A memorable passage in “Listen, World!” a rousing new biography of pioneering Bay Area journalist Elsie Robinson, details the torturous daily ritual of getting dressed as a teen in turn-of-the-19th century Benicia: encasing herself in undershirts, stockings, underdrawers, petticoat and a corset so she could present herself as a proper Victorian maiden. Robinson later described that whale-boned corset with a mix of humor and horror: “Armored like a war tank, reaching from armpit nearly to knee, to be laced until your tonsils cracked. I had a 19-inch waist. Where did I put my insides?” Robinson shed those restrictive garments after...
Monitoring Antisemitism Intel
