Society and Culture
Throughout human history, individuals who have possessed facial moles have been subject to ridicule and attack based on superstition. Throughout most of history, facial moles were not considered objects of beauty on lovely faces. Rather most moles were considered hideous growths that appeared mostly on the noses, cheeks, and chins of witches, frogs and other low creatures.
Both folklore and modern popular culture use physical traits to denote a character's either good or evil tendencies. In contrast to the fine features and smooth skin of its heroes and heroines, characters who possess negative or evil characteristics have also been known to possess more rugged features and skin blemishes, including facial moles.
In Medieval Europe, among those accused of demonic possession, ecclesiastical edicts interpreted large warts and moles on the skin as physical signs of the entry point of the devil into the soul.
In the 16th century, a popular pseudoscience was invented that supposedly described how every facial mole had a corresponding birthmark somewhere else on the body. Once you knew where both moles were, the theory went, you had the inside track on what made the person tick. For instance, if a man had a mole on the bridge of his nose, he supposedly had another on his right thigh. Taken together, the moles meant the owners were persons of good moods and would eventually receive healthy inheritances.
Read more about this topic: Melanocytic Nevus
Famous quotes containing the words society and/or culture:
“Children belong in families, which, ideally, serve as a sanctuary and a cushion from the world at large. Parents belong to society and are a part of that greater world. Sometimes parents are a channel to the larger society, sometimes they are a shield from it. Ideally they act as filters, guiding their children and teaching them to avoid the tempting trash.”
—Louise Hart (20th century)
“Both cultures encourage innovation and experimentation, but are likely to reject the innovator if his innovation is not accepted by audiences. High culture experiments that are rejected by audiences in the creator’s lifetime may, however, become classics in another era, whereas popular culture experiments are forgotten if not immediately successful. Even so, in both cultures innovation is rare, although in high culture it is celebrated and in popular culture it is taken for granted.”
—Herbert J. Gans (b. 1927)