Comments on: Loss of manliness and effeminacy

Loss of manliness and effeminacy

tellurian — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 16:10:30 -0800

Victorian Turkish Baths - "Can the active, fox-hunting, cricketing, boating Englishman bear the same kind of treatment that benefits and gratifies the indolent, languid, luxurious Turk?"

By: gurple

gurple — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 16:19:23 -0800

Wow, that's... that's very specific. It also seems to have a very strict idea of what a Turkish bath is. I.e., no hot water. I had a great experience at a Turkish bath in Budapest. Cold, warm, warmer, hot, steam room -- by the time I did that cycle three or four times I never wanted to leave.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 16:59:38 -0800

Ooooh. I looooved my turkish bath experience in Istanbul. My hair has never been so shiny in my life & my skin was soooo soft. I felt like a little baby. That said, I was relieved that they had female bathers for women though. My friend Judy got 2 men as her Turkish bathers... that would've been kinda creepy & not as relaxing. I still use the silk scrubber I bought there... it rocks!

By: dhartung

dhartung — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:09:08 -0800

It also seems to have a very strict idea of what a Turkish bath is. I.e., no hot water. He distinguishes between the "Victorian Turkish bath", which was based on Roman baths in Turkey and the Maghreb, and the more-common-in-Turkey Turkish bath which is steamy. It's his intention to document this sidetrack or fad, because it is usually treated less comprehensively amid material on the more popular steam baths.

By: wolfsleepy

wolfsleepy — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:21:21 -0800

Indolent, languid, luxurious? My kind of people!

By: micketymoc

micketymoc — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:24:56 -0800

The quote got me to thinking - did colonial Westerners back in the day habitually accuse Eastern cultures of "indolence"?

By: lekvar

lekvar — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:57:10 -0800

Mark Twain had a few choice words about Turkish Baths in Innocents Abroad (scroll down) ... "It is a malignant swindle. The man who enjoys it is qualified to enjoy anything that is repulsive to sight or sense, and he that can invest it with a charm of poetry is able to do the same with anything else in the world that is tedious, and wretched, and dismal, and nasty."

By: cenoxo

cenoxo — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 18:15:10 -0800

Languid indolence luxuriously imagined: The Turkish Bath^NSFW, manfully painted in 1862 by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (when he was 82.)

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 19:32:30 -0800

Enjoyed some of the old photos. This room looked scary! Contemplative solitude. Somewhat sinister looking massage. Check out this Victorian attitude: Same location men's room, women's room. Francis Francis and his eldest son, Francis. Thanks tellurian.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 21:51:00 -0800

proper women's room link.

By: Araucaria

Araucaria — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 22:26:10 -0800

The Russian experience is similar, and probably influenced by the Turks. Just found out about this place in Seattle and have been meaning to try it.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 23:34:39 -0800

thanks Araucaria :)

By: Katemonkey

Katemonkey — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 03:43:11 -0800

I work right next to Victoria Leisure Centre, which is listed on their now open list. Unfortunately, when I walked past today, there was a sign saying that the hot rooms are currently closed, but, one day...