The Changes in Women's physiological responses by clothing pressure of 18th C. corset

초록

The ideal body shape for women in eighteenth century Europe could only be achieved with the help of a corset. The corset straightened the back and waist, causing the upper chest to be thrust forward. The upper chest appeared further accentuated by flatly pressing the belly and lifting the chest. The standard of attractiveness in eighteenth century Europe was that the ratio of the waist to the hip of a woman’s body should be 0.7, meaning that the waist must be as small as 70% of the hip (Riordan, 2004). Corsets could successfully reduce the women’s waist-to-hip ratio to 0.72, which is near the ideal body shape of that time (Steele, 2003). The corset increased female sexually attractive characteristics, such as a slim waist, wide hips, and a big bust. Such an emphasis made women feel more attractive and presented an image of high status (Horn & Gurel, 1981). In order to explore the effects of pre-modern corsets on women’s health, the body’s physiological response to the corset’s pressure was measured by the changes in heart rate, blood flow, perspiration, metabolism and their subjective pressure sensation. The corsets were reconstructed according to three different historical types of corsets in 18thcentury Europe. Five women in their twenties volunteered to be our test subjects. The peak corset pressure was almost 7kPa, much over 4kPa which has been the limit considered negative to health. Compared to the control group that did not wear a corset, the heart rate of the corset wearers decreased up to 15~20%, blood flow at the finger tips decreased 18~40%, and perspiration decreased up to 50~90%, at maximum. The energy expenditure of corset wearers increased 11~14% due to high corset pressure, which means that more energy is required from the body when wearing a corset.