Corsets

Have you ever been told you’re bringing women’s rights back one-hundred years because of what you’re wearing?


The guest on Betwixt the Sheets today has. And it was a corset.


Dr Alanna McKnight has dedicated her career to researching the social and cultural history of corsets, and to challenging the idea that corsets were imposed on women as a tool of patriarchal control.


Find out why people started wearing corsets, whether men ever wore corsets, what were they made of, and how they’ve paved the way for shape wear like Spanx and waist-trainers.


Find out more about Alanna’s work here, and read her article on Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala corset here.


*WARNING this episode includes some fruity language*


Produced by Charlotte Long and Sophie Gee. Mixed by Seyi Adaobi.


Betwixt the Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society. A podcast by History Hit.This episode includes music by Epidemic Sound and an archive clip from the Public Health Film Goes to War from the National Library of Medicine 1945.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Avsnitt(404)

How Filthy Were Medieval People?

How Filthy Were Medieval People?

If there's one sure way to irritate an historian of the Medieval period, it's to ask why the people of the Middle Ages didn't wash.In this episode, we did just that with Dr Eleanor Janega. Kate and El...

16 Jan 41min

Who Was the Victorian Thames Torso Murderer? With Lucy Worsley

Who Was the Victorian Thames Torso Murderer? With Lucy Worsley

For over a century, a series of gruesome murders have gone unsolved. Until now?The Thames Torso Killer terrified Victorian Londoners by dismembering their victims and scattering their body parts along...

13 Jan 39min

How Filthy Were the Egyptians?

How Filthy Were the Egyptians?

Lead in eyes, scented animal fat melting over wigs, teen circumcision - the Ancient Egyptians went to great lengths for beauty and hygiene. So how clean were they, and how has the colonial perspective...

9 Jan 44min

How to Survive as a Medieval Single Woman

How to Survive as a Medieval Single Woman

Being single in 2026 is a major disadvantage, so what was it like as a single woman in the Medieval period?!Joining Kate today is the always-fantastic Eleanor Janega, author and co-host of our sister ...

6 Jan 41min

How Filthy Were The Romans?

How Filthy Were The Romans?

Some of the key remnants of the Roman Empire are their public baths - huge complexes, multiple different rooms, the basis of many of our modern spas. But were the Romans clean?How regularly did they w...

2 Jan 36min

How Sexy Was Shakespeare?

How Sexy Was Shakespeare?

There's a bit of interest around Shakespeare at the minute - can we call this the Paul Mescal effect?The Bard’s work featured many references to sex and sexuality - some more obvious than others. But ...

30 Dec 202547min

How Hot Was Lord Byron?

How Hot Was Lord Byron?

How 'mad, bad and dangerous to know' was Lord Byron really?We know the Romantic poet had a bit of a reputation, but how true was it? And how unusual would his behaviour have been?In this episode from ...

26 Dec 202542min

How Has Porn Changed Through History?

How Has Porn Changed Through History?

With Christmas around the corner and everything being oh-so wholesome, we thought we would offer an episode from the archives of something not-so wholesome: a history of porn.What did porn look like b...

23 Dec 202546min

Populärt inom Historia

massmordarpodden
kod-katastrof
motiv
historiska-brott
p3-historia
olosta-mord
rss-historien-om
historiepodden-se
rss-massmordarpodden
rss-seriemordarpodden
rss-brottsligt
historianu-med-urban-lindstedt
rss-historiska-brottslingar
krigshistoriepodden
militarhistoriepodden
nu-blir-det-historia
rss-arkiv-stieg
palmemordet
harrisons-dramatiska-historia
oppet-fall