A ‘Bridgerton’ Season 2 Star Got Real About The One Aspect Of The Show That Ignores The Female Gaze

Bridgerton‘s second season shall arrive within weeks, and thankfully, the Shondaland show has already bestowed us with a trailer that’s filled with scandalous moments and touches upon the steaminess to come, hopefully beyond the “jizzing in blankets” so prominently highlighted (and as pointed out by John Oliver) in the show’s debut. No Duke Simon shall be found, but Anthony Bridgerton is around, smoldering and falling into bodies of water while looking for a match, and the show’s newest leading lady, Simone Ashley (top left, above) is doing the rounds to discuss her experiences.

Simone spoke with Glamour UK to discuss her role as Kate, who is unafraid to let Anthony know what she really thinks when he gets all wrapped up in Anthony’s courting of her sister, Edwina. Things get complicated, as this show tends to do, and we can all guess who really ends up with Anthony (though we may not be correct). And as Simone indicates, this show’s dedication to following the female gaze (particularly in sex scenes) doesn’t extend to all aspects of what’s ideal for women. Yup, there’s one convention that the show really insists upon holding onto, and that would be those corsets. Simone doesn’t hold back on discussing how dreadful (and potentially injury-causing) those contraptions turn out to be:

“On my first day, I was like, ‘OK, first day as a leading lady, got to eat lots of food, be really energized.” So, I had this massive portion of salmon and that’s when I needed to be sick, basically because I was wearing the corset. I realised when you wear the corset, you just don’t eat. It changes your body. I had a smaller waist very momentarily. Then the minute you stop wearing it, you’re just back to how your body is. I had a lot of pain with the corset, too. I think I tore my shoulder at one point!”

Yeah, yikes and no thanks. The odd thing about those omnipresent corsets, too, is that, for a lot of the dresses on Bridgerton, they don’t really appear to be necessary In the above photo and the one below, the dress designs don’t include cinched waists.

Perhaps the corsets are the one thing that the show’s hanging onto in order to remind everyone that, even though this is a reimagining of the Regency era, it’s still a period piece. But heck, I doubt anyone would complain if they altogether burned those corsets.

Bridgerton returns on March 25, and after that, three more seasons shall follow.