Unbinding the Victorian Girl: Corsetry and Neo-Victorian Young Adult Literature

The corset is an item of nineteenth-century women’s clothing that is often contested as antifeminist, problematic, and disfiguring. However, when presented in some neo-Victorian young adult literature, particularly steampunk, the corset is rewritten as offering protection—even functioning as armor—to help shield a young woman from threats to her person and her agency.