Changes

Some of the earliest evidence of social distancing in the Medieval Period come from the period of the Black Death in the 14th century. In this time, in parts of Europe, doctors and carers looking after patients wore pointed, bird-like masks (Figure 1). This was intended to keep people who were not sick away, while also enabling doctors to ostensibly have some protection. People did seem to make attempts to keep away or isolate themselves to avoid infection during the Black Death, but public coordination is not clear in records. The Black Death did lead to increasing building of country villas in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, as wealthier classes began to realise isolating themselves or having homes ready where they could isolate themselves, and have large stocks of food and provisions, could be a way to counteract future plagues. Clothing in early Modern Europe also increasingly became elaborate for the upper classes and this usually was the most ostensible way social distancing was maintained, once again demonstrating that wealth and class, rather than health, were the main reasons to distance segments of the population from other segments. Lower classes were never expected to approach nobility unless invited to do so. Women's skirts also developed large hoops, which increasingly became popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. These hoops, called crinolines, were intended to act as barriers as well as fashion items. The idea was to keep genders segregated, particularly for middle and upper class women who wanted to maintain their reputation. Generally, women who did not do much work wore such dresses, as they were far too cumbersome to be of practical use. This cumbersome aspect warned others to stay away from well-off ladies, while also demonstrating that the woman did not have to do manual labour, indicating her high status. In fact, in the 19th century Victorian era, larger skirts were ways for women to indicate that they were of the highest class and even distinguished themselves from other well-off ladies. Men could not come too close to these women, also suggesting their purity. During the 19th century, outbreaks of small-pox occurred and some evidence does suggest the skirts did help in preventing women from catching this infection, mainly because it was hard for anyone to come close. However, historians also point out sometimes women died because these skirts were too large and easily caught fire in emergency situations, inhibiting the person from easily escaping. In the late 1890s, skirts began to narrow, but hairpins and large hats became popular. These also became symbols to others that they should avoid getting too close to upper-class females.<ref>For more on how fashion was used for social distancing, both for medical and class reasons, see: Ross, R., 2008. <i>Clothing: a global history: or, The Imperialists’ new clothes</i>. Polity, Cambridge, pg. 76.</ref>