Courtesy Statements

In the 18th and 19th Centuries, Courtesy and Manner books became standard in America. These five statements stood out to me after reading through the chapters of Refinement in America. 

1. "Gentility required handwriting, speech, and posture all be properly composed." (Bushman pg. 63) After reading this statement I really wanted to improve my handwriting. I don't think mine is bad right now, but I think that it could use some work. For about 2 days after reading about handwriting, I decided to start writing in cursive again. Well, that didn't last long and I think it looked a lot worse than my print. I guess I'm not very genteel in that area.
2. "To achieve artistic control of one's physical being, a primary rule was to remain erect, to keep the line from the base of the spine through the neck to the back of the head as straight as possible." (pg. 64) This phrase really stood out to me. I know that I have poor posture and my mom has always told me to straighten up. So, I have been trying to do better, but it is such a habit that I have to be consciously thinking about it.
3. "Dress signaled rank and character as surely as posture did [...] the feel, the color, the cut, and the expense of clothing was clear enough to have been earlier codified in law." (pg. 70) I thought about clothes today and how colors have nothing to do with rank. I may just be in a class or in a culture (BYU-Idaho) that doesn't care about clothes. I do know that brands have a lot more to do with rank and status. I think that brands may be the equivalent of the colors, feel, and the cut of clothing.
4. "Genteel aesthetic principles thus took over the process of dining in its entirety, and refined and exalted it." (pg. 76) Another lost art: eating with manners. I know that manners still exist, but for the most part, eating is just a way to get food into the stomach. It is definitely not looked upon as something grand or artistic. 
5. "Conduct  becomes so highly structured that life approaches art: the courtier is himself a work of art, his appearance a portrait, his experience a narrative." (pg.35) To be a work of art, a beautiful masterpiece, was the goal and objective of a genteel life. I think that this has some truth to it, but not in the outward appearance. We are on this earth to become the best people we can. We are here to become refined in our thoughts, deeds, and actions. They just misunderstood the part that had to be refined. I am grateful for the gospel!