The sexual politics of corsetry, 1850-1900

Summers, Leigh

The sexual politics of corsetry, 1850-1900

Authors

Summers, Leigh

Date

1999

Affiliation

Arts, Department of History

Full item page

Document Type

PhD thesis

Citation

Summers, L. (1999). The sexual politics of corsetry, 1850-1900. PhD thesis, Arts, Department of History, The University of Melbourne.

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URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11343/35611

Description

Abstract

There is perhaps no other garment so quintessentially Victorian as the corset. It was the daily companion of women from all classes and age groups, a necessary item of attire, which few ‘decent’ women would dare eschew. This thesis is primarily concerned with the way the corset operated to construct and police middle-class femininity. That is, it examines the ways in which the corset assisted middle-class women to achieve and enact appropriate demeanour, for the corset did far more than simply sculpt tractable flesh into acceptable, fashionable silhouette. The corset was, as this thesis explains, instrumental in modifying women’s behaviour to that which was acceptable for their gender. It did this by physically restricting women. Corsetry of sturdy standard design actually reduced women’s ability to move about freely. When tightly laced it prevented full respiration, and commonly prevented women from raising their arms above shoulder height, or performing any other movement that might be constructed as ‘mannish’ or working class. Corsetry affected a kind of corporeal bonsai on its juvenile occupants. The waistlines of children as young as eight years old were bound by corsets with the intention of preventing an expansion of the female body into dimensions considered by society at large as ‘clumsy’. The unyielding construction of popularly worn adolescent corsetry, not only cramped the waist, but prevented healthy growth of the ribcage, lungs and other internal organs. As a consequence, many young and older women, suffered a variety of illnesses ranging from the immediate medical trauma of broken ribs, to the long term malaise which characterised so many ‘female complaints’. The corset was then, critical in constructing femininity that was characterised by a physical passivity, and just as importantly, its early application helped socialise female children to accept restrictive gender role behaviour. While Victorian women knew that corsetry was crucial to achieving respectable appearance, they also understood that a well fitted corset threw the secondary sexual characteristics into prominence. The corset was, for this reason, an ally to women, despite its propensity to damage the health. Carefully cut corsetry clearly assisted single Victorian women to attract suitable partners, by enabling them to physically articulate sexual subjectivity in an era when overt displays of sexual conduct were considered ‘beyond the pale’. The role of corsetry in paradoxically sexualising the female body, as it worked to contain and constrain it, was, I argue, fundamental to the garment’s longevity.

Keywords

corsets, fashion, history, psychological aspects, sex role, sex symbolism

Collections

School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses