Milford chronicle., 1952-12-26
News Note Girdles
For Men
BY CYNTHIA LOWRY
AP Newsfeaturss Wrlter

The president Of the Women's
Medical College in Philadelphia,
DR.. Burgess Gordon. made some
news in Los Angeles recently, ad-
vising men to wear girdles.
Dr.. Gordon's twin theses were
highly provocative Men, said he,
need girdles to equip them better
to remain in the race with women
IN politics, industry and medicine.
And, he added, there's nothing like
new girdle to give a woman a
feeling Of Well-being.
His suggestion that girdles are
responsible for much of women's
current success in the great worlds
Of business and government is
particularly fascinating. Others, no
tably historians, have pointed out
occasionally that women started
emerging from the home a few
decades back when they loosened
their stays, eliminated the rigid
whalebone sheathing and were able
to move freely.
More than that, however, was DR..
GOrdOn's implication that employ
ment competition between the sexes
had reached a point where men
were looking around for some help.
He infers that the boys are losing
their place because their abdomens
aren't supported, interfering with
the movement of air in and out of
their lungs, which in turn prevents
oxygen from reaching the tissues.
There's nothing the matter with
men, apparently, that little more
air won't cure.
OF course, none of us corseted
women we're aware that men were
on the verge Of being retired by us
from politics, industry and medi-
cine-or any other of the profess
siOns, for that matter.
I know lot of us struggled into
our girdles and managed to get to
the polls in November, but so far
haven't seen anything, elective
or appOintiVe, on any level from
local to federal which would indi-
cate that males were preparing to
turn over their supremacy to ladies,
oxygen or no. AS far as industry
is concerned, the surveys / read in
dicate that the vast majority Of
women are working to earn money
to help support themselves and
their responsibilities in these. high
cost Of living days.
# DR.. Gordon is worried about
the situation, I think he's jumping
the gun. 1t will be years before it
will be necessary to put our men
folk in girdles. And if they carry
on the way they do about starched
collars and neckties, it will take
a long time to persuade them that
oxygen is to be preferred to com
fort.
There's another item I'd like to
take up with DR.. Gordon. It's that
business about a new girdle pro-
viding a women with a feeling of
well-being. I've made an informal
survey among my girdle-Wearing
friends and myself, and to a wo-
man we agree that in our list of
unpleasant activities, breaking in
a new girdle ranks second only to
wearing pair of shoes for the
first time.
We agree that a new girdle
makes any of us look better, trim
mer and more compact. But that
feeling of well-being comes. when
we're permitted to substitute that
new girdle for an old, stretched out
girdle, or better, no girdle at all.
! can only conclude DR.. Gordon
has been gathering his girdIe infor-
nation from women who wear sur
gical cOrsets, purposeful garments
and different from girdles or foun-
dation garments whose only job is
to make the wearer look better by
applying restraint" where need
ed.
However, think that DR.. Gordon
Will get no argument from any of
us women if he maintains some men
VIII look better if girdled. Be-
CidnC rf1fcnVsry 1ovroe o~,s,-.~..--