Why do women hold their hands over their mouth

[Dreambiscuit 9,961]

It’s not necessarily a conscious action. I do it all the time and the best I can figure is that there’s a subconscious desire to be polite and dignified.

On 2020-05-27 at 11:01 AM, Lord Valtasar said:

in japan it's even more prominent, women cover heir mouth with their hand even when they laugh or eat, i believe it's an etiguette thing

It doesn’t feel dignified to have the mouth wide open in public and I think that’s largely why Japanese women are conscious of it. Etiquette suggests covering the mouth while yawning or eating, so the same should apply to all situations when the mouth is wide open. It also keeps flies from moving in and setting up shop; not very tasty.

[ZiggWheelsManning 10,718]

Wait a minute, women have been doing this before the 1950s?