Can Fashion Be Hazardous to Your Health?
Pre-Reading Activities

  1. How might the shoe in the photo be harmful to a person's health?
  2. What are some other examples of popular clothes that are either uncomfortable or dangerous to wear.
  3. What are some common things that men and women do to look more attractive?

Comprehension Questions

  1. How can neck rings be dangereous to a person's health?
  2. What health problems could foot binding cause?
  3. What is unhealthy about wearing high heels?
  4. Why is it dangereous to drive while you are wearing platform shoes?
  5. Why did women in the 16th century want to have white skin?
  6. Why did corsets become fashionable?
  7. How would a corset damage a person's health?
  8. What was the purpose of a fainting couch?
  9. What are the health risks of leg stretching?
  10. What other fashions may be hazardous to a person's health?

Reading Strategy: Taking Notes in a Chart

Use the chart below to take notes on the information in the text you read.

PARAGRAPH
MAIN IDEA
IMPORTANT DETAILS
2 (lines 7-17) The custom of wearing neck rings is dangerous to a person's health The rings push down the collarbone and upper ribs. The neck muscles become too weak to hold up the head.
3(lines 18-31)
4 (lines 32-42)
5(lines 43-50)
6 (lines 56-72)

Writing

Think of something that is both fashionable and harmful in some way to your health. Describe the fashion, and explain why you think it is unhealthy.