To followup our post on the Feb. 12 show by Dr. Oz concerning corset waist training, Lucy wrote a detailed and excellent reply: http://lucycorsetry.com/2015/02/26/dr-oz-investigates-waist-training-response/
She takes on points Oz’s resources made, one-by-one.
I was particularly impressed with her following point which for me, answered further “The Corset Question”:
“…there is not enough information out there on how corsets are supposed to properly fit and feel, so people grow up with the propaganda that all corsets are supposed to hurt or that shortness of breath is normal. It’s like if a certain culture had never heard of shoes, but their only exposure to footwear was Chinese foot-binding. Many would understandably turn away from ALL footwear and consider it barbaric (even when offered a comfy pair of orthotic running shoes), and some individuals who want to try footwear feel as though they’re supposed to jam their feet into shoes two sizes too small and just deal with the pain, blisters, hammertoe, etc. because that’s all they’ve been exposed to. There is a whole other world of well-made, functional and comfortable footwear out there, just as there’s a whole world of different shapes, sizes, and styles of corsets. You just need to find the right one and learn to use it responsibly.
Why do we avoid that “whole other world” of information? I have my theories.
We tend to rely on so-called ‘experts’ and be lazy enough to let others do our thinking and opining for us. It’s just easier. We tend to jump in our minds to the extreme position, expecting and even reveling in calamity. I noted that in my former career owning an erotic couples retail boutique (also selling corsets; that’s how I first fell in love with them). Customers would take one look at a ball gag, and see “suffocation,” or glimpse metal handcuffs and see cut wrists. But in truth, there are many shades of grey, right? We don’t ever have to use any particular thing to the extreme. (And my point to them often was, eroticism lies more in the mind that in a product, and often the product is a visual trigger of greater erotic pleasure than is the actual thing in operation).
But is the unexamined life, or issue — worth living? For some when it comes to corsets, it is.
Lately I’ve prepared the three-month corset wearing element of any sound waist-training program (we now include that with the purchase of our book), for several purchasers of my book, “Corset Magic”. Two of the three purchasers wanted to save money, and are training with a somewhat U-shaped readymade corset they purchased from a well-known corset business. I know because I ask them to send photos of the corset they will be using to train, and identify the maker.
I suspect that some or all of them will encounter some tough times especially toward the end of training, making it more arduous and even painful perhaps. The typical readymade corset not patterned following the hills and valleys of your body, tends to create a U shaped silhouetted corset. It is not sufficiently curved out over the lower ribs or high hip bone, and will tend to press down on the anterior femoral nerve and lead to discomfort, and eventually, to tingling or pain as the blood supply is reduced. Not good. Not pleasant.
We are keeping in touch with these clients to see how their efforts progress and I’ll report back later on this matter.
In the meantime, read Lucy’s amazing, lucid blog response. Like one reader of her blog, I would only encourage her to take any opportunity presented to her in the future to go on national television, to present the other side of the popular media’s take which inevitably tends to hyperbole.
As a media consultant once told me in preparing me to deal with media interviews, “The interviewer needs to ‘represent’ the general public and express the general public’s belief system and doubts. The interviewer might not necessarily believe what he or she is saying or questioning, so don’t take it personally. Take it as an opportunity to get solid information out there about your topic. Acknowledge there are differences of opinion and experience, then speak up, speak out, say your truth and be fact-based. It is up to the viewer to determine which viewpoint is better based and valid.”
Corset Waist Training 