Both a translation and critique of an early 20th century seminal French text on the physical effects of corseting, The Bad Corset explores contemporary anti-woman bias to challenge the commonly accepted assertions about corsetry’s contribution to disease, disfigurement, and disorders of the female body.
The original 1908 French book, Le Corset by Ludovic O'Followell—with its graphic illustrations, some of which are reproduced here—tells a story, familiar to anyone interested in popular culture and fashion history, of women suffering for fashion, tormented by and subject to their corsets. However, a close reading of the texts tells a very different, and more complicated, story.
This fascinating exploration, approaching the topic from a scientific perspective, and reproducing facsimiles of the original text, with translations and annotations, critiques the presumptions and anxieties of male medical professionals on the ‘damage’ caused by corsets to the female body and psyche. Rather than seeing the women who wore these perceived instruments of torture as victims or dupes, The Bad Corset confidently asserts the agency of the women who wore them and highlights the way in which seminal texts can continue to influence our interpretation of the past, and women’s lives and histories.
The Bad Corset is a remarkable resource for scholars and students of fashion, medicine and gender history, taking a feminist approach to female agency and choice, and helping us reconsider the way we think about the shaping of women’s bodies, and their lives.
By:
Rebecca Gibson (Independent scholar)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 246mm,
Width: 189mm,
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781350295193
ISBN 10: 1350295191
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 31 October 2024
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Acknowledgements Notes on the Translation Introduction 1. What Does the Corset Do For, and To, Women: Covering the Front Matter, Preface, and Chapter 1 of Le Corset 2. The Upper Torso: Covering Chapters 2-4 of Le Corset, on the Topics of the Lungs, Thoracic Cage, Circulation, and Lactation 3. The Lower Torso: Covering Chapters 5-9 of Le Corset, on the Topics of the Liver, Spleen, Kidneys, Stomach, and Intestines 4. Population Control, Miscarriages, and Abortions: Covering Chapter 10 of Le Corset, on the Topic of the Genitals and Reproductive System 5. The Woman Wants to Look Beautiful to Please Her Man: Covering Chapters 11-15 of Le Corset, on the Topics of Which Corsets Women Should Wear, If They Should Wear Them at All, and Why Women Choose to Wear the Corset Afterword Index
Rebecca Gibson is Assistant Professor in the School of World Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. Her published works include Desire in the Age of Robots and AI (2019), The Corseted Skeleton (2020), and Gender, Supernatural Beings, and the Liminality of Death (2021). She holds a PhD in Anthropology from American University, USA.
Reviews for The Bad Corset: A Feminist Reimagining
A fascinating and brilliantly executed re-examination of long-held assumptions about a notorious episode in fashion. Gibson takes an elegant pair of shears to a tightly bound arrangement of misconceptions. The history of women, of their bodies, and of their health is all the better for it. * Lindsey Fitzharris, New York Times Bestselling author of The Facemaker * A must read for any corset scholar or enthusiast. Skilfully combining biological anthropology, feminist theory and fashion history, Rebecca Gibson shows how deliberately biased medical discourses of the past still influence discussions about corsetry, women’s bodies and health today. * Sarah Bendall, Australian Catholic University, Australia * Breaking down the wall between science and social science, Professor Gibson's translation and dissection of Ludovic O'Followell's treatise on Le Corset shines an expert light on the ignorance and contempt embedded in medial 'knowledge' about women at the dawn of the twentieth century. * Steven Zdatny, University of Vermont, USA * Innovative, engaging, and incisive, The Bad Corset is a necessary anthropological, feminist, reframing/reimagining annotation of a very particular book, Le Corset ... Using translated text, original imagery, and a thorough, and at times gratifyingly sardonic, scholarly lens, Gibson pushes against patriarchal framings and errors regarding corsets, corseting, women, and human biology ... [and] invites readers to reflect with the past and to think anew about bodies, biases, and possibilities. * Agustín Fuentes, Princeton University, USA *
