Corsetry 101

Why reshape your body?

Corsetry is a subset of Body Modification, which has been practised by either or both sexes of various tribes and races from time immemorial. Body modification generally involved the permanent modification of the shape and/or appearance of part or all of the body, either by surgical means (scarification, tattooing or body piercing) or by tightly clamping or binding parts of the body of the young child (head shaping and foot binding). This may well have been done as a means of uniting the tribe. It made the members of the tribe more attracive to each other, provided a means of recognising other members of the tribe which could not readily be faked by outsiders, and, in at least some cases, it also served to make the women of the tribe less attractive to outsiders, so that they were less likely to be carried off in intertribal battles.

On the other hand corsetry usually involved reshaping the more malleable parts of the body (the waist or the woman's breasts or buttocks), and did not necessarily have any permanent effect on the body shape, though tightly laced corsets could permanently deform the ribs, and displace the internal organs.

Human instincts have been shaped over countless generations to ensure that both men and women maximise their chances of passing on their genes. Men tend to choose women with slender waists, indicating that they are young and will probably be able to bear a fair number of children, and broad buttocks which are likely to make childbearing easier.

Women were well aware of this, and long ago realised that having a small waist enhanced their choice of mates. So, in the depths of prehistory, some woman tried winding a cloth (or perhaps a length of vine) tightly around her stomach, and found that it gave her an advantage over her less slender (and no doubt scandalised) rivals.

So began the Art of Corsetry.

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The Art of Corsetry   Ed: Bunyip Bluegum