The frustrations of actually knowing history...
Someone on my Facebook friends list just shared a post from "Historic photographs." The image was of an "Insanity mask." It was a full face mask made of metal that gets locked in place and has holes for breathing. This device (as you may guess from the name) was used on insane prisoners much like what you see in Silence of the lambs. It was to prevent spitting and biting.
The image description, however, claimed that these devices were used "against women who nagged, gossiped, and lied." No, That's a Scold's Bridle. It's literally in the name... The Scold's Bridle AKA the branks were physically designed to make speech difficult or impossible (think of the device used on Loki at the end of Avengers).
It often had a small “Bit” or tongue depressor on the inside to forcibly hold the tongue down, or worse the insert over the tongue had a spike so if you tried to move your tongue you could seriously injure yourself.
Anyway, the Insanity Mask photo and description that wrongfully described it as having the function of a Scold's Bridle has been shared four thousand times and commented about a LOT with no one correcting the description. Lots of sarcastic comments about having a friend who should wear one but not a single correction.
If you look up Seventeenth century Insanity mask you'll see it doesn't actually prevent speech. It just makes biting and spitting impossible. The names are pretty straight forward. Insanity mask. I'm not sure how you'd confuse that with a scold's bridle and get it shared four thousand times without anyone even trying to Google it to be sure. This is like confusing Hannibal Lecter's mask in Silence of the lambs with the device fitted onto Loki in Avengers. \
This annoys me because as it was from an historical Facebook page people are sharing it without question and assuming it's accurate. I don't like historic misinformation.
