Throughout history and around the globe, women have routinely squeezed, bound, crushed, tweezed, poisoned, pricked, and stretched various portions of their anatomy, sometimes with permanent ramifications, sometimes with excruciating agony, all in the name of beauty. Why was beauty so important? There's no perfect answer, but I explain five theories:

All of those elements were present well before the 20th century, and while economics did shift dramatically for many women in the past 100 years, did anything else really change?

Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures.

This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=83998235) for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and polls. Or make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Your support helps me keep bringing stories of past women into the present.

Join Into History (intohistory.com/herhalfofhistory/) for a community of ad-free history podcasts plus bonus content.

Visit Evergreen Podcasts to listen to more great shows.

Follow me on Threads as Her Half of History.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices