Fashion, functionality and feminism — friends or foes? Part 1

Fashion and feminism have long had a love-hate relationship. On the one hand, fashion can be used as a feminist tool: challenging and destroying the limitations placed on gender roles. On the other hand, fashion has also been dismissed as an overrated and redundant tool since it has been seen as reducing a woman’s value to her appearance by objectifying her.

These opposing thought processes only briefly illustrate the dual and paradoxical nature of the kind of overlap fashion and feminism have. Both the functionality and the aesthetic angles of fashion and clothing play a key role in analyzing how fashion fits into the social movement of feminism.

Exploring the functionality aspect of fashion, we can see that recent years have brought to light the numerous trends in the fashion and clothing industries that are decidedly sexist. The most prevalent one being the alarming lack of pockets in women’s dresses, pants, blazers etc… sure there exist fake pockets which serve no useful purpose except the illusion that your phone or keys could fit in them.

One cannot also maneuver around the fact that tucking away your phone or wallet into your back pocket only invites the heart-stopping moment of dropping the said objects on the floor. Eventually, the lack of handy pockets forces women to buy wallets, purses and bags in order to efficiently carry their belongings.

The lack of pockets in women’s clothing was touched upon in fashion historian Barbara Burman’s book wherein she perfectly summed up: “The frustrations and limitations of women’s access to money and ownership of property were neatly mirrored in the restricted scope of their pockets.”

Thanks a lot, patriarchy. How you manage to pervade every single aspect of a woman’s mundane life never fails to surprise me.

While men’s fashion is driven mainly by form and function (i.e made to be worn), women’s fashion tends to focus more on the luxurious action of design and appeal as opposed to comfort or utility (i.e made to be bought). This is further evidenced by many other aspects of female clothing that are designed to attract attention: such as low-cut/revealing necklines that can call for the need of a scarf/dupatta.

Another relevant example would be the sheer/translucent clothes that would perhaps require a woman to purchase an inner vest or jacket, additionally. There also exists a marked difference in the quality, price, durability and comfort found in men’s clothing. Men also seem to benefit from a larger variety and availability of merchandising — be it pop-culture references, funny slogans or colourful images of beloved characters. Does this indicate that marketing folks underestimate women in their pop-culture following abilities or does it imply women are ignorant and uninterested about the same? I’d like to suggest the former possibility.

Another noteworthy instance that can be observed with regards to sexist tendencies about women’s clothing is how some workplaces and events make it mandatory for women to wear high-heels. Making stilettos compulsory for women is ridiculous first, never mind sexist. In the Middle Ages and Imperial China, heels were seen as an efficient method to ‘immobilize’ women and therefore oppress them. Today, since height is still seen as an epitome of class and power, many women turn to high heels to appear statuesque and dominating. Some even prefer wearing high heels to look sexually appealing. Corsets are another article of clothing that plays with a similar duality. Arguably one of the most controversial garments in history, the corset was first popularized in Europe in the 1500s. While some claim the corset was forced upon women by men, others claim women wore them willingly in order to obtain an hourglass figure.

Considering the history behind certain articles of clothing, the reality is that some things can be individually empowering while also playing into a wider culture of patriarchy and gender inequality. So, what we should all remember is that it’s not what a person chooses to wear that’s feminist — it’s that they should have a choice at all. Therefore, proclaiming that garments such as corsets and high heels are deeply rooted in sexism is doing disservice to women who wear them. Only if the person in question has no choice in wearing the garment, it is un-feminist. If anyone has chosen to wear them to look and feel conventionally attractive — why deem them any less valid or any less feminist? People have the right to dress for attractiveness, for comfort, for appeal and for utility. Anyone should be allowed to feel empowered in dressing how they want and why they want to.