Magdalenism : an inquiry into the extent, causes, and consequences of prostitution in Edinburgh / by William Tait.

  • Tait, William.
Date:
1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Magdalenism : an inquiry into the extent, causes, and consequences of prostitution in Edinburgh / by William Tait. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    aiForded lier for undisturbed serious reflection. If she has acted consistently, and is willing to continue in the Asylum at the ex- piry of this period of probation, she is allowed to join the other females in the work-room. Shaving the head was resorted to with a view to repress a desire to get out, common to many after a few days' residence in the Asylum. In such a state of mind, it was found almost impossible to instil proper principles; but, by the adoption of the practice alluded to, an advantage has been gained, as no woman likes to leave the Asylum without her hair; and, before it has grown a proper length, she has become habituated to her situation, and, by instruction and example, made to see the sinful course she has been pursuing. This effect has failed in only two out of fifty cases ! The advantages of shaving the head would have appeared much more satisfactory, had the directors stated that they had discovered a new .method by which to raise funds for the support of the in- stitution. It is easy to see how they could dispose of the hair to advantage ; but it is not so easy to discover how a head de- prived of this natural ornament could be made so much more tract- able. Only one case is recorded, where a very remarkable effect Avas produced by cutting out the hair; and there is such a differ- ence between the persons and the circumstances of Samson and the poor penitent Magdalcnes, that it would be unjust to infer that any similarity of effect would be produced. But, even were all the advantages gained by shaving the head that have been attributed to it, the object attained would not justify the severity of the means adopted for accomplishing it. The practice, in every point of view, is unjustifiable. The injury which a Avoman's feel- ings must sustain by such an operation, is more than sufficient to counterbalance all the good effects said to result from it. A poor penitent girl flies to the Magdalene for refuge and protection, and the first symptom of encouragement she meets with is, the barber's razor de])riving her of what she holds next dearest to her life. Instead of a welcome and friendly, she experiences a shaving, reception. She is put on a level with the inmates of bridewell and bedlam. While she imagined to herself that she had vo- luntarily resigned a life of wretchedness and misery, and resolved i