Deadly Beauty Standards in Victorian England

30 Morbid Minutes

Society & Culture, True Crime, History

4.8 • 731 Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2023

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From dress fires to corrosive skin treatments, the women living during the nineteenth century subjected themselves to harmful and horrific procedures, all in the pursuit of a warped beauty influenced by the Tuberculosis-inspired "Consumptive Chic" look. We explore the fashion and beauty trends that were not only toxic, but sometimes deadly. Go to http://shadyrays.com and use code 30MM for 50% off 2 or more pairs of polarized sunglasses. Go to http://rothys.com/30mm to get $20 off your first purchase. Follow us on Social: https://twitter.com/elysewillems https://twitter.com/JessicaVasami Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:30.7	This is a rooster teeth production. Would you be willing to die in the name of beauty?
0:38.1	The Victorians were, and we'll find out why in this episode of 30 Morbid Minutes.
1:03.7	This is the podcast where we invested in the podcast where we investigate topics of a morbid, macab, dark, and downright grisly nature in about 30 minutes, give or take.
1:11.1	From the 1830s to about 1870, there was a very specific aesthetic that dominated Victorian-era beauty trends.
1:16.9	It was influenced by the monarchy, Queen Victoria herself, as well as emerging social standards that came with the industrial and urban booms.
1:19.9	Cities, especially London, were bustling and overflowing with people.
1:24.0	This contributed to contagious disease outbreaks, of course, and excessive pollution.
1:29.3	Been watching The Last of Us? I have. I absolutely have and I love it. The Victorians, perhaps
1:34.5	partly in reaction to their quality of life, came to regard cleanliness as a form of godliness.
1:40.2	To be clean was to be moral, and to be moral was to be respectable.
1:52.5	Those of the aristocratic classes, women especially, were expected to conduct themselves both in their actions and appearance in a certain way. And so, Victorian England developed a very identifiable and specific aesthetic, especially for women.
2:00.3	Especially key word for women. Especially keyword for women.
2:02.6	Yes.
2:03.3	Ladies of certain status developed processes and daily rituals and routines to uphold it.
2:09.0	But like a lot of today's Instagram beauty standards, a lot of it was quite performative.
2:14.0	And women felt an immense societal pressure to look a certain way, which really never seems to
2:19.7	change now that we mention it. Yeah. A woman's physical form, femininity, and outward beauty was so
	...

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