10 high-stakes beauty standards our ancestors adopted

Each era, country or civilization has or had its own aesthetic standard. And, on certain occasions, to reach these standards imposed by certain societies, women sacrificed their health, appearance and even life itself. Many practices that today seem strange and even cruel to us, at some point and place in our history were part of the routine of many women.

O awesome.club gathered a series of dangerous and even deadly practices that were carried out by our ancestors, with the intention of being in fashion at the time.

Already in the 19th century, fashion lovers had industrial hair dyes within reach. In addition to the danger that the paints presented, the colors also left a lot to be desired. They were made by adding lead or silver nitrate, which are very dangerous elements, depending on how they are used. Dyes negatively affected the skin, hair and lungs, and the coloring of the dye was also unpredictable: it was possible that, instead of acquiring a black tint, the hair turned green.

In essences and creams to eliminate freckles and skin spots, large amounts of cyanide or mercury were added. This was done to whiten the skin and combat unwanted pigmentation. Mercury was accumulated in the body, so people who used these products ended up having a reduced life expectancy.

Mercury chloride was used to make the skin smoother and more velvety, and was also used to treat syphilis. This compound is an extremely toxic substance that seriously affects the functioning of the central nervous system (CNS).

Potassium cyanide (or cyanide) is such a toxic element that, during World War II, it was used by German soldiers to commit suicide when captured by enemy troops.

Cinnabar is a volcanic mineral that gives rise to mercury. It has a very vivid red color that resembles blood. That’s why blush and make-up powder were made on top of its base. For these cosmetic purposes, such a substance was used in ancient Japan and ancient China, and later, with the help of cinnabar, hair was also dyed.

Like all mercury-based compounds, cinnabar is toxic. Inhaling its vapors causes severe poisoning.

“Eat! Eat! Eat! And always look thin! The fat, the enemy that hinders your life, already expelled! As? With the help of disinfected solitary confinement”.

Why torture yourself with grueling diets and physical exertion if you want to lose weight? Take a pill with tapeworm eggs and you’ll lose those damn pounds in no time.

This was the logic that guided many women obsessed with losing weight when it came to consuming capsules containing these parasites. And, of course, they lost weight. However, after they were satisfied with their bodies, serious problems appeared: nausea, anemia, weakened immune system, excessive fatigue and headaches.

The tapeworm, as we mentioned, can cause cysticercosis, a disease that can cause several neurological problems.

In the Victorian era, flannel dresses, shirts and pajamas were all the rage. But, unfortunately, not everyone could use them. The expensive flannel was replaced by a similar, cheaper one. However, there was a ‘small’ detail: this cheaper fabric was highly flammable and, many times, serious fires and even deaths occurred due to the simple fact that someone was using a piece made of this material and left a candle (used, at the time, as lighting ) drop, for example.

Each people has its own notions of beauty. For example, in Indonesia one of the ideals of female beauty was sharp teeth. For this, many women underwent procedures that were somewhat unpleasant and dangerous to make their canines sharper. They say that, nowadays, it is still possible to find beautiful women with sharp teeth in the Asian country. However, this type of deformation is, in addition to being painful, dangerous, as the damaged enamel ends up paving the way for a series of infections.

About 2 thousand years ago, representatives of the Mayan civilization decorated their teeth with gold and precious stones. For this, they made small holes in the teeth, where diamonds and gold were glued. In ancient Egypt, there was a similar technology. This type of decoration was a sign of status.

Altering the shape of the skull is another ancient and rather unusual beauty ritual. There was a time when oval-shaped heads were considered beautiful. Archaeologists have found such skulls all over the world, from South America to the Middle East. The cranial box was shaped to gain that shape considered beautiful since childhood. The children had their heads tightened with a kind of strap and special plates. These manipulations negatively affected the functioning of the brain and, many times, the little ones simply died.

The medieval ideal of female beauty assumed small breasts. This was propagated from a Christian worldview. Female forms should have wide hips, flat chest, small hands and feet, as well as thin lips. To achieve this ideal of beauty, children, from an early age, wore tight blindfolds, so that their breasts would not develop.

In the Middle Ages, the cult of the Virgin Mary was very intense. Therefore, the cult of pregnancy was such that a person considered infertile was considered a huge shame. Therefore, many women simulated pregnancy.

It is clear that all these practices that we have just shown are proven to be harmful to health. But one question still stands today: Is it worth imposing so much sacrifice and submitting to treatments whose impact is not fully known just to fit certain standards?

What is your opinion?