It isn’t easy being a woman — sometimes, it means bringing out those figurative and literal fangs and talons. Instagram images from seemingly trustworthy accounts have been haunting me all year and returned around Halloween, depicting supposed Victorian, women’s self-defense gloves from the 1800s. The thick leather accessories, boasting dangerously pointy metal claws, appear a bit too modern to be authentic, and an antique clothing expert I consulted didn’t seem to have heard of such a thing. So, what is the truth?

Reddit, which counterintuitively often proves a hub of common sense, poked some holes in the gloves.…