5 Horrible Ways Women Tried to Lose Weight Throughout History
A tapeworm a day keeps the fat away
Today the body positivity movement is helping us all accept our bodies even if they aren’t a size zero. While progress is being made, there is no denying that the movement has nearly a century of brainwashing to overcome. Because of the cultural belief that being skinny was the key to being desirable, women in the past were bombarded with all sorts of advertisements promising to help them lose weight. For a price. These vintage ads are just some examples of the crazy diets directed at women.
Cigarette diet for the cool girl
Got cancer? If someone tried this diet, then most likely. But at least they would have been a stunning corpse. And really, isn’t that more important than enjoying some cookies? Cigarette companies sure wanted you to think so. From the 1920s through the 1950s they tricked many women into believing that smoking made one thinner. While some truth is there because of the appetite suppression, the other side-effects of smoking could prove fatal.
