Curved Spine and Curvy Body--The Lancet
Again a female body appears in the pages of The Lancet advertising medical equipment. This time it is October 29, 1853 and two bare female backs are posed in comparsion, one with severe spinal curvature and one with just...curves. Peddling "spinal stays" and "invisible crutches" the two backs, signalled to be women only by the coiffed curls hanging just above the shoulders, depict a bent body of child-like litheness and a well-postured body with the curves and dimples a full-grown woman. The subtle connection with infirmity and pre-adolescence or health and vibrant sexuality reveals some of the preconceptions of the day.