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Technologies of the Body: Polite Consumption and the Correction of Deformity in Eighteenth-Century England

David Turner Orcid Logo, Alun Withey

History, Volume: 99, Issue: 338, Pages: 775 - 796

Swansea University Author: David Turner Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1111/1468-229X.12087

Abstract

Advertisements for a variety of products aimed at correcting or concealing physical ‘deformities’ - including rupture trusses, artificial limbs, and more elaborate machines to correct posture by straightening the spine - were prominent features of later eighteenth-century newspapers. This article ex...

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Published in: History
ISSN: 1468-229X
Published: 2014
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa20003
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first_indexed 2015-06-27T02:02:24Z
last_indexed 2021-01-30T03:34:22Z
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spelling 2021-01-29T12:06:17.8096656 v2 20003 2015-01-19 Technologies of the Body: Polite Consumption and the Correction of Deformity in Eighteenth-Century England b42030a33ee6196d376ee73775500933 0000-0002-5400-1864 David Turner David Turner true false 2015-01-19 AHIS Advertisements for a variety of products aimed at correcting or concealing physical ‘deformities’ - including rupture trusses, artificial limbs, and more elaborate machines to correct posture by straightening the spine - were prominent features of later eighteenth-century newspapers. This article examines ways in which these products offered ways of fashioning the body in ways that not only restored functional capability, but also offered aesthetic improvement, producing a shape that both appeared ‘natural’ and was pleasing to others. Indeed, although many technologies of the body may have been intended first and foremost to restore the injured to economic productivity, manufacturers used a language of polite commerce to address users not as medicalised ‘patients’ but as sophisticated consumers. The development of these products took place against a cultural shift in which using artificial means to effect physical ‘improvement’ lost its previous association with pride and became prescribed as a duty for those wishing to succeed in polite society. This article shows how concepts of politeness and technologies of the body were interwoven in complex and surprising ways, and uses its material to question the status of these products as ‘medical’. In the process, it examines the ways in which suppliers addressed the aspirations and experiences of ‘deformed’ consumers in the eighteenth-century world of goods. Journal Article History 99 338 775 796 1468-229X Disability, deformity, technology, consumption, adverstising 16 12 2014 2014-12-16 10.1111/1468-229X.12087 COLLEGE NANME History COLLEGE CODE AHIS Swansea University 2021-01-29T12:06:17.8096656 2015-01-19T09:34:50.6961865 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - History David Turner 0000-0002-5400-1864 1 Alun Withey 2 0020003-19012015094215.pdf hist12087.pdf 2015-01-19T09:42:15.9230000 Output 138854 application/pdf Version of Record true 2015-01-19T00:00:00.0000000 Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY-4.0) true
title Technologies of the Body: Polite Consumption and the Correction of Deformity in Eighteenth-Century England
spellingShingle Technologies of the Body: Polite Consumption and the Correction of Deformity in Eighteenth-Century England
David Turner
title_short Technologies of the Body: Polite Consumption and the Correction of Deformity in Eighteenth-Century England
title_full Technologies of the Body: Polite Consumption and the Correction of Deformity in Eighteenth-Century England
title_fullStr Technologies of the Body: Polite Consumption and the Correction of Deformity in Eighteenth-Century England
title_full_unstemmed Technologies of the Body: Polite Consumption and the Correction of Deformity in Eighteenth-Century England
title_sort Technologies of the Body: Polite Consumption and the Correction of Deformity in Eighteenth-Century England
author_id_str_mv b42030a33ee6196d376ee73775500933
author_id_fullname_str_mv b42030a33ee6196d376ee73775500933_***_David Turner
author David Turner
author2 David Turner
Alun Withey
format Journal article
container_title History
container_volume 99
container_issue 338
container_start_page 775
publishDate 2014
institution Swansea University
issn 1468-229X
doi_str_mv 10.1111/1468-229X.12087
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - History{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - History
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Advertisements for a variety of products aimed at correcting or concealing physical ‘deformities’ - including rupture trusses, artificial limbs, and more elaborate machines to correct posture by straightening the spine - were prominent features of later eighteenth-century newspapers. This article examines ways in which these products offered ways of fashioning the body in ways that not only restored functional capability, but also offered aesthetic improvement, producing a shape that both appeared ‘natural’ and was pleasing to others. Indeed, although many technologies of the body may have been intended first and foremost to restore the injured to economic productivity, manufacturers used a language of polite commerce to address users not as medicalised ‘patients’ but as sophisticated consumers. The development of these products took place against a cultural shift in which using artificial means to effect physical ‘improvement’ lost its previous association with pride and became prescribed as a duty for those wishing to succeed in polite society. This article shows how concepts of politeness and technologies of the body were interwoven in complex and surprising ways, and uses its material to question the status of these products as ‘medical’. In the process, it examines the ways in which suppliers addressed the aspirations and experiences of ‘deformed’ consumers in the eighteenth-century world of goods.
published_date 2014-12-16T03:23:34Z
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score 11.037056

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