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A History of Seduction
Today masques are associated with theater or Carnival. In 12th century Venice masques were an accessory, worn regularly, by everyone. The Venetian society discovered that masquing was ironically liberating, serving to reinvigorate individuals, and ultimately, society. The act of covering the face dissolved the veil of ones identity allowing the wearer to reveal their true self. Certain masques advertised the wearers intentions, such as the notorious Black Masque. Associated with amorous intrigue, the wearer was free to abolish social and sexual taboos. And the Venetian people did. Their behavior caught the attention of the Church. Concern over the Republics social and moral decline, pressured Rome to enact laws that eventually restricted the wearing of masques to the period of Il Karnevāl di Venezia. With the fall of Napoleon, wearing masques and Carnival celebrations had all but disappeared, only recently reemerging in the 1970s.
Around the time Carnival was dying in Venice, it was experiencing new birth in New Orleans. Wealthy social clubs held lavish masquerades and Kewes sprang up to organize parades. Wearing masques proved to have the same affect on peoples behavior. In 1889 a New Orleans newspaper reported, "There is a degree of immodesty exhibited by nearly all the female masqueraders on the streets."
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