Small Pox Research Paper

Smallpox emerged around 200 years after the Black Death, during the mid-14th century, and quickly became one of the biggest killers in the expanding world. (Dobson,p.130) Smallpox changed the beauty standards in Europe through the use of makeup, fashion, and accessories. This disease struck in all social classes of society and was not dependent on status, wealth, sanitary conditions, or hygiene. Because of that, smallpox was sometimes referred to as the “democratic” disease (Skold,p.145) People believe that the Inca and Aztec empire likely collapsed because of smallpox. Hernan Cortes and his 300 men attacked the Aztec capital a force of 300,00 and captured the city within the span of three months. (Altman. p.42) This likely occurred because the Spaniards have had years of exposure to smallpox due to Columbus crossing the Atlantic from Europe to Africa and carrying the disease. (Dobson,p.130) On the other hand, the Aztecs and Incas were not immune to the ravages of the disease and quickly became weak which led to the collapse of the civilizations. (Altman, p.42)
During the 16th century, the “speckled monster” had attacked close to 15 percent of the population in Europe. And of those victims at least 80 percent
were under the age of ten. Smallpox also killed close 45 percent of its victims and those who survived were left scared and sometimes even blinded. (Dobson,p.130) Close to one-tenths of the world population had been left crippled or disfigured due to smallpox. When children were born, families wouldn’t count them as their own until they overcame the dreaded disease. ( Oldstone, p.35) . While the disease expanded into towns the famine also grew larger. Due to the death rate of smallpox, there were not enough people alive to farm land and grow crops for others. (Oldstone, p.32) Roadsides were filled with corpses and villages smelled of death. Wild animals and vultures devoured the dead corps since there was no other food left. (Dobson,p.131)
The beauty standards during the 17th century were way lower due to the scarred natural complexion of women.
(Sherrow, Beauty) Since the rich were among the many victims of smallpox the use of makeup to cover up scars began. Women began using thick face powder or creams in order to cover up their damaged pitted faces. (Oldstone,p.33) These face powders were made from all different types of toxic materials including led which also lead to indents in the skin. (Sherrow, Facial) For women in the middle or aristocracy class, their faces were the destiny to who they would marry and getting smallpox could change their whole future. Since a number of scars could be between 1 and 100, with most occurring faces, the idea of beauty patches emerged.
(Shorter,p.95)
The permanent pockmarks suffered by survivors often caused considerable distress, and women were robbed of their smooth skins. They did all they could to mask their scars with paints, potions, beauty spots, and beauty patches. (Dobson, p.132) Facial patches emerged during the 17th century in Europe. These patches were made in all sorts of different shapes. The most popular ones were stars, suns, crosses, moons and birds. The patches itself were made from expensive black fabrics like silk, velvet or leather. (Sherrow, Facial) In order for these patches to stick on faces, people applied gum paste to the bottom and it would stick on the skin without needing to reapply. The patches were carried around in small tin boxes and were worn liberally like purses. In the late 17th century, beauty patches had become such a cosmetic staple that they began to be worn more as an accessory instead of a way to camouflage disfigurements or scars. Patches started to express women’s inner style and quickly became a trend. People started to wearing several patches at a time in different shapes and in different places. By wearing different types of combination it expressed people's personalities and sense of style. These beauty patches later became to have a social meaning. A patch on the right cheek meant that a woman was married, while a patch on the left cheek meant she was engaged. Flirtatious women placed a patch at the right corner of their mouths; passionate ones applied a patch to the corner of the eye. The market for the facial patches was extremely popular and sellers would walk the streets singing jingles and creating rhyme to sell these patches. Later in England, Oliver Cromwell, who had overturned the monarchy, forbade face patches as an aristocratic affectation only. Which meant that it was only allowed to be worn by the rich and famous. Since fewer people were able to wear these beauty patches the trend wore out and was not seen as frequently. The fashion trend of facial patches was revived slightly during the reign of Charles II but faded out again during the later 1700s." From time to time we see these facial patches make comeback in North America or Europe but not nearly as high as it peak during the smallpox outbreaks. (Sherrow, Facial)