#it makes me angry like how OG god of war’s level design made me angry.

[malewifehenrycooldown]

I do not recommend playing Mortal Kombat Armageddon’s Konquest mode its entire level design is made to make you want to rage quit.

[alsocalledhawkeye]

Let’s Talk About...

Emma Watson and this corset thing I was ranting about earlier.

Because I made a post earlier and there were some replies to it and I want to address a whole bunch of stuff here, in the longest post on this here section of the interweb I’ve ever made.  I’m basically posting this without proofreading because I’m noticing more people reblogging it, and I don’t want more angrygrams coming at me that result in a call out post about how I’m a terrible person. I’m old, Tumblr. I know how you work. If anyone needs me to clarify a point, my ask and messages and reblogs are open for you.

In case you don’t want to read, that’s cool. Here’s the TL;DR version: I made a rant post misquoting a misquote from Emma Watson regarding her decision not to wear a corset as Belle in the new Beauty and the Beast. There’s nothing wrong with corsets, as a general rule, but I don’t want to expand too much on it here. I love Emma Watson with every inch of my heart and I’m sorry I put words in her mouth. In case you want to read, that’s cool, too. The long version is under the cut.

I want to address is the replies to this post. So I’m going to spend a good deal of time addressing this mini-issue (it’s not even an issue; someone had an opinion on my opinion) because, honestly, I love a good discussion. I also really love when people call me out when I have wrong information or when I’m being a general jerk. Follow up to that: I like when people reblog my posts rather than reply to them. It gives more opportunity for other people to discuss it.  Before I numerate my responses I just gotta say right off the bat: I posted wank in a tag. That was unbelievably shitty and inexcusable so I’m not going to explain it away like people do. I’m sorry I did it. You guys don’t want people shitting in your Cocoa Puffs anymore than I do, so accept my sincerest apology and feel free to call me out on it if it happens in the future. 1). Why is she so misquoted? Perhaps because the media is mis-quoting her? You’ll notice I never claimed to make a direct quote from Emma Watson. I did, however, make a paraphrase of a possible quote I had read and heard several times since the trailers for Beauty and the Beast came out. Perhaps I could have made it more evident that I was not directly quoting, but in 2017 I assume that everyone has an understanding that saying someone “is all” or “is like” when referencing a quote that it means it’s not direct. To elaborate, every single report and article I have read about Emma’s refusal to wear a corset has painted that quote with a feminist brush. Basically: I’m misquoting a misquote from several versions of the story.  1a). Since I know someone will ask, here’s just four of the articles that read as though “the corset is anti-feminist” idea is more important than the “corsets can restrict movement” idea.   1    2    3   4 1b). I’m going to expound a lot more on media perceptions of corsets and movement in a later post.  1c). I don’t have the time to fact-check every piece of information comes into my ears. I know I’ll probably get a lot of people complaining about this, but I generally assume that, as the media and journalists, it’s your job to give me accurate information. I don’t have time or patience to go around to every single person’s blog who posts wanky stuff about my fave and correct them. This is my moment of snark regarding people calling me on my shit: I love when you do it, but don’t be a fucking dick. 

2). As stated in the first two paragraphs, I appreciate you calling me on my possible misinformation. Thank you for clarifying it. I retract my frustration with Emma, but not my frustration over the negativity surrounding corsets. Again, I will expound on a lot of this later. 

3). Not wanting to do period pieces for fear of being typecast as a period piece actor is not the same as not wanting to do period pieces because you don’t like corsets. No, that doesn’t mean I’m saying Emma Watson doesn’t like them. I did Google a little bit about Emma and corsets. I can’t find anything unrelated to Beauty and the Beast beyond some pictures of her in what appears to be a corset top/bustier type top and a corset top dress, both of which classify as corsets in the technical sense, but not in the functional sense. 

4). To expand a little bit on corsets: a corset shouldn’t be uncomfortable and restrictive no matter what you’re wearing it for. If a corset is too tight or uncomfortable, it is not only poorly made, it’s badly measured. In modern times, a corset should fit you snugly enough up top to support and hold your breasts. They should be long enough to curve around your hips to displace some of the strain (more on that later). Corsets should be wide enough/skinny enough around your middle to fit more like a body glove than a compression wrap; comfortable and supportive but not sucking you in. Unless, of course, you want to take part of this “tight-lacing” trend, in which case I encourage you to research and save money, because it’s an expensive trend/habit to be in on. (I can go more in detail on that later, if anyone really wants me to.) 4a). Historically, women had several different types of corsets, bodies, stays, stomachers, etc. for any type of life they might have lived. Naturally, the richer you were, the more you had (peasants didn’t really corset ever, but royalty almost always). That said, historical corset makers would have made a corset for work and a corset for play and a corset for lying around on settee’s eating bonbons and sewing samplers. Victorian women especially changed clothes often, and also had a lot more in ways of running a home than their predecessors. Women had “working” corsets, lightly boned corsets designed to bend and move as a woman did the cooking, washing, and other activities. They had broader, stiffer corsets for ball gowns, “medium boned” corsets for visiting dresses and walking dresses.  4b). Technology regarding corset making has changed drastically since then. We use steel/metal stays now. Sometimes people use flat steel, which is great for those formal corsets, but a lot more people use spiral steel, which is good for everything. Spiral steel stays are like giant springs in various thicknesses. They are incredibly flexible, they expand/contract depending on weather, and they’re basically a god’s gift to corseted women. I have three corsets that have plastic tipped fiberglass rods down the front and lightweight spiral steel the rest of the way around and these, also, are a delight.  4c). With the ever evolving technology and the ease of research, a good costumer will be able to devise a piece of historical costumery that will give you the “look” of the corset will still allowing ease of use. I know so many actors who have played corseted roles that have been required to fight, jump, run, fall off the top of a building, ride a horse, and even do full gymnastics across a giant chess board.  The corsets are amended to allow this kind of movement. The person in charge of those costumes is a brilliant seamstress, but I have no clue if she’s on the same level as the Hollywood costumers.  It’s silly to think that a skilled historical costumer can’t work around movement complaints.  4d). When it comes to Disney movies, though, I always sort of think of them as pseudo-historical films. They exist in a time and space that is both current and past; the idea of a historical time and place is hinted at, but that’s it. That’s how I view them. So, all my droll talk about historical costuming is basically a moot point for a Disney flick. I try to have an open mind when it comes to historical fiction films and TV shows. Costuming is so often amended to give a certain aesthetic (which is where the sexualization of corsets comes in to play in public entertainment) that we end up seeing all kinds of things: Renaissance and Victorian style dresses in Medieval settings (BBC’s Robin Hood), prom dresses in a Renaissance setting (Reign), Tudor gowns with literally no chemise to speak of (The Tudors and the Elizabeth movies), women in 1920′s and later style gowns in Napoleonic Russia (BBC’s War and Peace). Those creators didn’t costume their media successfully for history, but they sure costumed it for the type of lens you’re supposed to see it through. Which, to be honest, is less frustrating and more clever. 

5). There’s an entire discourse on Belle and princesses and Princess Culture that I’m going to get into, because as I was looking for the wording of the articles I read, I came across some really strange, worrying things people were saying about OG Belle and it got me angry. Belle is my jam. I’m here for Belle. LEAVE BELLE ALONE. But this is not the place for that, but look out for it you like hearing me rant about random stuff. 5a). There’s also going to be a discourse on corsets and how they should fit, why I think they’re great. and why we should give corset wearers a break. And also a ton of other stuff I can talk about from experience as a lover of corsets and casually frequent wearer of them.  5b). Included in the corset discourse is going to be a lengthy discussion in why I hate when Hollywood movies show women getting dressed into a corset. Because this is where my frustration starts, and where the idea that corsets are the Devil’s work comes into play.

6). I love Emma Watson with every inch of my cold little heart. She’s smart, witty, clever, talented, and genuinely a good human being. She likes to read. She likes to leave books in random tube stations for strangers. She always stops and talks to her fans and genuinely just loves everyone. Emma Watson wants good things for all people, and she wants women to feel especially empowered and deserving of good things. I love her so much and I’m so happy she’s speaking up for women across the world. 6a). Emma Watson making a decision to not have her Belle wear a corset for practical reasons makes sense. It really does. Reporters or journalists or whatever you call people who write celebrity articles trying to tie her feminism up with a corset-hatred bow doesn’t make sense and it’s not cool. In misquoting the source and referencing the source’s feminism in the same sentence, these people are adding a meaning that wasn’t there in the first place. It’s putting words in her mouth, multiple times over, as people share the articles and discuss it with their friends and relatives. It puts words in her mouth from an insignificant person with a shit blog on a tiny sphere of space in the giant world of social media and the internet when that blogger shares a rant about just, you know, everything really. 

7). I don’t want to put words in her mouth. That’s not fair. I’m sorry I had wrong information given. I retract my Emma Watson related frustration and go back to my regularly scheduled frustration with terrible history.