The Mad-rush for corset-torture or fashion?

As a young person growing up, what actually caught my fancy and whip my appetite was when woman gives birth in our household. It was normally accompanied with salivating dishes most especially fufu spiced with soup silted with all kinds of meat and fish and mashed plantain drenched in oil, groundnut with eggs (3to). This was usually the best time for some of us to pregnant our bellies with sumptuous meals, a rare delicacy.

A woman shortly after giving birth was always expected to look plump and slightly obese to show how her husband has been responsible. Some ladies whom for some reasons may not put on weight right after giving birth usually indulge in taking weight enhancing medicines. A woman attending postpartum care forty days after delivering her baby who is commonly referred to as “attending maternity” normally attracts sneers and scorn from gossip-monger if she looks emaciated or scrawny. This is to indicate that her husband has been irresponsible.

In the good old days, a man with protruding stomach or pot belly was revered as rich person or someone who lives a good life and many women will yearn to have such person for a husband.

An Ashanti man description of a Fante woman or a Ga woman will be incomplete without complimenting on her “busy body” or her plump-looking shape.

Contrary, today, this phenomenon has taken a nose dive and models, celebrities and many women from all class now prefer to look slender and skinny just to be in tune with the fashion world. Many women use both proper and crude ways to look slender including the use of tight-lacing corset.

It is undisputable fact that overweight and obesity may increase the risk of many health problems including cancer, diabetes, heart diseases and hypertension. This fact sheet tells us more about the link between excess weight and many health conditions as well as explain how reaching and maintaining a normal weight may help you to stay healthier.

This presupposes that we should use the proper means to reduce weight through engaging in weight-shedding exercise such as going to the gym, engaging in more physical activities and engaging in sports.

Sadly, in the desperate attempt look more slender and sexy-looking, manrey women do not only starve their stomachs but also use tight-lacing corset to make their tummies' look slender and flat oblivious of the dangerous effects after prolonged use. (Corset is a garment worn to hold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purpose).

According to medical professionals, the heart is damaged by corsetry. If a person shrinks the size of his or her rib cage significantly, it is believed that it can leave little space for the heart, thus leading to inevitable palpitations.

The constriction of the corset, if too tight, prevents the lower lobes of the lungs from fully expanding when taking a breath. This puts extra strain on the lungs and causes additional work for the lower lobes of the lungs.

It is also argued that with a tight-laced corset, the stomach would not be able to churn correctly, making it difficult to digest food completely.

The liver also experiences many complications while the body is tight-laced, becoming severed due to the location of the ribs as a result of the tight lacing, and that the liver would become enlarged or displaced.

Not only that, the uterus is believed to suffer the most from tight-lacing, failing to develop properly due to the inactivity of the abdominal muscles or becoming prolapsed.

The use of tight-lacing corset for prolonged period may give you that stylish and sexy looking but also has the propensity to cost your life.

Writer: Abdul-Karim Mohammed Awaf
University of Cape Coast
Abdulkarimmohammedawaf.blogspot.com.