What's not sexy is feminism (not to be confused with femininity), which is directly responsible for the disappearance of our beloved dresses and the adoption of pants by the "new woman." Like all fashions, pants are symbolic of something - in this case masculinity - through their allowance of physical activity. Dresses, the antithesis of pants, symbolize femininity through grace and elegance.See that? Masculinity is about unhindered movement and femininity is about the prohibition of physical activity - about passivity and the resulting venerability. Because nothing says elegance like the inability to move, and nothing is as graceful as a sitting duck.
What, still not crazy enough for you? Then try this one:
The androgynous masculinization of the modern woman, through the donning of pants, suits, uncovered shoulders and unveiled hair, has in a sense led to the slow whorification of ladyhood.Because there is no distinction between showing your hair and selling sexual favors.
Alright, perhaps it is beneath me to take notice of the misogynistic ramblings of a Texan college junior. Yet, it is interesting that this University of Texas at Austin school publication is printing what sounds exactly like the Taliban's line of argumentation, all under the guise of American values - more proof that everyone's crazies resemble each other more than they do the majority of the group that they pretend to represent. Misogynist ideologies are international, and apparently intergenerational as well. If this child is our future, then I'm a little worried.
(via Shameless)
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5 comments:
Firstly, the idea that feminists don't wear skirts is completely wrong. It's not about not wearing skirts, it's about not wearing skirts just because society dictates that you should wear skirts. (if that makes any sense)
I also seemed to be missing how masculinized androgeny could possibly lead to "whorishness."
Feminism is about personal freedom, not about going along with a norm, any norm.
I had a patient comment on my skirt at work, saying he was glad to see me dress like a woman and not a man. I wore pants the next day.
Josh, it is rare that we get males who can write so eloquently about feminist issues. Thanks.
Laura, wow. That's just... something.
I can't help but note that often the judgment on whether or not a woman's attire is appropriate has nothing to do with the actual clothes and everything to do with the viewer. For example, while I have never been reprimanded for my dress, a colleague of mine with an almost identical wardrobe had been castigated about her attire on multiple occasions. The difference? She is curvier than I am, and she briefly dated the principal's son (who is himself a principal, at another school. My colleague had no idea that he was her boss's son when she accepted the date).
By the Webster's Dictionary definition (here), castigate means "to subject to severe punishment, reproof, or criticism."
In the future, though, I'll try to remember to use the word "reprimanded," which sounds nothing at all like the word "castrated."
I've been getting some emails, you see.
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