As someone who reduces my waist by two to five inches every day to relieve lower back pain and train my spine out of scoliosis, I can only say thank you.

(The reason there is so much variance in my waist reduction is that some of my corsets have a more pronounced hourglass shape than others. My more wasp-waisted corsets are good for relieving lower back pain, also pain from menstrual cramps, and when the hell is my neverending perimenopause just going to end already but really, that's another rant for another day. My more tube-shaped corsets provide better postural support).

It's 2023, and I still hear comments to the effect of "Can you breathe?" (Yes) and "Doesn't that hurt?" (No) and "I could never wear one of those" (Good, because I'm not going to buy you one; they're expensive) and "Can you bend over? It looks so restrictive" (Watch me!) and "That's bad for your internal organs" (Funny, my spine straightened somewhat, and I stood an inch taller after a year of tight-lacing; is a spine not an internal organ?) and all the old BS.

People do seem to love their historical myths.

Whalebone, by the way, is extremely flexible, because it's not real bone, it's cartilage. It was not cheap.

These days, artificial whalebone corsets are marketed to athletes - you can sweat in them! swim in them! wash them in the washing machine on the gentle setting! - because not only can they get wet without the boning being harmed, but the boning actually flexes with the athlete's movement, allowing for a wide range of motion and for deep breathing. Artificial whalebone corsets aren't cheap, either.