# Why are we Americans so uncomfortable with things that are natural for our bodies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2003, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-americans-so-uncomfortable-with-things-that-are-natural-for-our-bodies/176154 "2003-05-19T01:43:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-americans-so-uncomfortable-with-things-that-are-natural-for-our-bodies/176154/41 "2003-05-22T05:23:10Z")
Hit submit too soon - any chance they’d let you do a web project? It would be good for your resume ~and~ would alow all the dopers to see the collection. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-americans-so-uncomfortable-with-things-that-are-natural-for-our-bodies/176154/42 "2003-05-22T05:46:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ElJeffe \* > \*\*Just to apply my own anecdotes to the mix: > > I’ve worked with a number of European exchange students.\*\* I think that probably answers it. FE students aren’t exactly the most accurate sampling of foreign cultures. Just the fact they’re students… eew, ick. Filthy grubby things. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-americans-so-uncomfortable-with-things-that-are-natural-for-our-bodies/176154/43 "2003-05-22T13:50:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by j.c. \* > \*\*Lissa - I, for one, would love to see an exhibit of our ancient contraceptive devices, information booklets, Comstockery and letters which ladies wrote to one another, sharing tips on birth-control. > > Any kind of exhibit about the daily grind and household life really appeals to me. I can only tour so many damn castles and great houses. Bring out the flapper’s perm machines! \*\* [continuing hijack-- my apologies] Oh, me too! One of my favorite items is an ad for abortificatient pills. I can’t remember the exact name, but it simply says, “Dr. Poole’s Ladies’ Pills. \* You know.” \* On one bottle that we have, a warning is written, “Pregnant ladies should not take three of these pills, or immediate abortion will result.” One of my favorite letters passed between sisters. An older sister tells her younger, newly-married sister to talk to her husband about getting “something called a kundrim” which would prevent children. She also recommends some common herbs which will prevent conception. A couple of them surprised me until I got a book called \* Eve’s Herbs \* which confirmed their contraceptive properties. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-americans-so-uncomfortable-with-things-that-are-natural-for-our-bodies/176154/44 "2003-05-23T03:19:18Z")
Let the hijack continue! During prohibition, people printed books about bottling grape juice with instructions like “Do not mix the juice of grapes with this percentage of sugar and this percentage of yeast and store at tempuratures of X-Y or fermentation may occur.” I love letters. Primary source material doesn’t get much better than that. Get premission for your boss to apply for a grant for a web project. We all want to see the Ladies’ Pills. ---
**Author:** ![MajorTom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@MajorTom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MajorTom)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-americans-so-uncomfortable-with-things-that-are-natural-for-our-bodies/176154/45 "2003-05-23T04:28:49Z")
I’m surprised that none of the other dopers have mentioned circumcision. Either male as practiced in this country, or female as practiced elsewhere! Maybe a topic for another thread or another forum. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-americans-so-uncomfortable-with-things-that-are-natural-for-our-bodies/176154/46 "2003-05-24T04:04:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by psychonaut \* > \*\*Given that the first-hand accounts I’ve heard relate mostly to Germans, I don’t think a lower standard of living has much to do with it, as **Anthracite** claims. \*\* Did you see that asterisk which I pointedly put by my assertion? I clearly defined what I meant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-we-americans-so-uncomfortable-with-things-that-are-natural-for-our-bodies/176154.md?page=2)