brittbat 's review for:

Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners by Therese Oneill

3.0

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My interest was piqued after a conversation with coworkers concerning this book and the pineapple-like qualities of the (supposedly) ideal breast, so how could I resist reading the whole thing? The approach is more humorous than scholarly, with lots of uncredited and out-of-context images that serve as punchlines, but the author also cites some genuinely off-the-wall quotes from various bit of Victorian health and beauty advice that serve the thesis of "men sure had a lot of medically dangerous opinions without any knowledge to back them up." I learned quite a bit about what wombs are apparently supposed to do, and enjoyed many a horrified laugh reading bits aloud to my girlfriend re: face enameling and burning off one's freckles.