Women changing trends, voice being heard
It is obvious that our clothes say something about us, our taste and our style but what about a means of empowerment?
Presented by Laura Barton, the documentary discovers how women have worn trousers as a means of empowerment and the enduring appeal of work wear in contemporary fashion
Produced by Belinda Naylor, on BBC Radio 4, ‘When Women Wore the Trousers’, is a documentary, which explores the little known story of a pioneering group of women who unknowingly challenged conventional notions of femininity and their working roles.
The main character, Pit Brow Lasses worked within the collieries of 19th century Wigan, Lancashire. Their unique re-appropriation of men’s ‘breeches’ worn underneath hitched up skirts was originally adopted as a functional response to working within mines. These early adopters of trousers reached a similar degrees of notoriety that street-style stars do today.
Documentaries should seek to provide truthful representations and have “a profound fascination with, and respect for, actuality”
- Rabiger 1998:3
This documentary very simply follows the Kabob structure as explained by Tim Harrower, starts with anecdote ‘how long do you take selecting an outfit’ in the morning which I think a dilemma of every women now a days, grabs their target audience’s attention and then takes them to a serious account of women empowerment ‘the nut graph’ that summarizes the story idea. After this, then story broadens by Laura Barton, explaining the fabula , opinions of some random people on how they see a women wearing trousers.
Sunny day at the Astley Green Colliery Museum an example of diegesis in this audio as it is described by Laura, she then explains the setting, the surrounding of engine rooms & bricks walls where pit brow used to work in fierce condition is a mimesis, suggests listeners to imagine how brutal pit life must have been, She then introduces interviewees, Fashion curator Fiona McKay and Wigan historian Alan Davies who puts light on the archived photographs of Pit brow lass, their getups and attire.
Also featured are readings from the actor Maxine Peake, a discussion with Pit Brow Lass, Rita Culshaw about her choice of clothing in the pits, as she heard time to time through out the documentary describing the costumes of Pit brow lass as were portrait in Arthur J. Munbys photograph collection.
Laura, then describe another group of pioneering women around the same time, who were also advocating the wearing of trousers but for leisure work unlike the minor workers they had the freedom & different type of attitude, then instantly plays the rock music creates the sense in listeners of women being modern.
We see Temporality, as described by Rosemary Huisman, the movement of the documentary is presented in chronological sequence from 1850’s Pit braw era, who first wore trousers, then moving on gradually, how the trend took its shape in different eras to present.
It includes the interviews with fashion curators Amy de la Haye, as well as fashion designers Faye & Erica Toogood.
Chef Angela Harnett tells, She wears a uniform of a white shift and baggy trousers in her restaurant kitchen but it is a look that could be seen as fashionable in a different context. In the interview where we hear the sounds of cutlery and crockery and a hubbub of background chatter is a mimesis that interview is going on in the restaurant kitchen.
The choice of the music, rock, hip hop and old classical throughout the documentary is very particular, very smoothly transiting into another part, setts the mood of the listener what next part going to be about. At some points, we hear interviews of some random people played immediately after a song, reflects that the producers used the songs of particular era as a tool to tell listeners that the people chatting now, belongs to that era.
It ends by returning to that speaker and concluding with another anecdote about Belinda Naylor describes herself as a part time trouser wearer and she is been called the best dressed women at Radio 4 by her colleagues.
Communicating this story through the mode of a aural genre meant that we could experiment with different layers of texture and voices through sound. Without the use of visuals, we needed to be more inventive when describing a topic and conveying emotion, inciting people’s imagination. As opposed to film or other more visual types of media, it is a more intimate connection as the narrative takes a centre stage. Overall, the documentary successfully brings its listener on a journey to show how relevant and inspiring these pioneering women of the past are today.
References
Huisman R.(2005),Narrative concept; chapter 2, Cambridge University Press
