Depilation Punitive
depilation of men, especially burning off
pubic hair, was intended as a mark of shame in ancient Mediterranean cultures where male body hair was valued. Women who committed
adultery have also been forced to wear specific icons or marks, or had their hair shorn, as a badge of shame. Many women who fraternized with the occupiers in
German-occupied Europe had their
heads shaved by angry mobs of their peers after liberation by the
Allies of World War II. During
World War II, the Nazis also used head shaving as a mark of shame to punish Germans like the youthful non-conformists known as the
Edelweiss Pirates.
Clothing for radicals In
Ancient Rome, both men and women originally wore the
toga, but over time matrons adopted the
stola as the preferred form of dress, while prostitutes retained the toga. Later, under the
Lex Julia, women convicted of
prostitution were forced to wear a , as the prostitute's badge of shame. Starting in the 8th century Jews and Christians living under the
Abbasid Caliphate were frequently compelled to wear distinctive markings on their clothes to signify their status as a follower of a
dhimmi faith which often varied between the eras of different rulers. Underneath Caliph
Harun al-Rashid the use of yellow belts or fringes on the clothing were used to signify
dhimmi status, while during the rule of Caliph
al-Mutawakkil patches in the shape of donkeys were worn by Jews and patches in the shape of pigs were worn by Christians. the council adopted
canon 68, requiring Jews (and Muslims) to dress distinctively to prevent interfaith relations. This canon was largely ignored by the secular governments of Europe until 1269 when King
Louis IX of France, later Saint Louis, was persuaded to decree that French Jews must wear round
yellow badges on their breasts and backs. After the
Albigensian Crusade ended in 1229, the subsequent
Papal inquisition of
Pope Gregory IX imposed the
ecclesiastical penance of the
Cathar yellow cross as a badge of shame to be worn by the remaining repentant
Cathars convicted of
heresy. In
colonial New England during the 17th and 18th centuries, courts required people who were convicted of
sexual immorality to wear the letter "A" or the letters "AD" for
adultery and the letter "I" for
incest on their clothing. Striped
prison uniforms were commonly used in the 19th century, as a way to instantly mark escaping convicts. Modern orange prison uniforms serve the same purpose, but with a highly visible bright color in order to make it difficult for escaping convicts to hide them. The use of stripes was adopted because simple one-color uniforms could easily be dyed with another color. Dyeing a striped uniform cannot hide the stripes. They were temporarily abolished in the United States early in the 20th century because their use as a badge of shame was considered undesirable because they were causing constant feelings of embarrassment and exasperation to the
prisoners. They came back into use because the public's viewpoint changed. In many of today's
jails and
prisons in the United States, inmates are forced to wear striped prison uniforms. Black and white stripes are used in the
Maricopa County Jail which was under the administration of
Joe Arpaio. Another color scheme is orange and white stripes. A person who wears this kind of clothing is distinctly marked and can unmistakably be identified as a prison inmate from a far distance, which allows citizens to instantly identify escapees and notify the authorities. Some facilities use hot pink uniforms for the same reasons: better visibility as well as deterrence, as male inmates generally find pink clothes emasculating.
Skin Societies have marked people directly in the practice generally known as being "branded a criminal". Criminals and slaves have been marked with
tattoos. Sexual immorality in colonial New England was also punished by
human branding with a hot iron, by having the marks burned into the skin of the face or forehead for all to see.
James Nayler, an
English Quaker convicted of blasphemy in 1656, was famously branded with a "B" on his forehead. Runaway slaves could be branded with an "R" for "runaway", which ensured he or she was watched closely and often prejudiced against by any subsequent owners and overseers.
Headwear In old-fashioned
French schoolrooms, misbehaving students were sent to sit in a corner of the room wearing a sign that said "
Âne", meaning
donkey, and were forced to wear a
jester's cap with donkey's ears, sometimes conical in shape, known as a "bonnet d'âne", meaning "donkey's cap". In traditional
British and
American schoolrooms, the tall conical "
dunce cap", often marked with the letter "D", was used as the badge of shame for disfavored students. The dunce cap is no longer used in modern education. During the Chinese
Cultural Revolution, individuals accused of being
counter-revolutionaries were publicly humiliated by being forced to wear dunce caps with their crimes written on them.
Restraints Presenting a prisoner to the public in restraints (such as
handcuffs,
shackles,
chains or similar devices) has always served as a method of shaming the person as well. In addition to their practical use of preventing movement and escape, they are usually uncomfortable to wear and often lock the body in unnatural positions. Especially restraining the hands of a captive behind his or her back is perceived as particularly shameful, as it renders the person practically defenceless and showcases his or her physical defeat to onlookers. The effect is often multiplied by combining means of marking people such as the use of
prison uniforms or similar clothing like penitential garbs and the exposure of bare feet. Such a prisoner may also be
perp walked through a public place. ==Other meanings==