DARKHISTORY to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.  We have a special deal for our audience: Get your first visit for only five dollars at https://www.Apostrophe.com/DARKHISTORY when you use our code: DARKHISTORY. That’s a savings of fifteen dollars! 

Hey, friends, it's Jill from the Teach Me How to Adult Podcast. Navigating adulthood can be a real struggle. We made an entire show about how to deal with those struggles, so I'm a big fan of anything that makes life a little less complicated. That's why we teamed up with Belier Direct to help simplify car and home insurance. Belier Direct has an app that lets you file and track a claim, make changes to your policy, have your proof of insurance in the app, or in your Apple Wallet for secure and easy access,

and even chat with an agent for assistance. Download the app and learn more about how BallerDirect makes things simple at BallerDirect.com slash simple. Hey girl, do you remember the swan? It was peak reality TV. Each episode of the swan would follow quote unquote ugly ducklings. Over the course of three months as they went through extreme makeovers.

They were like, hey, you're ugly. Come over here. We're gonna break your face and give you a new one. And we watched the whole process. They would revamp this person from head to toe, they would get them trainers, therapists, surge. I mean, they hooked it up. They always got new titties, always.

Titties and LIpo were the two things that were consistent in that show. And like, literally, when you think about it, that saying is like, you know, beauty is pain. Yeah, this show took that literally. If you wanna be beautiful, bitch, it's gonna hurt, you know, and it's got me thinking, is that where that saying came from? The 2004 show, The Swan? Oh, I know. Today's episode, we are digging into the famous phrase, beauty is pain. Where to come

from? Why is that a thing? And let me tell you once again, baby is pain, where to come from, why is that a thing? And let me tell you once again, baby girl, Lisa, we are, you're gonna be blown away with what we came across. Jump, she's dressing like a husky, I don't know. And we got Paul over, I don't know what's going on today with these ladies, they are acting up. I missed the memo to come in my little corsets with my titties out. I guess my titties are kind of out.

Hey, how are you doing today? I hope you're having a wonderful day so far. My name is Bailey Sarian. This is Paul. This is Joan. And if you put the three of us together, it's PB&J. Just found that out. And I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. Here, we believe history does not have to be boring.

No, a lot of the times it's tragic. Sometimes it's happy, rarely, but either way, it's our dark history. So all I need you to do is sit back and relax and let me just ramble and tell you about all that hot juicy history, goss. Because it's endless. It's the well that keeps I'm giving.

Okay, look, my Google history is questionable. I'm definitely on some kind of list somewhere, right? Someone's watching me because I, it Googled the most ridiculous things. And many, many years ago, I got like really interested about foot binding. Have you heard about this? Okay, so when I think about beauty being painful,

my first thought was like foot binding. Okay, personally, like I first had learned about this in high school, but we kind of like breezed past it. I saw a picture in my book and everything, and I remember thinking, wait, that's a foot, huh? But we just kind of moved on, and I was like, didn't anyone just notice page 63? You look like a straight up Dorito.

What was that? Okay, so foot binding, let me tell you about it because I recently learned so much. Oh my God. Foot binding started way back in China with the women of the Tang dynasty. So from the years 618 to 907, 80. Yeah, first of all, close your eyes

and try and imagine those years. I don't even know, like what did that look like? Or camels even invented yet? I don't even know what it looked like, or camels even invented yet. I don't know. But listen, China was ruled by the Tang Dynasty, which is considered by many historians to be one of the most important times in Chinese history. Their military was powerful, and they were snatching up new territories like nothing. And people were getting rich off the economy and the culture was thriving.

I mean, there were plenty of poets, painters, dancers. Ugh, performance ought. But there was something of foot in China. You get it, a foot. Okay, listen, it was foot binding. Hello, hi, have you heard of this? Have you Googled the images? If you don't know what it is, and you're like, I'm new.

It's where the feet of Chinese woman were painfully modified and mutilated to become smaller, which was set to be excruciating. I mean, when you think about it, have you ever like in the middle of the night hit your big toe on the edge of your bed? And now you're like, oh, it's over! Like, I'm good, this is my new life.

It's like that, but your whole foot is folded in half. But the exact origin of foot binding is unknown. Oh my God. We had to blur Paul's crotch because he was showing a little too much bush. Anyway, the exact origin of foot binding is unknown, but historical records from the 900s AD first mentioned the male attraction to tiny feet. And it all started with one very demanding and horny emperor.

As the Tang Dynasty was winding down, there was an emperor who sat on the throne. He was like, yay! His name was winding down. There was an emperor who sat on the throne. He's like, yay! His name was Leeu. Now like many like rich and powerful men at the time or just in general, Emperor Lee loved the fancier things in life. The luxury to be wine-dined. Maybe even 69. One day he had his people create a six foot tall statue of the Golden Lotus, which represented to the people at this time, enlightenment and purity.

Now on top of that, the statue was covered with all sorts of expensive stones, gems, and super beautiful pearls. But this wasn't just like a statue to look at and be like, wow, no, Emperor Lee had what some would call a unique passion project going on. So he's like, okay, I want this six foot tall golden lotus and it's gonna actually be like a really big stage,

a stage like no one has seen before. This emperor, he had surrounded himself with, you know, many mistresses. And one of his favorite mistresses was a woman named Yao Ni Young. Now, he wanted Yao to dance on top of that six foot golden lotus. He's like dance bitch. But not only that, she also had to perform while her feet were bound with white silk, like some real kinky shit. The emperor wanted her feet to appear smaller and to be in the shape of a crescent moon. I read somewhere, I don't know if this is true or not, but like what I had read was that the crescent moon represented fertility, purity, stuff like that. So maybe he wanted like his sexy girl to like dance for fertility, I don't know.

I could be lying. I read it online. These days, you just don't know nothing, huh? So the emperor is like, okay, look, you have to do this whole dance on the points of your toes. Wow, your feet are bound. And on top of that golden lotus, huh? But yeah, I took this this challenge and she's like,

okay, you know, does her thing? And she performed, baby. She showed the historical record says that her dance was so graceful and well done that other dancers and women all across China, they wanted to like imitate her, look, they're like, oh my god, she's incredible. The Emperor loves her.

And it's like, again, I had this moment of like, oh my god, history is just the same shit over and over again. It's just people wanting to like, you know, imitate the wealthy. That should just be the whole show. You're welcome. I answered life. I answered everything. So the women, they figured that if they could like, copy Yao's foot binding technique, which was now known as the Lotus Foot, they too could catch the Emperor's eye. So upper class women started binding their feet by wrapping them in silk. And the practice ended up spreading really from there.

Chinese women used the Lotus Foot as their standard for beauty. And because of this, tiny feet became a sexual desire for Chinese men. I know, I don't know. Just another thing to be insecure about. Here's the thing. At some point, it wasn't enough for the feet to appear smaller. Now, the cultural expectation in ancient China the time was that the woman's foot should be physically smaller. Okay, so like, how do we do that? Now, in order to physically change your foot

to make it appear smaller, the process, woo! It's very unfortunate. Yes, it is. It literally involves breaking the bones in your foot. All of them. And ancient China, for it to work, they would start foot binding when a girl was young.

So getting them when they're young is super important because the foot wasn't fully developed. Hello, so it's like this new little foot, and there's like, it's pretty well. Any younger in the girls, I guess they couldn't handle the pain. Those lousy two-year-olds. And any older, at this point,

their bones would be too strong strong and it was harder to like shift around to get this perfect size. So here's how it worked. Step one of foot binding. A young girl's foot is wrapped real tight in some sort of cloth bandage. Now this would help prevent the foot from growing as she got older because we don't want that. Step two, the foot would be wrapped again, and I guess this is when it would get really gruesome. Keep listening because this is history. During the second phase, because you have to wait for the foot to get it soft

or whatever the fuck. And then during the second phase, the foot, they were wrapped in a way so the girl's toes would bend under the foot and then begin to merge with the soul. I know that sounds confusing, but here's my foot. Oh my God, come on over to YouTube to watch this if he had a feet.

So they would take this and literally like fold it to here. Do you understand? Do you understand? A foot should not be doing that. Shout out to BB, love my BB socks from Ross. Okay, so they would crunch the foot in half. Jesus, I know, the whole point was like to bring the toes and the heel as close together as physically possible.

Again, all to make the foot appear smaller. I know. For what? Well, let me tell you, but not yet. So the big toe, it was said that like those were not folded under. The big toe was like kept free because it's like nearly impossible to walk without your big toe. So they needed that one, but the other toes could piss off. The bandage would be so forcefully tightened that the girls' toes, again, they would just,

break one by one, all of them. And like, that was the point. That's what they wanted. That was the goal to break them off. Dr. Steve Cummings, a doctor who researched foot binding extensively, sounds like a foot guy, said that he came across a machine that was used to crush the girl's foot bones.

It was kind of like a pasta machine. You know, like when you roll it and like dogo through it, it's like that. But like for foot, pasta foot. I guess when it would go through, it would just like break all of her bones. On the bright side, if you could, we could find one. Eventually, the foot would go numb from the pain. So you couldn't even feel it which is great. So it wasn't that bad. So by doing all this it would make it harder for the girl to

stand balance and even walk. So this would force the girl to take very small steps and kind of sway from side to side when walking. But this was considered like, oh, like hot because it kind of added to the gracefulness and attractiveness of being a woman in ancient China. Little quiet steps, being submissive, and we're just like, yeah. Eventually, over time, the foot would end up looking like triangular stumps, insert image here. Do you see that? What is that? Eventually, over time, the foot would end up looking like triangular Stumps, insert image here. Do you see that? What is that? That's a foot

Look a side effect that was often reported was an infection of the feet That's because it's not like the broken toes just folded under like paper No, the toes literally like curled downward and then inward and then the toenails, because we have toenails, remember? They would grow directly into the flesh, like stab it and leading, it would lead to an infection, okay? Now this caused a couple of toes or two to fall off,

which again, they were like, hell yeah, you know, they don't want those toes anyways. So some women would actually just be like, hey, remove all my toes. I don't need them because with zero toes, guess what? The foot looks even smaller. It was like a win-win. Well, lose-win.

Depending on how you look at it, but sometimes even more was lost than just toes. Baking causes way more anxiety than it really needs to, right? Look, every time I try a bake something, like even the simplest thing, like a box of brownies, I go wrong somewhere, I don't know how, but I do, and it's just like a total flop. Every time, well, I'm gonna be nice to enjoy

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the first box plus free croissants in every box. When you go to wildgrain.com slash dark history to start your subscription. You heard me correctly. Free croissants in every box and $30 off your first box when you go to wildgrain.com slash dark history. That to wildgrain.com slash dark history. That's wildgrain.com slash dark history or you can use promo code darkhistory at checkout. Historians say that one in 10 girls in ancient China died because of foot binding. But still, foot binding continued to happen for a very long time. I'm talking like for centuries.

And by the early 1800s, when Western doctors started practicing medicine in China, they reported some grisly stories. One doctor said that a young girl decided to have her bandages unwrapped and like her feet were hanging on only by the tendons. Yeah, I don't like to imagine that, huh? Out the game anyone does.

And in some cases, the foot bandages were so tight that it often cut off blood flow to the feet, which led to many young girls suffering from gangrene. And then in order to save their lives, I thought over here, oh, they would just cut off the foot. No, they would have to cut off like the entire leg. I don't. I was like, dang, I guess gangering

like goes up the whole lake. So it's just like not a good time, right? Despite all of the horrors, having small feet became the hallmark of femininity in ancient China. The thinking was that the smaller the foot, the more fertile the woman was. How, I don't know, but it kind of makes sense,

but not really, but like because of this, small feet just like it Equals a more desirable wife. But not only this small feet also had value in social circles So when it came to like foot binding the upper class had a saying quote if you care for his son You don't go easy on his studies. If you care for a daughter You don't go easy on his studies. If you care for a daughter, you don't go easy on her foot binding." End quote. Yeah, I wonder if that was embroidered on pillows or something.

It's kind of lengthy, but they took this to heart and to the elites, having a woman with bound feet meant that the family had the ability to take care of a quote crippled woman. I guess to them, that was a sign that you were well off. Like if an upper-class woman was going through the foot-binding experience, she'd get the luxury of being carried around by her servants.

In other words, like, she doesn't have to do any man will labor herself. She has other people to it for her. She has people literally walk for her. But women who weren't as well off, they were forced to, I guess, like, use canes and just take very small steps around. But for the lower and the middle classes, a young girl with small feet could be used as currency, like a bargaining chip, as a way to move

up the social ladder. For example, if a middle-class family has a daughter with tiny feet, or a baby, they were like, yeah, she could marry into like a rich family that would take care of her, score. And as a result, like that middle-class family is now associated with the elite of society. So their parents, they had their fingers crossed, like, give me a baby with small feet, please. But not all small feet are created equal. Now listen to this, there was actually kind of a scale for ranking small feet. The hottest brides at the time had a foot

that was just three inches long. Yeah, that was goals. That's like the length of a debit card. And ladies, that's the only thing we want to be three inches, am I right? Ha, ha, ha, ha. Ha. No, okay.

Geez, this crowd always dead. The size was known as the golden lotus. It's like winning the gold medal in the Olympics. It's just everything. Now, let's say a foot that was like four inches long was like, it's okay. You know, it's still pretty good, but it wasn't the best. This was called the silver lotus. I don't wanna say that kind of sucked, because it's like, you know, it's still pretty good, but it wasn't the best. This was called the Silver Lotus.

And honestly, that kinda sucked, because it's like, you're almost there. You know, you're like second place, don't almost add gold. But it wasn't jaw dropping. But a foot that was five inches or more, oh my God. Don't you show your face and public again, you nasty. That is embarrassing.

This would be very undesirable, okay? And this even had a very ugly name. The iron lotus, ugh, how embarrassing for you. Anyways, it meant that your chances of being a bride probably not gonna happen. Last place, baby. In other words, sucks to be you, you know? And it's not gonna like open any doors for you.

But while these footstandards were crushing all sorts of feet, women were able to find kind of like a silver lining. Foot binding was like a moment for daughters, mothers and grandmothers to come together and bond. It was a bonding moment. We're bonding. And this was important because knowing your mom and your grandmother went through that

same exact pain in a way was kind of like therapeutic brought them closer together. So it's like, oh, my mom and my grandma did this. So if they did it, I can do it too. So it was like, wow, it's all about the women coming together and stuff. Cool. But really like, historians point out that the cultural practice of foot binding, it actually forced women to be dependent on men. It reinforced the idea that a woman should be submissive. I mean, a woman literally couldn't walk out of a bad relationship. And bound feet also meant a girl was easier to control. Melissa Brown at Harvard's Center for Chinese Studies says that foot binding forced women to stay home

and do work like spinning silk and earning money for the family. By the 1800s, it was estimated that 40 to 50% of all Chinese women may have had their feet bound at one point or another. And with an upper-class circle of some Chinese ethnicities, that number gets close to like 100%. 100%?! That's insane. Now, even though it was popular, not everyone in China was a fan of the practice. The government of the Qing dynasty condemned footbinding and tried to like outlaw it. Some Chinese writers also denounced the custom.

And around the 1870s and 1880s, with the help of Western missionaries, anti-foot binding societies started to pop up. In 1887, a Buddhist reformer named Kang Yuei founded the Foot Amasopation Society. He went on to write a formal memo to the emperor, arguing that he should abolish foot binding because he said it may China look real bad. In 1912, foot binding was outlawed across the Republic of China.

And by 1949, the cultural practice was almost totally abandoned. But here's a thing. Foot binding had been happening for over 1,000 years. That's a long time, if you don't know. And laws can't erase those customs and traditions overnight. The last factory that made Lotus Shoes, which were platform shoes made specifically

for women with bound feet, they closed shop in 1999. Yeah, I mean, if you think about it, that's not that long ago, right? Like someone was buying those shoes up until until the end. Photographer Joe Ferrell spent 13 years traveling China, tracking down the remaining women who survived foot binding. She eventually found 50 of them and photographed them for her book, Living History,

Bound Feed Women of China. Now Ferrell found older women who happily showed off their once-bound feet. And after meeting dozens of these women and learning more about the practice, Ferrell had an interesting take. She said, quote, I feel so many people talk about how barbaric the tradition was, but it was also a tradition that empowered women. It gave them a better life.

They were doing the best for themselves. End quote. And that side is like, okay, that makes sense too. You know, two things can be true at the same time, but you can definitely check out Joe Ferrell's photos. They are absolutely fascinating, and I'll post a link in the show notes down below, so check that out.

But as I was doing my research on foot pointing, all that tying up circulation talk, sometimes breaking of bones naturally made me think of corsets. Right? Hello, I mean, when you think about it, the foot binding is kind of the same thing. As a corset, you're tying and breaking and reshaping. Same shit, different body part.

So naturally I was like, um, corsets, um, they bought some, John got some. Ha, ha, ha, Paul didn't, I don't know what happened with Paul. And as I got to Google in and Google in, I read an article from the Smith-Sony in magazine, I know I'm fancy. This magazine said, quote, a small foot in China, no different

from a tiny waist in Victorian England, represented the height of female refinement. End quote. So during Victorian times, one of the main purposes of the corset England represented the height of female refinement." So, during Victorian times, one of the main purposes of the corset was to support the breastesses. If you're watching this on YouTube, it's a good day to be you. Which means corsets were essentially one of the earliest versions of a bra. Yeah, but it wasn't originally created

for like the chest area. In the 1800s, most Victorian women would not be caught dead without having their waste, look and snatch at all times, 24 inches. Yes, bitch, mandatory. Look, this was the beauty standard at the time. Big bust, teeny waste, and nice round hips. So an hourglass shape.

That's very hard to achieve. The best way to achieve this shape was with the use of the tight lace corset, which is exactly what it sounds like. A corset that is tightly laced against the body to really squeeze everything in, change a woman's shape over time. Pretty fierce. First, women would slide on these corsets, and then,

you sucked in. Your stomach would get sucked in. Your titties would be like up to your frickin' chin. It was just like, whoa, this is a lot, you know? Posh your though on point. Tits, praise and Jesus. Hips rounded. You were just hyperbolic. But these women, they wouldn't stop at corsets. Oh, no, of course not. So they would put on something called a

crinoline cage, which honestly kind of looks like a birdcage, but in the shape of a skirt. It was originally made out of horse hair fabric. Ding dong, I just had a thought. Recently I came across a Swedish bed that was made out of horse hair. Now I was like, well, this sounds very uncomfortable. Horse hair, poor horse, what was his name? I wanted to know more.

So I laid on said bed because I was curious. And sadly, I'm sad to report, it was the most comfortable thing I've ever laid on. Anyway, so I thought of the bustle because I would imagine it would be uncomfortable, but I guess the worst hair was like really comfortable. That's what I was getting at. Horse hair mattress, not getting it, but still, that's a thing. Anyway, they'd also put on a bustle, which is kind of like a butt pad kind of.

This was also those giant Victorian gowns could give them that iconic hourglass figure. First of all, being able to own all of that equipment in and of itself was a flex. Most women can't put on all of that stuff by themselves, which meant that most likely they had a maid help them put it on. And if you had a maid, that means you're rich.

And that's why everyone wants to act like the rich person. I mean, you couldn't lace themselves in. They needed help. Have you seen the movie Titanic? Do you remember when Rose was getting laced into her corset? Yeah, it was like that, you need help. Dressing like this was the difference between someone having status in society and someone being rejected. So, you know, everyone was lacing up.

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Ladies will begin to use tightly squircettes even before they hit puberty. So their bodies would start forming as close to that corset shape as possible. Damn, I wish I started earlier. Have you ever worn a corset? Do it once in your life. You'll be like, oh my god, who am I?

You want to take yourself out on a date because you look so sexy. Anyways, they would get them when they're young, you know, so their body would just mold into the corset, just like with footbinding, and these corset wearing women started to experience painful health problems. According to the authors of purposeful pain, quote, internal organs, especially the lungs and bladder, as well as ribs, vertebrae, and pelvis were impacted.

Victorian-era girls literally had the breath squeezed out of their bodies. End quote. When you think about it, I mean, where are the organs going? They're just moving somewhere new. Joan, where are your organs right now? But I mean, ma'am, Joan's titties are out.

It's all that they're white titties. But okay, girl, you got new titties too. Who'd you get that? Did you go on the swan? I think I remember your opposite. You couldn't look up images of girls' bodies before and after wearing corsets regularly, and it's like, wow.

Wow. That's all I gotta say. Everything in turn all from the middle of your body down, it just gets squeezed into a V shape. And between not being allowed to eat too much, so you don't get weighed and wearing these corsets, girls and women were known to have fainting spells. I mean, no wonder there were all those fainting couches around that time. These poor women were

literally suffocating and passing out everywhere. All for what? Beauty ain't that some shit. out everywhere. All for what? Beauty ain't that some shit. For centuries, corsets were the main undergarment for women because it was like a catch-all. Spanks and a bra in one, but support exclusively designed for the boobs didn't show up until the early 20th century when something called bust supporters hit the market. As the years go on, more and more women start shedding the layers of their clothing. They didn't have to deal with those uh, crinolins or bustles. Now the dresses were a little bit more sleek, you know, very fitting and flattering to the body.

Like you could actually see a woman's real shape under her dress. And if you had I don't know like a big out of control T's or even a flat chested situation then these were definitely for you the bust supporters yeah so they would sell them in a few different forms there were the Shereffel bust form specifically marketed for women that were flat-chested and their ads would feature a woman with a cartoonishly small waist, and big old titties, you know, and the ad would say like,

a perfect figure for one dollar, the flat-chest woman, was never at so great to disadvantage as in today's Starylish Slender Frocks. Yeah, whatever that means, I was like, what? A dollar? That's all I caught. I guess it's just like stuffing your bra. You know, back in the day? Did you do that? Yeah, me neither.

It looks like a full corset with a chest attachment, but instead of being laced up in the back, it like ties around the waist, it's kind of hard to explain, but it was another option instead of the corset. But still, like no bra on the market, you know, just something to hold up to titties. And then one day, a woman named Mary had suffered a wardrobe malfunction that truly changed titties forever.

In 1913, Mary was getting ready for a ball. She was like, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. She's feeling herself. She's getting her face on. She's doing her hair. She's pre-gaming shots. I don't know, you know? So she slips on that classic hardcore set with like another tight corset

to, above it, over it, it's a corset on a corset. It was a lot of layers, okay? And my understanding is that like wearing a corset on top of a corset just really made things smooth. Have you ever doubled up your spanks? Are you still wearing a pair of spanks and then another pair of spanks? I felt like I was sculpted by the gods. It's kind of like that, you know? Obviously not the same. But Mary steps into her party dress and then she runs into a big issue. It was completely see-through. Like, you could

totally see everything going on under an inked dress. You could see her corset and that was not it. That was not the vibe and it completely ruined her outfit. She's having a meltdown. She has nothing to wear. What am I going to do? I can't go to the party. I just wasted my whole night. She referred to the corset under her see-through dress as quote, a box-like armor of whalebone and pink cordage. Sounds super cute. Mary realized that she was like really screwed. She's like, giggle in, Lenny. So she asked her maid.

She has a maid. So she asked her maid to bring her two pocket hanker chips and some pink ribbon. I love a DIY project. So on the fly, Mary designed, let's be real, her, her, her made probably kind of helped her design to, a little contraption that would keep her baloney nibbles in check. Her maid sewed the pocket hankerchiefs together and created straps with like a pink ribbon. And just like that, guess what? The very first modern bra was invented.

Wow. When Mary got to the party, she was like, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, and then she just danced in and shaking it. Like her ass was on fire. And then a woman at the ball was like, oh my God, she's dancing like her ass was on fire, but her boobs and everything is staying in place.

I need to know more. So this woman goes up to Mary and she's like, how are you moving around with the corset on? Hmm? I'm Mary told them about her last little DIY invention. Now this woman at the ball was like, you need to make me one. Okay, like dematted Mary make her whatever this was. It didn't have an aim yet. And that's when Mary knew that she had a really good idea on her hands. In 1914, she patented her invention as a quote, backless brazia. Then, she was able to make a dollar off of each of these backless braziers, which back then, very big deal, especially if you were a woman.

But for whatever reason, Mary's bra just didn't get off the ground. Maybe she wasn't like pushing them that hard or I don't know but she wasn't selling as many as she had hoped to. Her husband, her husband insisted that she sell the idea so they could make at least some money, you know? So she's like fine babe whatever and she sells her invention to the Warner Brothers Corset Company for $1, okay? They knew it was up, but that was about it. Lots of women at this time were still clinging onto their corsets, so to them it was like, hey, why fix something if it isn't broken, huh? I look good, I look snatched, my waist is tiny. But then, World War I happened, and suddenly everyone was ditching their corsets. I know it's random, right?

These stories are always random. During World War I, it was all hands-on deck. Before this, war efforts were very centered on men. The women, they would stay at home and take care of the family. And the men were just like shipped off to war. But with World War, women were stepping up to take care of business.

Many were working in the war industry with steel or ammunition. But with world war, women were stepping up to take care of business. Many were working in the war industry with steel or ammunition. Some were nurses, some were driving medical vehicles, and all of these jobs required one thing. You had to be able to haul ass. So you couldn't be walking around all cute in your ball gown and your corset, because you can't bend over in that stuff. And so you needed to be able to move freely. And the other reason was good all-American patriotism. The majority of corsets at the time were made of metal.

And just like with sugar and fabric, people were encouraged to make sacrifices so they could use all of those resources for the war. I guess the men when they were fighting they were wearing his corsets. Sorry, that was a funny visual. Not funny because everyone died and stuff, but they died looking sexy. In 1917, the chairman of the US War Industries Board even made a public announcement asking ladies to stop purchasing corsets. Okay, get out of my life. How come they are always coming for us and our stuff?

What about the men? Don't they have like steel and... their shoes? I don't know. According to NPR, over 28,000 tons of steel were saved. That's a lot. This is enough metal to create two battleships. Yeah, so what did women do when they couldn't turn to their corsets anymore? Well, they reached for Mary's backless braziers. First of all, they were way more comfortable because they were made of cotton

and they were a lot easier to put on, no need for a second person to like, you know, lace you up. After that, women never really went back to the old school course set. And bras went through evolution after evolution. In the 1920s flapper era, flattening a Bando bras were in. They wanted to be flat-chested.

Everyone wanted that flat-board shape underneath their iconic fringed flapper dress. But then in the 1930s, more money was being poured into the bra industry. So there was an invention of the elastic straps, the adjustable band, and the biggest game changer of them all, the cup size. Yeah. So this brought on inventions, like the push up all, the cup size. Yeah.

So this brought on inventions, like the push up bra, the sports bra, even those like little bra lets that a lot of us wear today. And this you got big old titties and you can't wear that shit. We're my big old titties ladies at. Aaaaah. Sometimes they try and like kill you at night when you're laying down the cheese flop up

and you're like, can't breathe. Anyways, so today, over 90% of women western countries wear bras, which is pretty wild, huh? We all are doing it together. Why? I don't know, that's pretty much all of us. Who's the other 10%?

Well, good for you. But there's this theory out there that because of the hashtag free the nipple movement, bras may become a thing of the past. I don't know what they're so afraid of. I really don't think this is ever going to happen. People need bras. Sorry, I disagree.

But like they believe that women in general are just totally over the beauty standards that have been forced on us, which is like, yes, good. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So like, what does that mean for the future of bronze? Well, who's it say? But here's the thing. It doesn't end there, not even close.

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And when you're ready to launch, go to www.squarespace.com slash dark history to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. I think thank you to Squarespace for partnering with me on today's episode.. Let's get back to today's story I Mean ladies. Hello. We've literally shifted our bones and organs around to achieve different beauty standards So you got the perfect small feet you got that perfect hourglass shape titties up. It's like okay. Well, what else can we bug these women about?

Hmm, hmm Oh, it's like, okay, well, what else can we bug these women about? Hmm? Hmm? Ew. Harry legs. Oh, yeah, that's a good one. You nasty. Harry legs. You should be, you should do something about that. That's nasty.

So we are doing some pretty weird shit when it comes to drum roll, please. Body hair. Body hair. The third one is body hair. Yeah. Look, something that I learned that I found fascinating is that in ancient culture, Body hair. Body hair. The third one is body hair. Yeah. Look, something that I learned that I found fascinating is that in ancient cultures, body hair removal

wasn't a gendered issue. Archaeologists believe that early humans shaved their heads in facial hair, regardless of whether they were men or women. Now, this was mostly to avoid getting frostbite in the colder climates because like water can get trapped in your body hair and freeze against the skin. Do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do but no opposite, interesting. Hmm? So they would get rid of it all. Now back then, they obviously weren't even there. Have you ever left accidentally left

an air on a little too long on the Hoohaw ladies? Just me again, what the fuck? So what the hell were they doing back then? Well, I'll tell ya, clam shells. Right here, sounds like something they do in SpongeBob. But they would sharpen clam shells to be like extremely thin and very sharp at the end, at the tip, you know?

And then they would drag it against the skin, which would then pull at the grain of the hair. Essentially dry shaving. Ooh, ow, burn, right? Now if they didn't have clam shells available, they would use the next best thing, animal teeth. Yeah, they had the wild back then. Step one, find an animal tooth.

Ooh, all right. Then you drag it over your legs, and that's how you would shave. That sounds pretty badass, actually. Could you imagine like walking in on someone shaving their legs or head with like a tooth and animal tooth? I'd be like what the, but look the point is it started off as like a practical thing. An ancient Egypt, women and men were big fans of getting rid of all of their body hair. They thought it was just more hygienic because fleas and lice were a big problem.

That's fair I get that to them. Plus there was like a shit ton of venereal diseases and hair would trap all of that, making people sick. So instead they were just like off with the hair, gone. But don't worry, they weren't sawing their bushes off with those razor sharp clam shells. Some of the first legit razors ever created came from ancient Egypt around the year 3000 BC. Ancient Egypt is like the coolest place in everything, right? Yeah, 3000 BC. That's like 3000 years before Jesus was around.

People were landscaping their hoola's. Biled. These Egyptian razors were made out of copper, but they weren't like the only option. Raisers were made out of copper, but they weren't like the only option. People also used like a version of the tweezer, and also pumice stones, which were like used very aggressively to rub off the hair. God, it just sounds like you would rip off off your skin and like bleed, right? Oof! By the time Cleopatra was queen in the year 51bc, a new method called sugaring was all the rage. Sugaring is kind of like waxing, except instead of wax, you take water, sugar, and sometimes lemons, and heat them up until they turn into a sticky gel-like paste.

Then you take the sugar wax, spread it on the hair that you want to get rid of, you know? Put on a cloth, cloth strip, that shit off. And we basically do the same thing today. Okay, ancient Egypt. Wow, so influential. Hey, if you try this recipe at home, let me know how it goes. Because at first I was like, I'm gonna try this, but then I got scared. And this is when Cleopatra had a little trend setter moment. Apparently she would have removed all of her body hair, including the hair on top of her head. Now this symbolized elegance and once again high social status. And isn't that what this is really all about? Anyways, everyone saw this in razors. They weren't cheap back then. So everyone and their mom, they find anyway that they could possibly find to remove all of their hair

at home. So they were going like full naked mole rat everywhere. You know what I'm saying? So I'm great. Glad you started that one. I like a bush. Hey, the hair removal trend goes from Egypt to Europe, just like perfumes, toothbrushes, spices, everything we've talked about here on Dark History.

Basically, everything starts in Egypt, and then you're, they steal it, and they're like, we invented it! Yay! Allegedly. For whatever reason, it's not clear why or when exactly this started, but the Greeks believe that pubic hair was a masculine feature. It was believed Greek goddesses lacked any kind of pubic hair, so Greek women had to try and be like them.

I mean, you wanted to be a Greek goddess, right? Then get rid of that fucking hair, you nasty shit. So I know, if you go to a museum and you know when you see those beautiful Greek sculptures of like women, they're usually naked, if you've noticed, they don't have pubic hair. Go take a look. The Greek goddesses, the women,

they don't have pubic hairs, but the men, they got some pubes. There's that weird. Yeah, that's why. Fun fact, go home, tell everyone. Be free. Anyways, but there was also some pretty interesting rules associated with how bald you had to be down there, depending on the kind of woman you were.

Essentially, again, the more powerful or threatening you were, either because you had money or you belonged to a good family, or you were married to a powerful man, these women were all trying to have just bald, Brazilian situations at all times, but Greek. So like a Greek salad. And this kept them looking feminine, just like Athena. They're like, oh my god. But if you were more of like a middle-class Greek girl, it was like, okay, as long as you kept it clean, you didn't have to be completely naked down there.

Nothing too crazy. And then slaved women of ancient Greece weren't expected to do any sort of pubic upkeep whatsoever because, well, they weren't seen in society as a threat. Because of these class divides, Europeans began to see pubic hair as a sign of being dirty or uncivilized. So as time goes on, more and more people

were willing to do whatever it took to keep their junk. Your hoo-ha, beaver, bush-free. Even if it meant that you had to bear the worst kind of pain. In Rome, upper-class women would depube themselves through a variety of painful ways. One way to do it was to literally tweez their pubic hairs off one by one. Huh, neat. They have the time, apparently, geez. They kept using pumice stones to grind off the hair. And another popular method was burning your pubes off with the flames from oil lamps. You know, could you imagine?

You're seeing there like, yeah, bitch. Like, you burn that sh** burning man. Wee burn the b**** burn the b****. What could go wrong? No. Library and Aksmen for you. You're welcome. I guess you got to pick one right now.

No, but also I don't know which one I would pick. No I do. I like the idea of burning off my b****. It's fun. It's in the Bible. John 316. I like the idea of burning off my bush. It's fun, it's in the Bible. John 3.16. I'm just kidding. It was a completely known fact

that this kind of upkeep was literal torture. As men saw it as just one of the sacrifices that the right kind of wife should make for her husband. It's like, yeah, what are you doing? Huh? Huh? I'm getting brush your teethy nasty but I gotta burn my bush off okay sure. God be no woman, Mrs. sucked. Anyways it always comes back to like what men want you know the

Mel Gibson movie. Geez so tweezing and oil lamp burning were known to be very painful. So much so that playwrights would actually use them as a form of torture in popular plays. Like it was some kind of running gag. A famous playwright named Ares Toffanese wrote the scene where a man trying to go under cover as a woman has his pubes plucked out individually and the the entire time he's howling in pain, and the whole crowd went wild. He was ahead, they're like, oh no,

this is so funny, I do that. Ha ha ha. But at some point, ripping off and burning up here wasn't enough. Someone got the bright idea to start messing with our God-given genes and try to change our hair color. And in those early days, how they did it was pretty toxic. Literally, it's still fricking us.

Now, have you ever bleached your hair? Joan? Oh, Paul. I know Paul has. He died. I think from the hair bleach. And so, sometimes I'm burned and you're just sitting there and like, two more minutes, but it's like burning your scalp off.

And you're like, yeah, fun times. I was born for a long time. I loved it. I was like, the pain, I could take it. Anyways, ever wonder where that came from? Bleaching your hair, not the pain, the shocker. It was actually Queen Elizabeth, the first fun fact for you there.

She brought it to the upper class mess. Now, Queen Elizabeth's super popular. I have everyone loved her. Everyone wanted to be her. And I guess she has some strawberry blonde hair that everyone was like, I want that hair color. I want to be like her. So a lot of times they would mix together

a little potion of rhubarb juice and oil, vitriol. Rumor has it. This shit was a painful mixture. So they would paint it onto their heads. I'm painting my head right now if you don't know. Great. And it was said that this was an excruciating process that was extremely corrosive to the hair

and also the skin. Well, that's because turns out, rhubarb juice and oil of vitriol is better known today as sulfuric acid Are you familiar? You know her? Yeah, so they were dumping sulfuric acid on their heads and I guess whatever hair didn't fall off when they were done Would be blonde Gorge love that for you. Okay. Got the new haircut. It's all burned off

You got a couple blondes hanging over haircut. It's all burned off. You got a couple of blondes hanging over here. It's cute. Rock that, yeah. Between Cleopatra, those great goddesses and the queen Elizabeth, the expectations are pretty set for women to do whatever it takes to keep their hair off of their bodies and maybe even changing its color.

Okay, just be pretty. We don't want you ugly. Now, when we get to America in the early 1900s, there's another big surge in hair removal for women. Isn't it nuts that our skin is our largest organ? So, with that being said, a poshrophy is here to help us give it the love it deserves. A poshrophy is an easy to use online platform that connects you with an expert dermatology

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A big thank you to aposherfee for sponsoring today's episode. Now let's get back to today's story. Up until then, women have been covered up, locked, never showing skin. Very modest, you know? It was like standard to wear tights, long skirt stresses, covered bitch. But then again, during World War I, there was a huge shortage in nylon. I guess these men were just out there fighting wearing corsets, nylon. You know, as wild,

they were looking hot while doing it. But it was they were banned. Shortage, nylon. Nylon, if you don't know, was used to make tights or stockings. Unclear what they needed the nylon for in a war, but that's a question for another day. Either way, this left women shit out of luck because now tights were ridiculously priced, or just like, inaccessible, really. But hemlines at the same time were also starting to rise. People were showing a little bit of the knee, baby. Ooh, you know?

And this was all taking place during the roaring 20s, so that ankle was out, and everyone was seeing it, and no one wanted to see a hairy ankle. Oh, gross. So the problem was that the term shaving was associated with men and the practice of shaving their faces. So instead, women were encouraged to smooth themselves with hair removal products like bleach, wax, and early versions of Nair.

And I guess we'll just straight up fry off your hair. Wild. Yeah, sure. It was more painful, but whatever. Who gives a shit? I don't want body hair. Aren't we nuts? We are psychotic ladies. Anyways, in 1915, the first ever female branded razor came out, and this was called Millady Degolette. Oh, Millady. How are you, Millady? And there was an ad for it in Harper's Bazaar, and it was essentially a warning to flappers

that, quote, summer dress and modern dancing could lead them to reveal armpit or ankle hair. What the ankle hair? God! So, oh man, this just struck fear into people. Oh, it would absolutely ruin your reputation. A hairy ankle?

And then people would be talking shit on you. Like, have you seen Jane? Her ankle? Bitch. Harry! And you don't want that. Why? I don't know, because we're women, and that shit sucks.

Basically, being clean, shaving, or smooth, if you were a lady, was just considered basic hygiene at the time. And let's think about it. OK, I thought about it. It still kind of is, right? I mean, a lot of people just associate it with basic hygiene. And shit. We still do all these painful things, shaving, waxing,

sugaring, whatever the hell. And we do it because it feels smooth and I guess we like that. But it's like, why do we really like that? I don't know, because we're sickos. Look, I didn't shave my legs from end of October all the way up until last week. And I loved it. I liked being hairy. It was warm. It was like I was wearing leg warmers at all time. So I love that. And it was so nice. I could feel the leg hair blowing in the wind. I was like, ugh, it's beautiful.

I could braid it if I really wanted to. It was glorious. But then I had a date. So I shaved my, yeah, for the man, I shaved my legs. Look at me, little hypocrite. Ugh. I would have kept my late hair too, but I wanted to show my ankles, shit.

Anyway, society has always had us women doing some crazy shit to achieve whatever ideal of beauty is popular at the time, right? Who is laser'd their ear off? Let me know down below. Or whatever it is, it's always in order to get a man. And whenever humans do something over and over for centuries, it truly changes the way we think.

There's something in psychology called the halo effect. And this halo effect essentially says that when a person has one good trait, we kind of automatically assume that they have a bunch of other good traits as well. This is why we think that beautiful people are nice and smart and talented and have everything because she's beautiful. It's just the way our minds have been conditioned. We immediately think beautiful people equals

beautiful perfect person. When in reality, she's probably got some hairy ass angles and she's a goddamn bitch, you know? And all of that leads to someone having what is called pretty privilege. People who are considered beautiful, I guess they have more advantages in life and they get more fun stuff like promotions at work, sex. I'm not sure what else, but they just get a lot and they get away with it. Now don't get me wrong, all of this applies to men as well, but here's the big problem. Many were attractive, are looked at as smart, confident and trustworthy. But women, I guess, are judged on a different scale and it seems that pretty privilege for

women really means, don't be too cute because like if a woman is too pretty people tend to think well she must not be the brightest bulb and she's probably vain and shallow. I mean society or just years and years and years of beauty standards truly has brainwashed us into thinking that our appearance is everything. I know I'm a victim of it, bitch. I'm always like, am I pretty? No, not. That's like, but it seems like it's kind of always working against us. You know, it's like, damn, what is the freaking point of all this pain?

To get opposite sex attention? Or do we like it? Sometimes I don't know if I like it, or if I'm doing it for other people, you know? I don't know. Maybe I'll overthink it. But the dark part. I love it to these lab. Come on.

Okay, so here's the dark part for me. Is that I know at least for me, I can only speak for myself here. Is that this stuff is always in the back of our heads, just noodlein' around. It's like put on that corset, put on that makeup, be smaller, your feet fuck it, suck! You know? And I'm like, geez, Louise brain, like where are you coming up with this?

It's like we gotta retrain the brain. All of this stuff that we've been told to do, to like please everyone else, like paint your nails, do your hair, get the titties, smash your face, you want to know, it's like oh my god are we okay. I guess the takeaway is that beauty standards, they keep on going right and they have a very shady past and the question becomes are you really doing this for you or are you doing this for them? And that's like the question you should really be thinking about, right? Am I doing this because I

want to do this or because like of social pressures? I don't know if I'm coming for you if you've done anything like, please do as you want in your life with your body, with your temple. As long as it makes you happy and not because you're trying to like, please someone else, right? And the answer to that question should tell you everything you need to know, you know? It's like, sounds kind of Barney to be like, you know, do it for you, not anybody else. But really, it's like a challenge yourself to think about, I don't know. If you're noodling on something, like sometimes I get really, and they remind me, I won't go into all my life, what I nitpick myself about, but it's like, why am I thinking this way?

Because we've been taught, bitch, that's why, that's what I'm trying to tell you. Ugh! Anyways, speaking of beauty standards, I feel like it's a total crime how much I spend in nail salons. You know, I kind of live there sometimes. I always like to get my feet done. I'm a foot person. You know, I kind of live there sometimes. I always like to get my feet done. I'm a foot person. Anyways, but I always wondered, like there's nail salons everywhere.

It's like nails. The idea is of nails, nail art, nail. Where does that all come from? You know, it's for sure a luxury that we all tend to take for granted. But it's like an affordable luxury, really. But I want to know more. What's up with nail art? What's up with nail polish? Nails in general But I wanted to know more. What's up with nail art? What's

up with nail polish? Nails in general. I want to know more. So I decided to find out. And this rabbit hole quickly became one of my favorites I've ever ever gone down. With each new thing I learned, my mind was completely blown. The history of nail salons is juicy and it's got everything, a horrible dictator, an a-lister from the Golden Age of Hollywood, and the inspiring story of some refugees who built a life for themselves in America at a nothing. So come back next week for the dark history of nail salons. Random, but tell me, let me tell you, it's a journey.

Hey, guess what? You can also join me over on my YouTube where you can watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs. Yeah. And while you're there, you can also check out my murder, mystery, and makeup. I love to hear your guys' reactions to today's story,

so make sure to use the hashtag dark history over on social media so I could see what you're saying. I wanna know what are your thoughts? Are you wearing a corset right now? Let me know. Now, let's read a couple of comments that you guys left me, my favorite part. Nikiya left a comment on our conjugal visits episode,

saying, quote, I was a conjugal visit baby, LOL, and my dad was in parchment. End quote. Oh, wow. Small worlds? I honestly can't believe parchment is so open, right? Should not place me blown up. No one in it.

Well, I'm glad for conjugal visits because without them, you would not be here. And I appreciate you. Thank you. Jalen Engel wanted to share this little tidbit with me. Quote, Bailey, I thought you would like to know that my beef and I were in the mood. Okay.

But we were at his mom's house, oh no. And it was quiet out here. So he told me to blast one of your videos. So I did and we got busy." End quote. I'm definitely gonna add that to my resume. Sound muffler. I love that.

No. I was gonna say porn star, but that's not it. But I was just background noise. Sound muffler. I love that. Added to my resume. Use protection. Don't be dumb.

Anyways, Jackie Knight had an episode suggestion for us, saying, quote, Hey Bailey, exclamation point. Well, I hear you. You should do a dark history about big box stores and their takeover of small town America, like Walmart. Okay, okay, okay, I like this. I like where your hat is at. I recently read somewhere that there is a Walmart museum.

Also, have you seen the home of the owners of Walmart? They're like the Waltsons or something. They own this incredible house in LA. That's like $50,000,000. They got so much money. It's so stupid. I would love dark History of Walmart. Yes, it's added to my list.

I need you to order it. Dark History is an audio boom of original. This podcast is executive produced by Bailey Sarian, Junia McNally from Three Arts, Kevin Grush, and Matt N. Lowe from Made in Network. Writers, Joey Skavuzzo, Katie Burris, Alison Peloboz, and me, Bailey Sarian, production lead, Brian Jaggers, research provided by Zander Elmore. I want to say a special thank you to our expert, Antonia Maltchik,

and I'm your host, Hi, Bailey Sarian. I hope you have a good rest of your day. You make good choices, use protection, and I'll be I hope you have a good rest of your day. You make good choices. Use protection. And I'll be talking to you next week. Goodbye. Sometimes, the destination is as important as the journey. Book the best hotels around the world and save at viaggio.com. With thousands of hotels to choose from, viaggio.com is the new booking engine that saves you money. Your next vacation is just a click away. Venice. Paris.

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