In "Half Broke Horses," Jeannette Walls recounts her observations of a woman who wore tightly laced corsets to achieve an exaggeratedly slender waist. These corsets, which required assistance to fasten, had an unsettling impact on her health, leading her to faint. Walls' mother described this fainting as the result of the woman's refined upbringing, suggesting it highlighted her delicacy and high social status.

However, Walls perceived it differently, attributing the woman's fainting spells to the restrictive nature of the corsets, which made it difficult to breathe. This contrast between her mother's interpretation and her own reality underscores societal pressures regarding beauty and femininity during that time, revealing the often detrimental effects of such ideals on women's health and well-being.