What does tarring and feathering do to the body?
Although rarely fatal, victims of tarring and feathering attacks were not only humiliated by being held down, shaved, stripped naked and covered in a boiled sticky substance and feathers, but their skin often became burned and blistered or peeled off when solvents were used to remove the remnants.
在内战前的美国,涂焦油和涂羽毛是一个社区惩罚那些违背当地价值观和规范的个人的方法。仪式的基本要素是鞭打受害者,然后涂上热焦油和羽毛。最后,受害者被列队游街示众。它始终是一项公共活动,它的公共维度有助于加强社区价值观,并阻止未来的违规行为。当一群暴徒做出这种行为时,社区的社会、政治和教会领导往往会给予公开或隐性的支持。他们的共谋强调了仪式是如何将暴民的不满引导到由精英定义的形式。柏油和羽毛通过引导他们走向一个包括全体民众的精英规定的场面来缓和社会紧张。