Grrrl Talk Interview — Reconsidering the Corset
Conducted by Jessica Jernigan
In the world of women’s undergarments, only the chastity belt excites more passion than the corset. The corset has had its champions and its detractors for as long as it has existed, but, over the past couple hundred years, it has attained a unique power as an icon. For dress reformers of the 19th century, the corset was the epitome of female vanity and enslavement, and it remains a potent symbol of historic oppression. We’ve all seen drawings of Victorian ladies cut in half to reveal bones deformed and organs misplaced by a lifetime of corset wearing. The feminist response to the corset was pretty well established early in the last century, and it has persisted with little modification up to the present.
Of course, moral repudiation of the corset made it a potent fetish object, and uniform feminists’ disdain makes the corset an obvious plaything for their postfeminist sisters. These dichotomies not only enhance the allure of the corset, but they also suggest that it may hold a multiplicity of meanings and experiences.
This more open view informs Valerie Steele’s fascinating and unorthodox The Corset: A Cultural History. In this wonderfully illustrated and even-handed book, Steele—chief curator and acting director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology—presents findings from more than two decades of research and consideration. Her view of the corset and its role in women’s lives is fresh, intriguing, and highly provocative.
Continue Reading Add commentIn Press February 7th, 2008
