"... until after the publication of Darwin’s 'On the Origin of Species' in 1859. He posited that humans evolved through natural selection, and that the first thing to develop was bipedalism; in other words, standing upright preceded brain development. This idea was controversial because convention taught that higher intellect distinguished humans from nonhuman animals, and now it appeared that only a mere physical difference, located in the spine and feet, separated humankind from the apes.... With the rise of eugenics in the early 20th century, certain scientists began to worry that slouching among 'civilized' peoples could lead to degeneration, a backward slide in human progress. Posture correction became part of 'race betterment' projects, especially for white Anglo-Saxon men but also for middle-class women and Black people who were trying to gain political rights and equity. Poor posture became stigmatized and defined as a disability. As I show in my book, people with postural 'defects' were regularly discriminated against in the American workplace, educational settings and immigration offices..."
From
"Beth Linker Is Turning Good Posture on Its Head/A historian and sociologist of science re-examines the 'posture panic' of the last century. You’ll want to sit down for this" (NYT).
This made me think about the way, back in the 1950s, we girls were encouraged to train ourselves in good posture by walking with a book on one's head. I see there's an entry at TV Tropes,
"Book on the Head."
And here's a random poster (from 1946):
पोस्ट्स
४१ टिप्पण्या:
Wasn't there something like the "Seven Sisters Slouch". The way gentlemen at Harvard only need a C, young, well bred ladies could slouch a bit.
Many Eugenics advocates were at Harvard.
It’s more than just standing straight upright. Keeping that book there steady also apparently requires a gliding step. First thing that many noticed about my partner. She, who was put in toe shoes at 3 yo, had no problems with it, from the first time she tried. She was a dancer, and went trough college on a dance scholarship. Her older sister was hopeless. It takes concentration to do, and that sister had none. Third sister followed the middle sister, and pegged it the first time. But they really didn’t have a normal childhood - their mother taught dance and choreographed shows in Las Vegas.
As a guy, I was always happy that I wasn’t a girl, and this is one reason. I have tried it, and probably did better than her older sister, but not by much.
It’s not the posture stupid. Remember It’s all about the survival of the fittest. Ergo: the meanest stance of a mixed martial artist determines who lives and procreates.
Books on the head?
What was wrong with bundles of laundry?
I don't have NYT access, just a side comment here. The rise of office jobs and sedentary lifestyles in the 1800s led to self-awareness of weakness versus relatives still on the farm. The white collar class started urban fitness programs, adopted special diets, visited sanitariums, and created all sorts of semi-scientific or pseudo-scientific fixes.
There was a grain of truth in the posture efforts. People did go soft and weak and their backs developed larger curves. Tribal people today have better backs than city people because they use them for physical labor. Posture and strength are likely declining further with heavy phone/tablet use too.
Good posture probably does have a great deal of benefit, but the old people I have known just have degenerative spines top to bottom and simply can't maintain good posture without a brace. So, is the degenerative spines a result of bad posture and bad habits in the past or just the nature of advanced age?
Makes your tits look bigger too.
I get told about every other yoga class that Ayurvedic medicine supports good posture and it thousands of years old. This article seems pretty colonizing to me.
"A (sic) historian and sociologist of science ...".
That is, a lying, Marxist ratfucker, who hasn't the brains to understand the least of the scientists she pretends to study. Why are we paying for this shit?
Fat shaming in sheeps clothing. Also, that uninspired bootie makes it racist bigotry as swell.
If you wanna see perfect posture, look at tribal humans featured in National Geographic magazines from the 1950's. Trigger warning, you might seem some titties... but remember, it's for strictly educational purposes only.
There should also be concern for imposture.
Good posture can help one appear a bit taller.
I do feel for old people who have that hunchback
Pfft. Posture. Shropshire. I wrote my dissertation sitting. Perhaps I should've had the stand-up desk, like Althouse's. I'd never seen one in 1999, full disclosure. Still. My poor back! Sitting for long periods is not too healthy. I lived, though, hehe. Still around after all these years making blog comments over here.
'If you wanna see perfect posture, look at tribal humans featured in National Geographic magazines from the 1950's'
Yes, we should all look to stone-age people when it comes to the best way to live...
She says it's "fake news" and "it’s the phrenology of the 20th century" and "In terms of long-term health, I think the jury is still out on that." All 3?
Actually, the posturists were just "following the science." Like the covid maniacs of recent years.
All the adorable little moneymaking monkeys on YouTube run around on two feet. Will that give them crippling spine issues before they are 10 years old?
Will our gene cleaned progeny have perfect posture, er, naturally?
Let me guess where this is going... good posture is White privilege.
It's all so tiresome.
I can see anybody who's done a semi-decent amount of ballet schooling a mile away.
True story: my mother was twice named Posture Queen in high school in the 1950s.
Didn't Yale take nude photos of incoming students to examine their posture?
Gohttps://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/15/magazine/the-great-ivy-league-nude-posture-photo-scandal.htmlod essay by Ron Rosenbaum.
Good posture, once upon a time, was important for Ivy league students.
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/15/magazine/the-great-ivy-league-nude-posture-photo-scandal.html
Paris Hilton famously slouched and drug along many fans. It was a thing.
Good posture is good for physical health. I've had physical therapy for both of my shoulders. One shoulder had a tendon issue from a ski accident decade's earlier. The other shoulder was from poor posture, not sucking in my gut and throwing my shoulders back. The therapy for both was stretching the tendons. Good posture would prevent a recurrence.
I've repeated the stretching exercises as n needed.
Sometimes poor posture can be sexy in a young woman.
How many times did I hear, "Stand up straight." and "Sit up straight." while growing up.
Good posture, you know.
Too lazy or not too lazy. That is the question.
When my mother was a child in the late 1930s her uncles would unexpectedly run a knuckle up her spine when she was sitting so she'd straighten her posture. Until the day she died she had perfect posture and an ambivalent memory of her family rough-teasing her.
Posture is a choice between a viable physiology and a crimped lifestyle in progress to a near and mortal "burden".
The best way to improve your posture is to do heavy deadlifts.
I can see anybody who's done a semi-decent amount of ballet schooling a mile away.
Or Irish Dancing.
"The best way to improve your posture is to do heavy deadlifts."
Or lots and lots of sex. Guess which I prefer.
Posture for powerlifting
Ed Coan & Dr. Stuart McGill on Performance, Injury Avoidance & Longevity When Lifting
In the Forties and Fifties, William Herbert Sheldon developed a theory of somatypes or body types - the endomorphic, mesomorphic, and ectomorphic. He claimed that his measurements showed that all humans were some combination of these types. At the same time, EA Hooten was teaching Anthropology at Harvard and he too classified body types. His work was explicitly racist. One of his books was Up From the Ape and the gist of it was that some of us weren't as up from the ape as others, due to differing rates of evolution. And if you were up high on the tree of evolution you might slip down a few branches if you intermarried with someone from a lower branch. The theory of somatypes fit into the anxieties provoked by Hooten's theories which, since Hooten was at Harvard, were MustThink. It seemed as if you could could analyze the somatype combination of the person in front of you and, in simple but scientific way way get a fix on how high up the tree of evolution this person was. You could avoid liaisons with people who would pull you down toward the ape.
A Weird Fact
In pursuit of measurements to prove his theory of somatypes, Sheldon managed to persuade Yale to photograph, naked, the members of its incoming classes so that somatype measurements could be made. These measurements then were to be compared with how well the Yalies did. Did those rounded shoulders at 17 really predict that failure at 67? Science on the march. Hilary Clinton was one of the Yalies photographed under this arrangement. At some point Yale became aware of the absurdity of the plan, discontinued the photography sessions and then, later, shredded the photographs. (At least, they say they shredded them. Solid info is hard to come by.)
Typical Hooton-type evolution tree. This is quite racist- brace yourself.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9zZ1uORIfoE/UDfUvLZ-DlI/AAAAAAAAAZc/IxMMnTF5a3k/s1600/Hooton2.gif
Good posture is important for everyone but, as this brief history shows, at one point good posture became entwined with the somatype theory which was adjacent to biological anthropology and thus the simple question of good posture became racist adjacent.
You will never see better posture than in an African village. I especially appreciate the memory of the Kikuyu women in Kijabi walking down the road with a baby strapped to their back, a load of something on their head, knitting as they walked (Kijabi is about 7200' elevation. )
Joe Smith said...
“Makes your tits look bigger too.”
So, you’re saying heavily overweight guys should slouch.
I had lower back arthritis that responded favorably to exercises that strengthened my core and made me stand straighter. Spinal alignment is part of orthopedic health.
Beth Linker is willing to normalize needless pain in order to get a NYT byline.
“Or lots and lots of sex. Guess which I prefer.”
Hey, hey, hey, calm down, you two. New Shimmer is both a floor wax and a dessert topping!
I slouched as a kid, and my friend's mom was always trying to get me to stand up straight. She'd physically straighten my shoulders and tuck in my tummy. Now I know why.
Here's the "Posture Pals" short from MST3K: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDjBsOkidek
Also, African women look positively regal because of their posture. Carrying heavy loads on your head is hella efficient ergonomically.
A real historian of science would time the awareness of posture to Darwin's "The Descent of Man", not "Origin of Species".
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