Thursday, January 30, 2020

Week 3: Fashion. WTF is it?



Fashion. A single societal concept that has taken control of how we value others. Fanny Fern mentions in her article, “A Law More Nice Than Just”, that she had read that a girl, “Emma Wilson was arrested for wearing pants” (2105).  Gina Barreca discusses in her piece, “ Good Girls Don’t Get It”, that “Good Girls wear miniskirts but not hot pants. Good Girls wore patterned tights but not fishnets,” (Barreca 3).

In Fern’s piece, she is addressing the misogynistic view that society has on fashion. Women shouldn’t wear pants, and at that point, it was illegal to wear pants as a woman. As time went on, you would have expected that this viewpoint would’ve changed, however, the only thing that has seemed to change is the law. I love thrift shopping, it’s my favorite way to get clothes because there is so much history behind items. With that being said, I shop the entire store. I don’t shop based on the gender specific sides. I just look for clothes I like and if they fit, I buy them. All of this is relevant because it never fails, that when I bring my new clothes home, one of my family members make a comment on the items being “men’s” clothing. What the hell does that even mean? How can you classify a piece of clothing as masculine or feminine? To me, it’s neither. Like Fanny Fern and Amy Poehler, I know there is this stigma around women wearing “masculine” clothes, therefore I always feel even more empowered when I get dressed because my mindset is, “I don’t care if you fucking like it!”



Now, let’s talk about the Barreca piece. Barreca does such an important job at truly highlighting the idea of stylistic approaches to achieve the desired persona. Due to society’s need to label everything as a justification of why someone’s dressing the way they are, or acting the way they are when she talks about the Bad Girls, I immediately thought of the “grunge, rebellious, hipster” style. However, how do we group someone’s behavior with their style? We shouldn’t. For instance, I am an example of someone who dresses the complete opposite of her personality. However, when I wear outfits that fit into this “bad girl” category, I immediately become a target for stares and negativity from strangers. For example, I was once wearing these awesome navy green corduroy pants, with my classic Guns N Roses t-shirt, because I thought they looked cool together. I had gone out with my sister-in-law to shop for some things, and while we were out, I caught 2 older women staring at me in disgust. The one even came up to me and told me, “ You should be ashamed of yourself dressing like that, pretty girls like you should be more pure, and nice” and just walked away. Like, EXCUSE ME?! I genuinely took a step back and had to evaluate the situation that just happened. I couldn’t understand how this random lady, who doesn’t even know me, had the audacity to tell me I needed to be nicer, based on how I was dressed!




With my experiences with clothing and stereotypes (trust me I have a lot more, but that would turn into an actual book), I raise the question, how the hell do we break these stereotypes that society has placed on fashion? Or are we just stuck in this never-ending loop of exhaustion?


https://media.giphy.com/media/lkdH8FmImcGoylv3t3/giphy.gif


7 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree more with your post. I really liked that you connected an experience of your own with the Fern's whole point of that piece. It always amazes me how people who know nothing about you, feel the need to assess you ,and then make comments about you based solely on your appearance. I'll never understand how people can be so quick to judge, especially since "gendered" clothing is something completely made up by society. Wear what makes you feel comfortable, not what makes others feel comfortable.

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  2. Another post that made me gasp! I cannot believe someone said that to you when you were rocking what sounds like some awesome pants and a cool shirt. The audacity. Wow.

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  3. Okay one, I would have thrown hands. But two, I feel this on a level that just almost hurts. I was raised being told that with 'my body type' I shouldn't expect to fit into anything pretty or petite (Like those two have things in common). So I shopped in the men's department (which I get most of my pieces from cause they are comfy) and got stares for it at school and at home. So the societal norms have gotten to my style and esteem. So I say dress however you damn well please!

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  4. I love the use of GIFs in your post! It really helps solidify your argument. I knew exactly how you felt after each section based on the GIF you chose. I especially enjoy the first one, since that perfectly describes what I personally have learned from this course so far: I can do whatever the heck I want, and nothing can stop me. And it’s Nick Offerman. Who doesn’t love Nick Offerman?

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  5. Your title had me laughing because I often think that to myself when I'm watching Project Runway lol. Anyway, I just honestly cannot believe that you were told to be "pure" when you had a band tee on. The meme just says it all, ugh. I think it's about time in society that we stop caring about and judging what other people wear and dress how we feel comfortable. For so many centuries, women were not allowed to wear what they wanted and only recently were allowed to wear pants, which is ridiculous. It is about time we claim the right to choose what we enjoy wearing, whether that be a full ball gown to the grocery store or sweats to class. You all know I already rock one of these things *winky face*.

    (No, I don't show up to work at Food Lion in a ball gown. Unless I put khakis and my work shirt over it, I'd probably get fired...but THAT would be a lewk.)

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  6. I also am a big thrift shopper (in fact Aneyla and I are planning a Goodwill trip for this weekend.) It's just so much more fun to find things you know other people won't have. I also like to think I don't dress for other people, but people's opinions are usually in the back of my mind whether I like it or not. Your question on how we break these fashion stereotypes is hard, but I think the more we work together to not give a frick what men or others think of us, the closer we'll get to that goal. And in response to your title, WTF is fashion???? The world may never know.

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  7. You're right, it's absolutely mind-blowing how often people associate our personal qualities with our attire. You have piercings? Instantly a "bad girl". You were crop tops and booty shorts? *insert a sexual name here* You wear black garb? What a drag.

    People wear what they like, NOT their personality traits. If I dressed as goofy and happy as I feel as the inside, I'd be decked out in yellows with happy faces and rainbows and unicorns glued to my shirts. Instead, I just like casual, long-sleeved clothes, which shouldn't brand me as, I don't know, a lazy person? (I'm currently wearing a hoodie and leggings as I write this, so I could've worn this outfit to bed I guess). Anyways, I'm ranting. I'm just tired of our clothing defining who we are instead of just our tastes.

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