From uteruses falling out on trains to the evil spirit in your telephone

“With every new, world-altering tech, there comes a moral panic.” It is with these words that James Felton begins his article the title of which reminds us that “people once believed that women's uteruses would fly out on speeding trains”. We may also add here that there is an equal moral panic that arises with probably every new social idea. Initially, the social resistance to change within both categories of progress, namely technological and social, appears to be identical. However, history demonstrates us that these two categories of moral panic demand a differential treatment. Let’s begin with a historical example of technology-related moral panic:

“The telephone was often viewed with skepticism and not a little fear. There was something magical about sounds coming from a thin wire, and many people were afraid that the contents of the lines would spill out in some way if there was a break. Many elderly persons refused to touch a telephone for fear of electrical shock.”

However, the most amusing aspect appears to be the fear “that the telephone was in some way able to attract evil spirits”. Of course, it would be very easy to ridicule such beliefs from our contemporary social perspective. Nevertheless, it is worth considering the fact that if society’s very low level of scientific knowledge gives birth to the notion of human sacrifice demanding gods, humans will be sacrificed. And the ones destined for the altar might even be proud and happy about that. At our modern stage of socio-economic development we know that all talk about gods is pure imagination, hence we find the actions of our ancestors to be ridiculous. Also, by the nature of things, the further away in the past we go, the more shocking the fears and beliefs of those historical societies appear. But most importantly, these fears and beliefs always lead to action:

“The telephone thus provoked anger. There were farmers, land owners and property owners who refused to allow this nuisance to pass over their land or buildings or who simply pulled down lines and destroyed them. Theft and sabotage were common as the telephone network expanded. And in the churches, the preachers likened the telephone to an instrument of the devil.”

While the telephone is merely one of multiple examples available to us from the technological side, the list of moral panics that had historically been triggered by social change is equally plentiful. We might mention here the Reformation, universal suffrage, women’s voting rights, legalisation of divorce, etc. And what is more, both lists are still expanding in our times. Whether it’s the 5G connection or AI within the world of technology, or gay marriage and transgender rights at the social spectrum, social anxiety appears to be our constant companion.

But while we may find commonalities between the technology-related and social moral panics in terms of their origins, we must also note the very significant difference from the consequential point of view. As far as technology is concerned, there have been cases where real material negative consequences would only emerge after some time and only with further advances in our knowledge. And this irrespective of the fact whether there had been social backlash beforehand or not. Examples could be asbestos, fracking, or plastic - just to name a few. Whereas on the side of the social issues we can proclaim all the fearmongering regarding societal collapse or the end of civilization to have been empty talk.

Therefore, while expecting your house to become obsessed by an evil spirit as a result of the installation of a telephone connection might be pushing things a little bit too far, one could comprehend initial reservations over the potential consequences in relation to health or fire safety, for instance. However, to suggest that our society will go berserk as a result of giving equal rights to transgender people or that feminist ideas will dissolve our civilization is completely unhinged. As a matter of fact, just as today we live happily in a society where divorce is a normal thing and where women can vote, in the same manner the next generations will live happily as a mixed-raced society with gay couples being considered completely normal. Generational change is a positive thing, for the conservatives of the past would suffer morally today, whereas our contemporary reactionaries would equally suffer in an even more tolerant society of the future.

So, when we look back at the “critics of early steam-spewing locomotives” who claimed that “women’s bodies were not designed to go at 50 miles an hour” and that their “uteruses would fly out of [their] bodies”, the way we should judge them depends upon the following considerations. Was this a genuine medical fear based upon the less advanced knowledge of that day? Or was this supposedly technology-based moral panic merely another excuse to make the women stay out of the public sphere? For example, how come there were no bodily parts in men that could have also suffered at those speeds? Here we allow the reader to decide for himself or herself. But of course, we can find much easier historical cases where the social origin of moral panic is evident:

“As automobiles gained traction in the early 1900s, they were seen by many as noisy, erratic “devil wagons” that women—thought to be prone to fainting, physical weakness, and out-of-the-blue bouts of hysteria—wouldn’t be able to control by themselves and shouldn’t be allowed to drive.”

To conclude, all contemporary moral panic stemming from social fears and prejudices can easily be dismissed as yet some more historical content to be ridiculed by the future generations. As for the technological impact of a new innovation, some more nuance is needed. History shows us that not all health and environmental risks might be initially visible. But as for the social impact of new technology, social relativism might again be required. For example, discounting the threat of evil spirits, it was also feared that the telephone “would be the end of face-to-face socializing as we know it”. Firstly, this has not happened. And secondly, even if this would have been the case, we would be living as happily today without this “face-to-face socializing”.

Sources:
https://www.ericsson.com/en/about-us/history/communication/how-the-telephone-changed-the-world/the-telephone-is-the-instrument-of-the-devil
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67806/early-trains-were-thought-make-womens-uteruses-fly-out
https://www.iflscience.com/people-once-believed-that-womens-uteruses-would-fly-out-on-speeding-trains-61343

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