We'd never use whalebone corsets to force a woman's waist into such an unnatural shape, or bind a girl's feet to make them look like Consort Pan's(*). That was cruel, and kind of creepy.
No, instead of squeezing body parts to be permanently smaller, we inject alien substances to make parts permanently bigger. Surgery is obviously kinder and less barbaric.(**) And more body positive: Positive means plus, right?
No, I lie. We do body reductions too. I forgot about liposuction. But we're not the barbarians they were. We use High Tech™
(*) Lin Yutang suggested that it wasn't just the modern Chinese government decrees that abolished foot-binding, but the discovery that Western high-heel shoes gave the same look and gait without much pain or expense.
(**) Yes, I know that the practice of vanity surgeries makes reconstructive surgery reasonably safe and affordable. Few things are entirely without some good effects.
1 comment:
Corsets were the reason that so many ladies in Victorian novels fainted under stress. The corsets restricted blood flow to the brain.
Post a Comment