You?re Just Playing Into Misogynist?s Hands
?a girl? by Boyan Kazalov
I?m a feminist who is against crop-tops and revealing clothing (and I?m writing this as someone who loves crop tops). Far from being some kind of cranky old woman with antiquated values, I think women wearing just a bit more clothing is a big part of the solution to sexism.
The reason I think this is simple.
When women wear less clothing, we are giving misogynists exactly what they want.
It serves misogynists for feminists to think that being scantily clad is an expression of freedom. It gives misogynists exactly what they want ? consequence-free access to female bodies. (Hookup culture serves them in the same way). By making it easier for misogynists to access sex, we reinforce their misogyny. They go to their other male friends and spread it, and on the cycle continues.
If getting naked were really the answer to gender relation problems, men would be doing it too. But we are not seeing a sudden popularity spike in the male crop-top, nor are we seeing any other kind of male-revealing clothing become popular.
Every year, women are wearing less and less clothing while men continue wearing the same amount of clothes as ever.
And look, I get it. When I go out, I feel the same pressure to be the sexiest bitch at the bar that every other woman does. My eyes rake over the most attractive women in public, measuring myself against them. (They didn?t start doing this until I started competing for male attention).
But we have to ask ourselves: Where does this lead? Women walking around in bikinis and fishnet while men are still wearing their suits?
Go ahead, picture it.
This looks less like freedom and more like possession to me. Source.
Is that the equality we dreamed of?
I?m not suggesting we all start dressing like matrons. I?m suggesting we dress on par with men; attractive shirts and jeans, or dresses and skirts which flatter our forms without giving away the surprise. This is what men do when they go out; they pick form fitting t shirts, flattering jeans, and some nice shoes.
It?s as easy as that.
EDIT: The situation where school-age girls are sent home from school for inappropriate dress was pointed out to me. I don?t think that situation is the same. If we were speaking of adults, I would say that is a clear violation of their freedom to dress how they want. But girls are children, and children are not adults and do not have the same agency as adults. I don?t think it?s an impingement on their freedom for their clothes to be controlled.
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