A fragile and delicate matter

[Cap'n Jack]

Well, I did make a plea for this thread not to be trivialised.
Or to be a battleground for sexist comment.
I suppose the Old Bailey was no different, instead of trivialising the subject they just banned it.
The word that could not be spoken.
And this is from the original.

'ARTHUR MORGAN . I am surgeon to the House of Detention—the prisoner is about eight months gone in pregnancy, and under those circumstances I should not expect any**—it is not usual; it occurs in some cases up to the time of confinement, but it is quite exceptional.'

The '**' is a woman's period.

[Debra A]

Wouldn't knowledge and open talk about the topic of menstruation depend on the class and the gender of the person in question? And possibly also on the profession? I think it's hard to generalize.

probably, JSchmidt, I imagine the upper classes were less well informed, being more delicate etc! but none of us really know, so I can congratulate AP for putting this topic forward.
I'd still like to see the 1885 case though!

[JSchmidt]

Wouldn't knowledge and open talk about the topic of menstruation depend on the class and the gender of the person in question? And possibly also on the profession? I think it's hard to generalize.

[Debra A]

yes, no one wants to be associated with the bushes Nats!

[Natalie Severn]

Hi Debs,
Well true,though since the fashion now is for everyone to shave everything off there"s not much left to talk about!I wonder if its come about since so many of the Bush family came into the pubic eye?

[Debra A]

Too true Debs! As for giving birth..........ouch........!

Hi Nats,
It's odd isn't it? We can talk about filthy whores, blood, guts, lust, murder and sex, but not about natural occurences without men squirming! Even pubic hair is a thread killer round these parts.

[m_w_r]

Hi chaps,

I suppose it's not easy to generalise about the social understanding of human reproduction in the LVP, but here's an example of a quite well-to-do lady who knew little about it, and her maid who knew much better. The conversation is from 1898:




The Miss Holland referred to was killed by SH Dougal at Moat Farm in 1899. (Evidence of Annie Whiting, National Archives, MEPO 3 159B.)

Regards,

Mark

[Natalie Severn]

Too true Debs! As for giving birth..........ouch........!

[Debra A]

It's not exactly welcomed nowadays, but with the internet, what ya gonna do?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

PC? or women talking about menstraution?


AP, I heard they were talking about it, but didn't think it was in practice by 88?I think us girls can take the jibes along with the serious stuff, it's the blokes that can't handle it...it's the same with other subjects, it's the men who go stoney silent.

[c.d.]

Difficult or not, it was a common practice for prostitutes then. Their clients were drunk and doing it in the dark, so it may not have been as terribly hard as you think.


Well it if it wasn't terribly hard, how did they...oops, never mind.

c.d.

[Cap'n Jack]

On your bike, Tom, and cycle where you will.
I believe it was Rumble-on who started this business with the thighs. I pulled him up on it years ago. At the time I defied him, and anyone else, to show me one single case where such an unlikely event had occured.
Given the laws of the LVP it is highly unlikely that any prostitute, or client, would have indulged themselves in buggary.
This was best left to the men.
Who made the laws.
See Tumblety for further details.

Yes, Debs, it is an interesting subject, and I should like to discuss it in a suitably serious fashion, without trivialising it, so I'm glad for your interest.
Just as an aside, I don't think we were aware that the police of 1888 employed female searchers at London stations.
From what I have seen so far, Eddowes should have been searched at the station before going in the cells, but there doesn't appear to be a record of that, does there?

[Tom_Wescott]

I doubt it, we've all advanced since then...and now you have women telling you about! ...which was a no no in those days I think.

PC? LVP was not PC!!!!

It's not exactly welcomed nowadays, but with the internet, what ya gonna do?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[c.d.]

Good points - but gripping the you-know-what between the thighs might still have been difficult and you have to be a woman to understand why.

Apparently in prison, this practice is referred to as "slick legging."

We can now go home tonight a little wiser.

c.d.

[Tom_Wescott]

A Hillary Clinton mask. That'd keep the boys away for sure.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Debra A]

P.S. Victorian men were not idiots. They knew as much about a woman's cycle as we know today.

I doubt it, we've all advanced since then...and now you have women telling you about! ...which was a no no in those days I think.

PC? LVP was not PC!!!!