Why don't women still wear corsets?

We discussed in two of my economics classes today why women don't wear corsets. Corsets cause women to have "hour glass" figures by flattening their stomachs and raising their breasts. My students and I came up with several reasons why rational women in 1890 would wear corsets but rational women today do not.

• There are very good substitutes for corsets today that didn't exist in 1890 such as liposuction, breast implants and push-up bras.



• Corsets are a form of false advertising. In 1890 women wouldn't expect men to see them without clothes on until they were married so they could keep up the corset false advertising for a very long period of time. Given today's dating morals, men would be likely to find out about the corset false advertising fairly early in the relationship.



• Women in 1890 had a much greater economic need to succeed in the dating market and find a husband. Thus, they had a greater relative willingness to endure the pain of corsets than modern women do.



• But, corsets can cause a woman to break a rib. Because of medical advances the harm of having a broken rib today is much lower than it was in 1890. This would argue for women being more willing to were corsets today than in the 19th century.