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"... Mitchell diagnosed Wister with a severe case of neurasthenia and suggested a trip to a Wyoming ranch.
Mitchell had developed a system for treating nervous men, and that was to send them to the west where they could rope cattle, hunt, ride horses, and engage in male bonding rituals. In his 1871 book, Wear and Tear: Or Hints for the Overworked, Mitchell encouraged nervous men to go west in order to reinforce their masculinity and to test their willpower.
.. Even “Rough Rider” Teddy Roosevelt returned from his western cure without what his detractors called his “former effeminate looks” and “high voice that often provided comparison to Oscar Wilde.”
These were different times, indeed..."
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