Mrs. Grundy. (Tracy City, Tenn.) 1903-1930, 1914-08-06
Observation-Disclosures
copyright. 1914. by A. S. Gray)
THE CORSET.

The corset has held sway, SO 1t IL
claimed, since about A. D. 90, and
nothing but the French Revolution
has ever for an instant broken its
hold on the female sex. For about
two years during the height of that
social orgy the garment was .aban-
doned; then France relapsed once
more into civilization and the corset.
The pulpit, the medical profession.
reformers of all sorts and descrip-
tons, have stormed and threatened.
argued and pleaded for the abandon
ment of the corset, but woman for
some reason (may 1t not be what we
term "instinct"?) has tenaciously
chung to the device which, until very
recent years, with the invention Of
the front lace, low bust corset. has
been most injurious appliance and
one undoubtedly productive of vast
harm to the human race.
There is reason for everything
and we do not have to delve into
the mysteries of psychology or of any
other "ologies" to locate the source of
woman's fondness for the corset. 1t
Is matter Of good sense, of me-
| chanics, of gravity and balance. What
we term instinct" is usually the me-
chanical following of the line of least
resistance, the line of ease and COM
fort. Woman is more comfortable In
the corset, therefore she will wear 1t.
And 1t is good for her to do SO, too
provided it follows natural lines and
is SO adjusted that 1t will not displace
the normal center of gravity.
There Is something intensely abb
surd and incongruous in the fact that
our women go to art galleries and
there admire the perfect form. They
buy beautiful bronze and marble fig
ures to adorn the home, and invart-
ably the finest examples of art and
of beauty unadorned will be found to
have waist 467 per cent of the
height But she herself will crowd
her own 40-inch bust and 50-inch
hips into a 26-inch corset, not under
| standing that the effect Is not only
grotesque but that harmony is the
i good and the beautiful and should be
lived personally, continuously every
day: 1t is not to be bought In small
doses and admired from a distance.
That Is the message the artist Is
striving to convey to US, and this not
for arts sake but for posterity, for
in these contradictions lie the root of
III health and decay.
The uncivilized individual may rest
when weary but the civilized may not
and hold his job. The very rapid
change In industrial conditions makes
for an almost universal need for keep
ing the trunk of the body constantly
erect, either standing or sitting in a
chair. for about 16 out Of the "a
hours. These long erect hours, cou-
pied with confinement in poorly venti-
lated buildings, insufficient nutrition.
worry and other depressing causes In
cident to modern commercialism al
most too numerous to mention, result
In an enervated muscular system. The
abdominal muscles relax, permitting
the abdominal contents to sag, result
ing In condition known as enterop-
tosis, or Glenard's diseased This
means that the stomach and intes-
tines, the kidneys, liver and spleen,
one or all sag down.
Constipation, melancholia, backache.
debility biliousness, appendicitis,
headache, early loss Of complexion
and long list of ailments common
to the majority of women and to many
men of all civilized countries are a
few of the results Of this lack of
muscular tone against which woman
strives to defend herself with the cor
set. But like all good things 1t is
abused through our ignorance of the
entire field that must be considered.
The first step to secure a correctly
fitted corset Is to have the body in
natural balance, and this means cor
rect shoe as foundation. The shoe
and the corset acting together are I'M
donbtedly responsible for at least 80
per cent of the ailments supposed to
De Lne particular heritage VI Wondh'
The average woman needs the serv-
ices Of skilled mechanical engineer
more than she does the services OF
the gynecologist Her troubles are
fundamentally mechanical and mental
rather than physical, and that is why
her case is always Chronic" and why
1t will remain Chronic" until the
cause OF the trouble is corrected. Her
backaches. headaches, rheumatisms,
nervousness" and the entire train OF
symptoms are due more to muscular
strains and exhaustion than to any
thing else.
A Century Ago.