The Truth about Waist Training
Waist training may be the current rage with many celebrities who are trying to look thinner, but using corsets to modify the human silhouette can be traced back hundreds of years. However, while true corset training is a legitimate form of body modification, the "corsets" that celebrities are peddling are nothing more than Instagram snake oil. Dita Von Teese, international burlesque star and corset expert, agrees that the contraptions that celebrities are wearing aren't effective. “I think it’s funny because I’m watching and it’s like the blind leading the blind,” she remarked on HuffPostLive. “People that actually know a lot about corsetry are not the ones that are publicly speaking about it, and I’m seeing some of these corsets that they’re saying are waist shapers and I’m like, ‘That doesn’t work.’ They’re like stretchy fabric.”
True corset training is actually one of the oldest forms of body modification. It requires a steel boned corset made from stiff fabrics that is made to fit a person's custom measurements. Continuous wearing of such a corset, and gradual tightening over many months, eventually compresses the person's floating ribs (thats the bottom two ribs on the ribcage) and creates a smaller waist measurement. The results can be very dramatic, but it is not a permanent change. The floating ribs will revert back if the subject spends too much time out of a corset. High quality corsets that fit properly are a must because an improper fit can cause problems to the spine and posture.The person is literally changing where things are in their body, so it is not something that should be done without lots of research and advice from health professionals.
The recent fad of "waist training" has almost nothing in common with the historical form and for very obvious reasons. All you have to do is compare the corsets. The red is a steel-boned corset made for waist training in the traditional style explained above. The purple ones are the stretchy "corsets" (I will call them "shapers" for the rest of this article) that are being praised by the Kardashians and other celebrities.
You can see that the real corset forces the body to change shape, while the shapers compress the fat but still follow the body's natural line. The corset is made of metal and thick fabric, usually a stiff canvas covered with a prettier material for looks, while the shaper is made out of strong elastic which will bend when pressure is put against it. You can also see that the shapers lack the sewn channels that hold the metal bones that are very obvious on the real corset. Finally, the price. A good steel boned corset that fits well should run you anywhere between $100-$400, while the cheap shapers are being sold on Amazon for as little as $15. As with all things, you get what you pay for.
These modern shapers are basically a different style of Spanx. They will help you look and feel thinner when you wear them under clothes (No shame! I wear shapers with certain cosplays and outfits!) but they will not help you lose fat or make your waist thinner. Some people claim that they lose inches from wearing these, but this is most likely due to the temporary compression that happens whenever our tissue is put under steady pressure, similar to the seam lines you get in your skin when you wear tight jeans. There is no scientific evidence that these elastic shapers have any lasting impact on the body's shape. However, it is possible that wearing these shapers makes people more conscious of their eating habits, which can be very helpful to adjusting food intake and contributing to weight loss. In that way, they may be beneficial.
The internet trend of working out in these shapers is a bad idea. They can restrict your range of motion and restrict your breathing, which increases the chance for injury and will keep you from working to your full potential during a workout. If you can't do a movement or run a distance to the best of your ability you are not going to benefit fully from your fitness plan. There is also evidence that wearing shapers or corsets for extended periods of time regularly may have a negative impact on your core strength since the clothing is holding your weight instead of your abdominal and back muscles. Skip adding these to your gym bag.
There is no magic bullet for losing weight, and while true waist training can give you a more dramatic figure, it does not change your body composition. No type of waist training directly results in fat loss. Your body fat is still there and you are not healthier for getting a smaller waist through body modification. The healthiest way to get a smaller waist is through an informed combination of diet and exercise. If wearing a shaper or a corset makes you feel good about yourself, great, but make sure that you have done your due diligence and have realistic expectations.
Ending Convention Rape Culture
As the popularity of cosplay has risen, so have the number of assaults and insults that cosplayers suffer at large events. San Diego Comic-Con 2014 just passed, and some of the biggest stories to come out of the event were about an underage cosplayer who was found bloodied and unconscious in costume, and a famous cosplayer chasing down a man who groped her friend.
Unfortunately, many cosplayers unwittingly contribute to the very convention culture that endangers them. They contribute, not with the costumes they wear, but by trying to be polite or by not knowing what to do when incidents happen. It can be a very distressing and embarrassing to be objectified or assaulted at a convention, and knowing exactly what to do can be hard. So here are three basic rules of how to react in these horrible situations:
1. Don't be Polite!
Every convention has huge numbers of bloggers, vloggers, press, internet personalities, and regular patrons who are combing the floor for cosplayers to put on the spot. Many of these jerks ask inappropriate sexual questions or try to touch you in ways that make you uneasy (hugs, leering at specific body parts, filming/photographing specific body parts, etc). If you are uncomfortable DO NOT FEEL OBLIGATED TO PLAY ALONG! Regardless of how witty your response is, questions and behavior of this nature is disrespectful to you and contributes to the convention culture that objectifies cosplayers. Tell them that they are being inappropriate, and end the interview. Tell them that you are not comfortable with them putting their arm around your waist, and step away. Tell them that your "eyes are up here" and walk away. No amount of Facebook likes or Twitter followers are worth encouraging these disgusting convention parasites.
2. Be Loud!
If something inappropriate happens, BE LOUD ABOUT IT! I know this can be hard because it is an embarrassing situation, but acting fast and getting people to notice what is happening is the best way to insure that predators are caught. Shout at the person to STOP and state what they are doing. For example, "STOP TOUCHING MY BREASTS! THAT IS NOT OK! THIS GUY/GIRL IS TOUCHING ME INAPPROPRIATELY!" and POINT THEM OUT! The more people who see the person, the better the chance of them being held responsible for their behavior. Hopefully someone will even snap a picture of the asswipe.
(Although I agree that they deserve it, I do NOT recommend physically striking the person since that can get you into legal trouble down the line.)
3. REPORT!
Do NOT just move on with your day after an incident happens. Report it to the convention staff (and make sure they really take note of it!) or the police if the incident is serious enough. We want predators removed from the convention, so we need those in charge to know that they are there! Even if you didn't get a great look at the person, TELL AN OFFICIAL and let them know what you do remember. Often, these creeps bother/assault multiple people in a day. DON'T HELP THEM GET AWAY WITH IT! The truth is that we really don't have dependable statistics on convention harassment, because so many victims don't report their assaults. We need to start making officials take notice of this problem, and the only way to do that is to inform them EVERY time it happens
4. BE A WITNESS!
Help yourself and other cosplayers by being aware of your surroundings and looking out for trouble. I realize that we shouldn't HAVE to do this, but unfortunately, the reality is that this is a necessary precaution to help protect ourselves. If you see something happen BE LOUD and REPORT! Stick around to tell officials what happened, or take the initiative if nobody else has the guts to report what happened. We can't wait for white knights to save us. Cosplayers have to stand up for ourselves.
Assholes and predators are in geek culture, just like every other community. It is NOT your fault if someone is insulting or assaulting you. It doesn't matter what you wear to a convention, EVERYONE deserves respect. If we are going to change this culture we need to band together and send the message loud and clear that we are NOT going to put up with this. We cannot wait around for other people to step up, we have to start stepping up and speaking up for ourselves!