Admittedly, some of the rules of a Victorian Lady's Proper Demeanor no longer fit in with today's society, however this one does. I have seen it occur time and again over the years and often thought it quite a rude behavior indeed. The following is an excerpt from "Keeping Hearth and Home in Old Massachusetts: A Practical Primer for Everyday Living" by Carol Padgett. It's a book not unlike one that your great grandmother might have read at age 17 to prepare herself for the etiquette of courting, to learn how to conduct herself in public, and to learn what would be required of her during marriage. Pity that this is not a subject taught in our schools today, as I've seen more bad manners displayed in the last decade than ever before.
Have you noticed this blatant display of rudeness? The excerpt reads:
"Refrain from Eyeing Over Other Women. Few observant persons have failed to notice the manner in which one woman, who is not perfectly well bred or perfectly kind hearted, will eye over another woman, whom she thinks is not in such good society and, above all, not at the time being in so costly a dress as she herself is in. Who cannot recall hundreds of instances of that sweep of the eye, which takes in a glance the whole woman and what she has on from to-knot to shoe-tie? It is done in an instant. No other evidence than this eyeing is needed that a woman, whatever be her birth or breeding, has a small and vulgar soul."
Now that this habit has been brought to your attention, count how many times you see it while out on your daily errands. I see it most while standing in the checkout line at the market. Women eyeing other women and making judgements on them by the way they dress while marketing or carrying about their day.
