Kaja Silverman explains in "Fragments of a Fashionable Discourse" that clothing and and dress is an important cultural implement for attaching sexual identity. But what I asked myself was how is fashion an instrument of gender oppression? Is fashion feminist? This article was very interesting, and reminded me of women, comic superheroes. One image I pictured immediately was the infamous Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is a feminist fashion icon especially with the bustier, the tight and high-waisted pants/romper, and her "Lasso of Truth." Because she is known an as a Princess of the Amazons, her distinct fashion displays a "feminist role model whose mission is to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace and sexual equality to a world torn by the hatred of men." Her outfit is a representation of her sexuality, especially covering her torso tightly, and hardly hides her genitalia and emphasizes her breasts as fetish objects.
Silverman also explains that men are fascinated with women’s fashion, and how women’s clothing is meant to appeal to men. Women dress to seek the “male gaze,” but it was attention grabbing to me to realize that males also dress to try to appear more attractive than other men. As much as most people believe that women are constantly trying to impress others by their fashion, I agree with Silverman in which in many situations my guy friends have tried to impress other people with their looks. Whether it was the shirt they were wearing or the coolest, trendiest watch on their wrist, surprisingly I know that my male friends are more concerned with their style than women.
That really interesting Page!! I haven't been around that many men who truly care about what he is wearing. Could be that I usually pick out what my husband will wear - and it usually is something that will not entirely match what I'm wearing but still in the same style level!!! AND he's totally oblivious to this:)
ReplyDeleteI believe there is a misconception of how men are concerned about their look. I have to agree that there is some men that care more about their look than some women. We might start to stop stereotyping in base of gender.
ReplyDelete