10/01/2025
This was once called a Scold’s Bridle—an iron cage designed to silence women who “talked too much.”
Wild Women Hawai‘i exists for the opposite reason.
Here, women’s voices are not shamed or punished. They are honored. Here, laughter, tears, truths, and questions are welcome. Here, we remember that our voices matter—because they always have.
We gather not just for retreats, events and circles, but for reclamation.
The Scold’s Bridle, sometimes called a tongue-brake, was a cruel device used in England and Scotland between the 1500s and 1700s. It was an iron cage fitted over the head with a rod forced into the mouth, making it impossible to speak. Some versions even had bells, so anyone wearing it would be humiliated as they walked through public streets.
Mostly, it was used on women accused of being “nagging” or “talking too much” in a strictly patriarchal society—but occasionally, men caught in political intrigue were punished with it too. Its peak use was from the late 16th century to the 18th century. By the 19th century, it had mostly disappeared, though a few examples survive in museums and old prisons.
Today, the Scold’s Bridle stands as a stark reminder of a time when female voices could be literally silenced. You can still see specimens at the Science Museum in London and the National Museum of Scotland—a chilling piece of history showing how far oppression could go.
