Keywords: TheFamilyDoctorJune8 1889page375.png -- 0 -- DISCIPLINE TO THE EDITOR OF THE FAMILY DOCTOR SIR --The present tendency to luxury renders good discipline daily of mote and more importance and youths are in the nature of things even more liable to injury from unbridled license than are girls For them therefore even more than for their sisters a period of discipline is extremely valuable; and in the course of discipline both direct punishment and a certain amount of general curbing and restraint are most desirable In this connection the compulsory wearing of stays at once suggests itself as equally beneficial to either sex Of course by stays I do not mean the absurd flimsy things one only too often notices but good strongly-boned stiff-busked firm corsets producing an elegant long-waisted tapering figure and rendering impossible all Indulgence in unseemly careless lolling about The corset is the very type of good discipline and to be thoroughly well corsetted without reference to whether he will or no is an excellent reminder to any lad no matter how much impressed with his own importance that he cannot have all his own way The degree of tightness must vary of course in particular cases hut as a general rule it may be considered that in a moderate time any pupil whether youth or girl may be required to lace to two-thirds of the natural waist measures Strict uniformity of lacing should however be avoided; every pupil having a corset for ordinary wear and one for best an inch tighter and extra stiff At least two days in the week there should be some active exercise without the corset as by this means the natural figure is preserved and the effect of the corset made much more beneficial both as regards discipline and as regard3 appearance Of course however the details of when relaxation is to be allowed and when extra restraint is to be applied must be left to the unquestioned discretion of the powers that be I can quite well fancy some horrible screaming by some of the sentimental amongst your readers at the idea of compulsory tight-lacing ; but it is the necessary sacrifice of a certain degree of ease and comfort which is its special merit so far as discipline is concerned and for which it is deliberately chosen In the same way use may be made of long kid gloves of delicate tints which are required to be kept fresh and unsoiled; and so also with thin kid boots with very high heels tapering to an extremely small base Both gloves and boots should of course be the very tightest fit It is wonderful how neat the feet and hands can thus be made to appear and I cannot blame a lady for smartening up her charges in this way even it were only for her preference as a matter of dressiness to having thenl about her in freedom roughness and all the glory of independent rudeness Many Austrian ladies indeed do have pages of gentle birth whom they take solely for the gratification of their own vanity in having such smart attendants and with whom they are extremely strict; the pages being thus put out by their friends on purpose to have the benefit of the discipline; which if the lady happens to be quick tempered is at times very sharp indeed as I have the best of reasons to recollect having for two years been in attendance upon an extremely pretty girl of about three and twenty a most capricious martinet As to the best persons to administer discipline I have not a moment's hesitation in giving my voice in favour of the fair sex It is quite a different thing for a lad to cower under the bullying of some burly pedagogue and for him to be sharply disciplined by one whose reliance is not upon physical strength but upon the privilege of her sex In the one case it is a mere keeping down by sheer might; in the other the pupil is learning to yield and bend his will not to power but to duty I know it is often said as if it were something very wonderful Indeed that a young lady set In authority over pupils of the opposite sex perhaps only a few years her juniors and knowing herself free from the possibility of retaliation is apt to become tyranical It is quite true and the discipline is so much the better so far as the pupils are concerned so they have no cause to complain With regard to the lady it should be remembered ~hat It IS one of the privileges of a pretty woman to be tyrannical and I do not see why a pretty woman should not avail herself of her privileges just as well as anyone else From fifteen to sixteen and a half I was at a very strict discipline school Thence I passed under the gentle dominion of the young lady I have already mentioned I daresay if there had been anyone to tell me I was cruelly used I should have been thoroughly miserable but as there was not I was perfectly happy an d not a little vain of the elegant appearance I made In the smart dresses I was required to wear I do not pretend that I liked pain any JUNE 8 1889 better than other people though I had extremely good opportunities of judging what a small hand can do either in the way of administering ringing slaps upon one's cheeks or applying a riding whip in any available place whether hands or feet or arms or legs and can pronounce silk tights to be a most inefficient protection against a jockey's whip handled by an angry woman But the prettiness and piquant soupçonof vanity of my young patroness rendered it impossible to bear malice towards her even when most exacting So I was perfectly happy and I am perfectly certain that the sharp discipline I underwent did me an immense deal of good May I just say another word or two in answer to Borne questions that have appeared in your paper First as to the odious habit of biting the nails This is most disgusting in either sex and must be stopped however severe the means that have to be employed I remember a young lady who after numerous devices had been tried in vain was at length cured by being made to wear gloves with needles sewn into the finger tips To prevent her taking these off she had metal bracelets which tightly clasped her wrists and fastened with springs that could only be undone with a key which was kept by her maid I have seen a similar device applied to the ankles of a young lady who insisted upon taking off in the house the very tight boots which her mother required her to wear The best cure for anyone who will unlace a corset is to take a little piece of strong thin chain and fasten it just loosely round the corset waist with a little padlock There is no discomfort and the pupil so long as he or she submits need not even know the guard is on so far as feeling it goes But let the adventurous spirit cut the lace and a very different tale is told I have never known anyone repeat the experiment I tried it once in early days and found that quite enough I cut the lace early in the afternoon and I shall never forget the tender weal I wore for days after for the key was not brought to my assistance until bedtime To cure a habit of stooping whilst sitting there should be an extra stiff busk a good deal curved in at the bottom inserted after the corset is laced on If the head is persistently stooped also a woollen ball may be fastened under the chin having a darning needle fixed in its centre Before I was taken in hand I stooped and slouched in a way that made my stepmother almost ashamed to let me walk with her and I can vouch for the method of cure I have described being most efficacious - I am Sir your obedient servant ADMIRER OF PRETTY FEET Tightlacing The Family Doctor 1889 from Admirer of Pretty Feet PD-Art Artworks missing infobox template |