1 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the short stuff. I'm Josh, and 2 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: there's Chuck and Dave's here in spirit, and that means 3 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 1: this is short stuff, which already said, which is a 4 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,799 Speaker 1: waste of time. Let's just start, which is funny because 5 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 1: Jerry is actually here. I think supposedly she is, but 6 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: I haven't heard from her in a while, so who 7 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:26,759 Speaker 1: knows she's here. But then she's like, I can't be 8 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 1: bothered with those twelve minute episodes. Dave here take it? 9 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: Yeah I can't. There's only so much of these shmos 10 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: I can take. Jerry has a lot on her plate, 11 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: and we we're glad she's still around doing our full 12 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 1: length episodes, right, Yeah, we are. We're very hashtag blessed 13 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: to have Jerry still working. Left us in the dirt 14 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: a long time ago, totally, and she doesn't because I 15 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: secretly suspect that she likes us. So Chastity Belts, I 16 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: don't think I ever got the memo. And we'll go 17 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: ahead and spoil this right up front. Uh, that Acity 18 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: Belts were we're probably not even a real thing used 19 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,120 Speaker 1: for that the purpose that we all think they were 20 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: used for. Yeah, I mean, I guess I never did 21 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:10,759 Speaker 1: either I never really sat around and gave some thoughts, 22 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 1: so like reading this, I wasn't like blown away, but 23 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,319 Speaker 1: it it does occur to me that, um, I guess 24 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: I had always thought that they were a real thing, 25 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: and they are technically a real thing, but they're just 26 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: not from the time we thought they were from. And 27 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:30,680 Speaker 1: it all seems to just be uh misinterpretation of potentially 28 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: an old timey joke that we just lost the punchline 29 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 1: to over the years. Yeah, I think maybe that's kind 30 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: of sad that this could have been a very believable 31 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,680 Speaker 1: thing that they did in medieval times, you know, because 32 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: it seems like something that could could have happened. Well. 33 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: Part of it, though, is is like this desire from 34 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: people looking backward and saying, like, look, how dumb and 35 00:01:55,120 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: savage and brutal and just uncaring those people were back then, 36 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 1: And it gives us a sense of self satisfaction and 37 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: that that's why, like basically myths like this are allowed 38 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 1: to perpetuate and it's really just a a misunderstanding. But 39 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 1: it also prevents us from understanding those cultures a little 40 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: better than we do because we just think they're dumb 41 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: and backwards instead. So it's a it's a real issue. 42 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,239 Speaker 1: It's probably the greatest issue humanity has ever faced. Chastity 43 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: belts in the myth behind them, So I guess we 44 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:28,920 Speaker 1: should say what they are. I kind of figured everyone knows. 45 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: But if you have never heard of a chastity belt, 46 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: the legend was that if you could picture basically um 47 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: metal underwear that a man would put on his wife 48 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: that is locked onto their body um like with a padlock, 49 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: and it had a couple of openings for going pp 50 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: and poopoo, and sometimes they were gussied up with like 51 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:54,800 Speaker 1: hearts and flowers and stuff. And the idea was like, well, 52 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: I'm going out of town on a on a rampage, 53 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: like I don't want you messing around on me. I'm gone, 54 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: so I'm gonna I'm gonna lock your private parts away 55 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: basically behind this iron underwear. And that's what a chastity 56 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 1: belt was. Yeah, And if you look at pictures of 57 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:13,359 Speaker 1: some of these chastity belts, like they like the the 58 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 1: place where what did you say you go peepe and 59 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: poop poo like the the the holes are exit only 60 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:24,919 Speaker 1: because they have like metal teeth like she carved into them. 61 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: So it's like, yeah, it's not meant to mess around. Um, 62 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: and when you look at these things, you're like, this 63 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: can't be right, Like is this for real? And it 64 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: certainly seems that way because you can see these things 65 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: with your own eyes. But the problem is is they 66 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: the things you're seeing with your own eyes come much 67 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 1: later than than the age that we attribute them to write. Yeah, 68 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: so a guy actually wrote a book on this. His 69 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 1: name was Albrecht Klassen, and he wrote The Medieval Chastity 70 00:03:54,960 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: Belt Colon a myth making process. Boy, I'm gonna flip 71 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 1: my lid if we ever get a book that comes 72 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 1: through this podcast it doesn't have a colon. Uh oh yeah, 73 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: Like yeah, like just in our research, you mean, yeah, 74 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: that's not a novel. I dare somebody to write one. Well, 75 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: I mean we did well. Ours feels like as a colon, 76 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: but it doesn't test it definitely does. The colon is 77 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: implied for sure. Uh so that this is the book 78 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: that all Wrecked Chasin wrote and basically he's like listen 79 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:32,279 Speaker 1: poets wrote about it. Uh, you know, there were artists 80 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:37,160 Speaker 1: who made these things, but it's basically, um, it seems 81 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: to be just a big sort of practical joke or 82 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 1: or maybe he's the equivalent of like an editorial cartoon 83 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:47,719 Speaker 1: or something in its origin because the first mention of 84 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: it comes from Conrad with a K. Kaiser von Eichstadt, 85 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 1: great name, and this was an engineer who designed all 86 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:01,599 Speaker 1: this technology around sieges like weapons and and defenses and stuff. 87 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 1: And he wrote in the early fifteenth century about a 88 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: device in a manuscript called Bellafortis meaning strong in War, 89 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: which was just a big catalog of like military gadgets, 90 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 1: and among them was a chastity belt. Yeah, because I 91 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 1: mean this was frequently supposedly used by men who were 92 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,280 Speaker 1: leaving for war, um, while they were gone, like you're 93 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:27,920 Speaker 1: saying they would they would use it while they were 94 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 1: out of town or whatever. So it would kind of 95 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:32,840 Speaker 1: make sense that it would it would be in this 96 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:37,359 Speaker 1: you know, um military gadget book um, and you would say, okay, 97 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: proof positive, this thing was written in the fourteen hundreds, 98 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 1: early fourteen hundreds. This is a medieval device, and this 99 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: is possibly where it was invented, was in Belafortis. But 100 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:50,920 Speaker 1: the problem is is if you go through Bellafortis with 101 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: a scrutinizing eye, you're going to see that there's other 102 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: stuff in there that don't quite add up, like um 103 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: a machine that makes you invisible um or a device 104 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: that propels you um through fart power. That's my favorite. 105 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 1: There's a chariot apparently that shaped like a cat. So 106 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,839 Speaker 1: the while a lot of the stuff that von Eichs 107 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 1: thought was was designing and creating was real and legitimate, 108 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: he also was apparently not shy about peppering his works 109 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: with joke stuff as well. Right, And there were other 110 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 1: instances where it was clearly used in a satirical way, 111 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: uh like a political cartoon basically of the time. There 112 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: was one in German from the sixteenth century that has 113 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 1: this sort of older gentleman saying goodbye to his young 114 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,200 Speaker 1: wife and she is naked except for this chastity belt, 115 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,720 Speaker 1: and then behind a curtain is her younger lover sort 116 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:51,599 Speaker 1: of hiding with a chastity belt shaped key, and the 117 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: husband has these donkey ears growing out of his head. 118 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 1: So this all sort of leads us to believe that 119 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: this was kind of a joke, not something that was 120 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: really used. No, and maybe it was even originally used 121 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: and described metaphorically, and it just kind of took off 122 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: from there, almost like a medieval meme. But the fact 123 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: is there are chastity belts in existence, and I think 124 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: we should take a break and then we'll come back 125 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: and talk about where those came from. How about that? 126 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: What a perfect spot. Okay, Chuck. Where did the chastity 127 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: belts that you can actually go see in a museum 128 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,559 Speaker 1: come from? They come from much later. They come from 129 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:00,600 Speaker 1: probably the nineteenth century. There was a little Gothic revival 130 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 1: thing that happened then, and you know, iron and steel 131 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: were much more readily available as Europe became more industrialized, 132 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: and they started making things out of them, and they 133 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: you know, obviously they made things like bridges and things 134 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: like that, but they also made things for fun. And 135 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: it looks like there were these manufacturers in England who said, 136 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: you know what, there are these curiosity shows and museums 137 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: that would that would pay for chastity belts to display them, 138 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: and so we're gonna start making them as sort of 139 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:36,439 Speaker 1: a joke. Yeah. So the idea was that the Victorians 140 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: were wound up so tight and we're so proper that 141 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:47,320 Speaker 1: they would they would expel their prurient interest in uh 142 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 1: bound up sexuality and like side shows and stuff like that. 143 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:53,760 Speaker 1: They would pay to see things like torture devices or 144 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 1: like a chassis or something. And for their part, part 145 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 1: of it also was being able to become self satisfied 146 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:01,560 Speaker 1: with your your own culture, in your own place in 147 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:06,320 Speaker 1: history by mocking or or judging earlier ones. But the 148 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: fact is these things were all they were recently made 149 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: and apparently passed off as much older than they actually were. 150 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: And so some museums said, well, we need to get 151 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 1: these out of our collection because we've been we've been 152 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:21,559 Speaker 1: displaying them as medieval and they were really created twenty 153 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: years ago. Um. And the British Museum actually still has one, 154 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: but there, um they have a little placard next to 155 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,199 Speaker 1: theirs that basically says, uh, there's no real evidence that 156 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,440 Speaker 1: any of these were actually created or used during the 157 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: medieval era. Yeah. I love that last line. It says 158 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: that the evidence is largely anecdotal or in burlesque fiction. 159 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 1: Very tantalizing. So yeah, they kept one around because you know, 160 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: I guess they thought it was still funny to look 161 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: at in their proper context. Um, which it's really not, 162 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: you know when you think about it, right exactly, But yeah, 163 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: it looks like it was basically an urban legend from 164 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: back then that came about many years later as an 165 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 1: actual object. And like you were talking before, like you know, 166 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:14,560 Speaker 1: I think people look at the that period as these 167 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 1: you know, backward people that would do something like this, 168 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: and I think scholars of the Middle Ages try to 169 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 1: be a little kinder, uh and point out that while 170 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,199 Speaker 1: it was no picnic certainly to live back then because 171 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:31,760 Speaker 1: of disease and uh no, no modern medicine and no 172 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:35,480 Speaker 1: electricity and not very much plumbing. Um, it was no party, 173 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: but they weren't like completely backward and it wasn't you know, 174 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 1: just a culture full of maidens locked away in towers either, 175 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 1: right exactly. And um, there's a USC professor named Lisa Battell. 176 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:49,679 Speaker 1: I think it's maybe how you say your last name. 177 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:53,960 Speaker 1: She um. She points out that like, like, yeah, they 178 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: had a different way of looking at things in the 179 00:10:56,120 --> 00:11:00,080 Speaker 1: medieval era, and there were lots of different politics and 180 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: socio politics, but they weren't just stupid, you know, like 181 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: the the so the idea that that they that they 182 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 1: couldn't possibly have had jokes or you know, written things 183 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:15,040 Speaker 1: in jest or whatever and basically pulled one over on 184 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:19,720 Speaker 1: those of us alive today inadvertently is a falsehood. It's 185 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: actually seems to be the case for sure. Yeah, and 186 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 1: there were even some women who were writers who didn't 187 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:29,920 Speaker 1: write under pseudonyms or pen names or anonymously. And I 188 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:31,560 Speaker 1: don't think we're trying to make the case that it 189 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 1: was just like a really progressive society or anything like that, 190 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:37,679 Speaker 1: but it may not be exactly as backward as as 191 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: we're led to believe. Yeah, it's like, take a look 192 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 1: at your own age for you know, for buddy, no kidding, 193 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 1: maybe maybe put your own house in order first before 194 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:51,520 Speaker 1: you go judging out right. Um, what's funny is that, Um, 195 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 1: there really are chastity belts in existence today that are 196 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: of recent manufacturer, but they're mostly made of latex and 197 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:02,560 Speaker 1: they're used almost exclusive le for B D s M. 198 00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 1: And I think, Chuck, we should just leave the listener 199 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:08,320 Speaker 1: here to explain to whoever else they're listening with what 200 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:10,679 Speaker 1: B D s M is. That's right, And maybe we 201 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:13,120 Speaker 1: should do a podcast on that one day. Sure we'll 202 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: explain it for you later on. All right, Well that means, 203 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:23,199 Speaker 1: of course, then everybody short stuff is out. Stuff you 204 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: should know is a production of I Heart Radio. For 205 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 206 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:31,920 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.