Vrouw kleedt een andere vrouw 1880 - 1905

This stereoscopic image from late 19th-century France shows a woman helping another into a corset, an intimate moment staged for public consumption. The photograph presents us with a glimpse into the rituals of Parisian femininity, but it also reveals the growing commercialization of everyday life through mass media. The phrase on the right translates to Parisian Life, which tells us that the image was likely produced as part of a series of images marketed to a mass audience interested in the allure of the French capital. Corsets were a restrictive garment, a marker of social status and an indicator of how a woman should present herself in a patriarchal society. This image, therefore, becomes a powerful symbol of the constraints placed on women at the time. Historical research into fashion trends, advertising, and the development of photography as a commodity would help us better understand the cultural forces at play here. The act of viewing itself is embedded in social and institutional contexts.