Corsets: the patriarchal torture devices used to control women.

These restrictive
garments were the definition of female-disempowerment. They deformed and killed hundreds of
thousands of young women. Or so you’ve been told.
The first mention of a corset-like garment is in the accounts of Mary Tudor written circa
1550. In her journals, the garment is called a “pair of bodies”. A pair of bodies was very different
from our modern vision of a corset. Instead of focusing on cinching the waist, it was designed to
support the back and bust, similar to a modern-day bra. We believe that pairs of bodies were
only worn by the wealthy due to a lack of surviving pairs.
However, this isn’t the case with stays. Stays were another form of corsetry, worn from
the late 16th century to the end of the 18th century. Unlike pairs of bodies, stays did help cinch
the waist, however, they also provided back and bust support, improved posture, and created a
fashionable V-shaped silhouette which allowed garments to fall neatly. And, unlike pairs of
bodies, women of all walks of life wore stays. From the poorest peasant to the richest noble.
When you imagine a corset, chances are you’re thinking of the corsets worn in the 19th
century and early 20th century. Corsets changed shape and form many times throughout that
century to match the fashionable silhouettes. An 1810s corset/stay looks very different from an
1860s corset which looks very different from an 1890s corset. Corsetry in the 19th century
served two basic purposes: to make the waist appear smaller and to provide bust support.
There are many misconceptions about corsets. Specifically, about the corsets worn in
the 19th century. Let’s take a look at the four main ones:

1. “Women would tight-lace their waists to 13 inches.” This isn’t entirely false. Yes, some
women tight-laced themselves. However, the average woman did not lace herself down
more than one to two inches, which did not cause serious health effects. The corset, at
its core, was meant to support the bust. Not to squish and deform your body into a
Barbie-like state. Also, there were no corsets made in the 19th century for anything
under a twenty-inch waist and even those corsets were worn with a gap in the back (for
lacing). On average, a woman’s corseted waist measured 22-31 inches. This seems like
it would be tiny, but keep in mind malnutrition caused people to be smaller.

2. “Corsets are extremely painful and uncomfortable and they restrict your movement.” If
your corset is made well, it will not hurt. They do not make it difficult to breathe unless
you’ve tight-laced yourself. They do not cause fainting. They don’t poke or pinch. They
don’t scratch or chafe unless you wear one without something underneath (Corsets were
never worn on bare skin.). Corsets were custom-made to fit the wearer’s measurements
up until the middle of the 19th century. That way, no issues arose from the fit. Even
mass-manufactured corsets were made from baleen which would mould itself to the
wearer’s body shape after being worn for a while.
​There is some truth to corsets restricting movement. You are not able to bend
your lower back in a corset. However, this isn’t truly restricting since you can bend the
rest of your body. You are not unable to move. You just need to move differently.
Sometimes you’ll hear actresses talk about how uncomfortable their corset was.
This is likely because the corset was made cheaply or quickly, didn’t properly fit the
actress, or wasn’t broken in properly (Corsets need to be broken in. Like Doc Martens).
 3. “Women were forced to wear corsets by men.” Nope. Just like you can choose not to
wear a bra, women could choose not to wear a corset. Some men actually protested the
wearing of corsets, claiming they caused “female hysteria”. Women wore corsets
because they made them feel pretty, elegant and properly dressed. And, as a side note,
some men chose to wear corsets too.

4. “Women had ribs surgically removed to create smaller waists and had their organs
crushed by their corsets.” There are no records of ribs being surgically removed and the
misshapen livers weren’t misshapen. When Victorian doctors did autopsies they would
see a perfectly healthy liver and think it was misshapen (The doctors did not realize that
livers come in a variety of shapes and sizes). Similarly, corsets did not cause cancer or
scoliosis.

Corsets were not perfect, and they did have some adverse effects: they shifted organs
slightly, caused constipation and indigestion and weakened back muscles over time. However,
none of these effects were life-threatening or universal. Some women weren’t affected at all.

In conclusion, corsets, although not perfect, were not nearly as bad as we seem to think
they were.
Pair of Bodies Stays Corset (1860s)

Corset (1890s) Stays/corset (1810s) Ad for mens’ and womens’ corsets