Chastity Belts And The Crusaders

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“There’s a woman like a dew-drop, / She’s so purer than the purest.” —Robert Browning, “A Blot in the ‘Scutcheon”
 
 The popular tales surrounding chastity belts are rather romantic, if not sad. Unfortunately, they’re all rather untrue. Chastity belts didn’t come about as a device Crusaders gave their wives and lovers to keep them modest when they went off fighting for years at a time. Instead, they were popularly—and voluntarily—used first by parents to stop masturbating children, then by female factory workers during the Industrial Revolution to discourage rape.
 
 The popular tales surrounding chastity belts are rather romantic, if not sad. Unfortunately, they’re all rather untrue. Chastity belts didn’t come about as a device Crusaders gave their wives and lovers to keep them modest when they went off fighting for years at a time. Instead, they were popularly—and voluntarily—used first by parents to stop masturbating children, then by female factory workers during the Industrial Revolution to discourage rape.

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