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TheUn-CorsetedBody
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alsosharestheambivalenceofbeingsimultaneouslymodernandanti-modern.
Inthe19thcentury,thecorsetwasplayingoutacontradictionbetween,onthe
onehand,theVictoriansecularityofcapitalismdedicatedtomaterialsuccess,
economicexpansion,thepreachingofthemachine,consumption,luxurious
livingandahedonisticattempttoemphasizethehumanbody,andontheother
hand,theVictorianrevivalofChristianasceticsthattendedtodespisethe
sensualandthecorporal,andsuffusedsexualitywithasenseofsinfulnessand
guiltaboutthebody.4
Thefashionabledress,withthehelpofawhalebonecorset-awonderof
moderntechnicalinvention-helpedtoreconfigurethebody’sshape,meeting
thenormsofthemodernindustrialaestheticsthatpreachedartificeandperfection
divorcedfromnature’sreality.Thecorseteddressprovidedthefashionable,
modernlookoftheday,anditfulfilledthemodernistdesirefornovelty,
changeandcreativeappearance.Atthesametime,thecorsetparadoxically
metthenormsofrule-abidingconservatism-itsignifiedthefemalebody’s
impermeabilityaswellaswomen’ssocial,economicandpoliticaloppression5
-andthusprojectedanti-modernityintimesofincreasingfreedomsandmobility.
Theartificiallookofadollbasedontheanomalyofthenaturalfemaleform
wasconsideredunhealthy,impractical,andaestheticallyunpleasing.Atthe
6
sametimeitwasrecognisedasthemostnaturallook,reflectiveofawoman’s
naturalwillingnesstoobeyandsubmit,eventhoughthecorsetwasblamedfor
makingwomanincapableofperforminghermain‘natural’dutyofprocreation.7
IntheVictorianpublicdebate,thus,thecorsetbecamebothjoiningpointand
thedividinglinebetweennatureandartifice,projectingtheambivalenceof
beingsimultaneouslymodernandanti-modern.8
4
Formoreontheclashofvaluesconcerningthecorsetsee:HelenE.Roberts.
“Theexquisiteslave:theroleofclothesinthemakingoftheVictorianwoman”.Signs,
vol.2,no.3(Spring1977),pp.554-569;DavidKunzle.“Thecorsetaseroticalchemy:
fromRococoGalanterietoMontaut’sPhysiologies”,inWomanasSexObject:Studiesin
EroticArt1730-1970.Ed.ThomasB.Hess&LindaNochlin.NewYork1972,pp.91-165;
HaroldCoda.ExtremeBeauty:TheBodyTransformed.NewYork2011,p.72;Kimberly
Wahl.DressedasinaPainting.WomenandBritishAestheticisminanAgeofReform.
Durham2013,p.XXVI.
5
HelenaMichie.“UnderVictorianSkins:TheBodiesBeneath”,inACompanionto
VictorianLiteratureandCulture.Ed.T.F.Tucker.Oxford1999,pp.409-411.
6
StellaMaryNewton.Health,Art,andReason:DressReformersoftheNineteenth
Century.London1974,pp.31-32.
7
MelDavies.“CorsetsandConception:FashionandDemographicTrendsintheNineteenth
Century”.ComparativeStudiesinSocietyandHistory,vol.24,no.4(October1982)
pp.611-641.
8
ElizabethWilson.AdornedinDreams.FashionandModernity.London2014,p.95.
