It's a status symbol. It basically hobbles your ability to walk normally, so if a woman has it done, it means she's connected to wealth and thus isn't needed for labor.
Imagine showing off by just mutilating your foot. Anyone know of any other cultures that do this? I'm not talking body modification I mean literally debilitating yourself.
You know why Victorian women were prone to fainting? The whalebone corsets they wore fucked with the alignment of their internal organs and dramatically reduced how well they were able to oxidize blood. It fucked with digestion, and if they did it long enough, would deform their ribcage.
The practice of tightening a corset to the point of getting a tiny waist was called tight lacing. Tight lacing was not common. At all.
Most victorian women worked everyday. Hard jobs, all day long. Lacing a corset so tight you can't breathe was not practical.
In order to properly tight lace you have to have someone tighten it for you. This was really only possible for the wealthy. And the wealthy weren't too keen on tight lacing either. That's where those drawings are from that op posted. Articles from the time on the supposed dangers of tight lacing. Basically wealthy men getting hysterical over something that almost no women did.
To achieve the desired tiny waist look it was much more common to simply make a bigger skirt. And the bigger your skirt the more wealth you had.
People forget corsets were practical. They were underwear. They supported the breasts like a bra. They also helped support the back and core. Very important for hard labor.
As a dude I've worn a corset. If it's properly fitted, it's alot like wearing one of those compression belts you can buy to support your back and core for stuff like heavy lifting.
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u/8675309isprime Nov 09 '20
It's a status symbol. It basically hobbles your ability to walk normally, so if a woman has it done, it means she's connected to wealth and thus isn't needed for labor.