5 terrible traditions that killed and humiliated women at different times

Do you miss the past? For those beautiful centuries when ladies wore beautiful dresses with crinolines, and men sang serenades under the windows? Yes, it was. And there were also things that it is impossible to think about now without getting goosebumps from horror. These, for example. And no, these are not instruments of torture.

Oddly enough, the stories about knights and kings locking chastity belts on their women's bodies are a myth. In the Middle Ages, medicine was in its infancy, but, apparently, there was enough knowledge to understand that a metal trap on a woman would kill her pretty soon. The friction of metal on the skin and genitals would certainly lead to injuries, and the constant contamination of the injured areas would lead to sepsis and death.

The first noteworthy mention of the chastity belt dates back to 1405, but it is not known what exactly these belts were used for. There is a version that the "chastity belt" actually protected women from rape. The belts allegedly found from the Middle Ages were later recognized as fakes of the Victorian era. And from that moment all the fun begins.

The reign of Queen Victoria can be considered the heyday of puritan morality. Her Majesty was a talented politician, but the years of widowhood turned her into a supporter of strictness and alleged sanctity. "Victorian morality" prescribed abstinence even for legal spouses, not to mention free women.

But the fact is that from a certain age the young man became a man and managed his life (and body) himself. A woman from under the power of her father, uncle or brother passed under the power of her husband. And he had the right to lock the torture device on her every night. So as not to sin.

Modern young ladies who are fond of horse riding, with great pleasure master riding in a sidesaddle. Firstly, it is really very beautiful, and secondly, it demonstrates the highest skill of the rider. But the modern world is a world in which horse riding is a hobby, and women have the right to freedom of movement and use vehicles for this, not horses.

And before, the sidesaddle was nothing more than a tool for restricting a woman's freedom. Initially, both men and women rode horseback in the landing, which is called "male", but then this landing began to be considered indecent for women. Sidesaddles were invented with an inflated front bow (a woman threw her right leg behind it) and one left stirrup.

The lady could only get into the saddle with male help, while falling from the saddle guaranteed her either death or severe injuries: as a rule, the unfortunate woman's foot remained in the stirrup, and the horse dragged the woman behind him. Naturally, women preferred to ride at a walk: for a gallop or even a trot, it was necessary to have circus agility.

What does it mean? That a woman could go somewhere only and exclusively accompanied by a man. Managing a horse "like a man" and "like a lady" has serious differences, so a woman, accustomed to ladies' riding from her youth, in a critical situation could not jump into the saddle like a man, and thereby ensure freedom of movement.

The sidesaddle was a tool that made it possible to keep a woman in subjection and dependence on a man. Not to mention how many women it has killed or mercilessly maimed.

The Chinese believed that a girl should have a tiny foot, a mincing gait and a fragile figure swaying like a twig in the wind. That's why they broke the girls' legs. The "lotus foot" is a custom that has made many women disabled.

At the age of four or five, the girl's foot was bandaged, pressing her fingers against it. No more bandages were removed. The foot, of course, did not stop growing, but deformed, causing the girl hellish pain. By about the age of 10, the girl received an "elegant" 10-centimeter foot and could now start learning to walk again.Alas, some remained chained to a chair until the end of their days, while the rest could not move without assistance. At the same time, the "lotus leg" was considered a necessary condition for getting married successfully. After all, only commoners who needed to work hard were not crippled.

It was only in the nineteenth century that doctors finally started talking about the dangers of corsets, and before that women were dragged into these torture devices made of fabric and whalebone. Here is an incomplete list of complications that awaited a woman who wore a corset every day: compression of the heart muscle, deformation of the chest bones, paralysis of the lungs, suffocation, fainting and spontaneous abortions. And all this is at best. At worst, death for one of these reasons.

The terrible tradition of female circumcision still exists. In many Middle Eastern and African countries, even now, in the XXI century, they continue to mutilate little girls in the name of chastity.

There are three types of female circumcision: in the first case, the skin folds around the clitoris are removed, so that it is constantly open. Secondly, the clitoris itself and the labia minora are cut off. This permanently deprives a woman of the opportunity to receive sexual satisfaction. It is believed that this terrible, crippling operation will make the future woman chaste.The third and most terrible option is Pharaoh's circumcision. A little girl has both her clitoris and labia minora removed, and the big ones are stitched so that only a tiny hole for menstrual blood to exit remains. The fact is that such an operation guarantees the virginity of the bride: the man's penis simply cannot penetrate through this hole, and on the wedding night the husband dissects the scar with a razor.

An adult woman who has undergone a circumcision procedure is not just permanently deprived of the opportunity to get sexual satisfaction. These crippling operations make themselves felt at the moment when a woman is carrying and giving birth to a child. Disfigured genitals simply cannot withstand the load: old scars tear.

Women who have survived "Pharaoh's circumcision" are likely to die or remain permanently disfigured and sick after the mutilated vulva ruptures, and fistulas form between the vagina and rectum. And you should know that all this still exists. Here and now.