The Bad Corset: A Feminist Reimagining
April 7, 2025
Meet VCU Authors: Rebecca Gibson
Start time: 12:00 p.m.
End time: 1:00 p.m
Location: Online (Zoom)
Description
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.
About the Author
Rebecca Gibson, PhD is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Anthropology in VCU's School of World Studies. Dr. Gibson's research spans a multitude of topics, from historical biological anthropology, to whether or not zombies have gender, to cyborgs and robotic technology. Her published works include “The Corseted Skeleton: A Bioarchaeology of Binding” (Palgrave Macmillan 2020); "Global Perspectives on the Liminality of the Supernatural: From Animus to Zombi," (Lexington Books 2022) and "Cyborgs, Ethics, and the Matrix: Simulations of Sex and Gender," (Palgrave Macmillan 2024). She holds a PhD in Anthropology from American University, and when not writing or teaching can be found reading mystery novels amidst a pile of stuffed animals.