Curing insane women by beauty treatments

I doubt this actually cured anyone, but as the article notes, it was certainly an improvement on the old way of treating mental illness.

None of the experts who have worked out these remarkable experiments in mental hygiene is particularly interested in the mere appearance of his patients. It is worth no money to the State of Illinois or to the County of Essex to make its insane wards look pretty. Were that the only object the beauty parlors would not be there. That they are there, and that other insane hospitals propose to install equivalents, is proof of the fact that the beauty parlor and what it stands for have definite value in aiding the cure of insanity. . .

Rouge, powder, lipsticks, eyebrow pencils and all the other implements of artificial beauty are provided, so that the women can make up to their heart's content, regardless of the somewhat weird results sometimes obtained... It is a part of the system to let the "customer" direct her own beautification as much as is possible.





Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph - July 14, 1929
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     Posted By: Alex - Tue Feb 14, 2023
     Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues | 1920s | Mental Health and Insanity





Comments
Are you familiar with "Miss Gulag" (2007)? It's a documentary about a beauty contest in a Siberian prison camp for women.

Anything which lets such people feel more human has to be a plus.
Posted by Phideaux on 02/14/23 at 11:30 AM
Phideaux -- we posted about "Miss Gulag" a while back:

https://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/comments/miss_kgb_gulag
Posted by Alex on 02/14/23 at 01:05 PM
Knew I heard about it somewhere . . .

At least you know we pay attention! Maybe not so good at citing sources . . .
Posted by Phideaux on 02/14/23 at 04:28 PM
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