Victorian Women: Trapped By Corsets Influence

    Fashion is always on my mind, one of my favorite things to do is find unique new pieces to add to my closet. I'm not sure if this could be considered a cookie cutter sort of self centered feminine trait I have somehow developed as I have grown up, but I am always updating my closet because standing out makes me feel good. Trends come and go so it is expensive to keep up, I sometimes find myself going back and forth about if I want this latest trending piece or if that is too basic. I want to stand out but the trends grow on me and I'm like I need this. When discussing the victorian era, I'm sure there were once victorian women having the same thoughts as I have. The corset was a fashion accessory that was the staple of the time period, every woman had a corset in her closet if they cared about their appearance. This time period certainly was less forgiving than the one we are currently in, today's women can really dress however they want from the traditional feminine look to mens clothing. There are many vicious claims to women who did not conform to the corset and the body it could give. Women of this time had to put their health to the side so they could have a desirable appearance.

    Being the ideal woman involves finding a suitor and starting a family. Upon doing some research on victorian fashion, I came across a troubling contradiction. Though all these women wore tightly laced corsets constantly as a staple to their look, these corsets could effect their ability to conceive. This was an interesting discovery because women were under pressure to look a certain way so that she could find a husband and bear his children. After reading Mel Davies article, it is much clearer to me the way corsets could have effected a woman's physical health and mental health. The corset was pushed on all women as something they needed to have but it was more serious than just for looks. According to the article "it has been claimed that the wearing of corsets in England and America was the "hallmark virtue" among the middle classes in the nineteenth century, so much so that the "uncorseted woman reeked of license: an unlaced woman waist was regarded as a vessel of sin" (p.619). This statement shows the influence society had on a woman to make them feel like their appearance could affect their morals. 

    During this time period birth rates were dropping and Davies article informs readers that the corset just might be the reason. It has been argued that the great depression could be the cause in this drop of birth rate. However, this does not rule out the corset as being the cause because it is known that even middle class women were wearing corsets consistently. Doctors expressed that corsets were making it harder for women to breath and could be dangerous. However, the article also argues that some doctors may not have wanted to express this ideal and fight for the fact corsets could be ruining women's
health because then they may seem sinful themselves. Therefore, corsets were controlling everyone because they could have effect on a persons status. Until the 1890's the normal waist size was between 25 and 28in which is quite small but still seen by many women today. Corsets began to bring the average waist size down to between 17 and 21in because this size was more fashionable. It is outrageous for someone to have a 17in waist, that standard is unhealthy. The photo above is directly from the article and shows the extremely tight waist size the article discusses. Looking at this photo you would think it is an exaggeration, not a true portrayal of a real victorian woman. It was actually women physicians who put out the idea that corsets were negatively effecting women's bodies. Not only does a corset make it difficult to breath which is a red flag, but their extremely "tight lacing put pressure on the abdominal viscera, causing subsequent distortion to the uterus" (p.624). The claims that corsets may effect women's organs makes perfect sense based off the dropping birth rate and the average waist size. A 17in waist is for a child, why is it society wanted women to have a child waist size? That itself seems like it could be a separate blog post, but anyway I found this essay very interesting in the argument it builds. I was not a corset advocate to begin with but after reading about the different aspects around corsets in this time period I feel convinced they had something to do with the dropping birth rate. The corset was able to make women feel like their appearance was more important than their health and wellness.