The Girl Without a Shirt
The day that I realized that I was a girl kind of bummed me out. As some readers know from Oxford Shoes, High Heels, Fall-down Pants and the Niqab, I was always a uniform girl. But on the weekends, up until I reached the age of 8, I shed my shirt and worked in the woods with my father. We worked shirtless side by side, raking leaves, burning them, riding the tractor, cutting brush, feeding bonfires on hot summer days. One day in 1964 we went to the World’s Fair. Aside from being a world event, a turning point in my generation, all that I remember about it was the It’s a Small World After All exhibit, the big metal globe, and seven small pine saplings that we brought home. Our next weekend mission was to plant the saplings, each one representing a member of my family. Of course, Dad and I were the only ones who had any interest in planting them. When it came to planting my sapling, Dad told me to stand next to it so that we could see how it would grow with me. He took a snapshot of me squatting shirtless with my hand cupped around my scrawny sprig. It was when he asked me to stand up for another shot that I realized I was a girl. A girl, who like the tree, would grow up. A girl who in 10 years would not be standing by the same tree without a shirt.
Vanessa Friedman on Jaden Smith
Vanessa Friedman wrote in her January 6, 2016, New York Times Fashion article, that “clothes are one way that we order the world. We use them to tell if someone is male or female (or wants to be one or the other), what they do, how much money they have, what bands they like, what country they come from, etc. Whatever you do in your private life, clothes are public signals about how to read you. They are part of a social contract. If that order is thrown up in the air, how will we know what snap judgements to make? How do we know how to interpret what we are seeing, if the interpretation is based on outmoded definitions of identity?”
Skirts, Shirts and Photo Shoots
Her article highlights Jaden Smith wearing a skirt in a fashion shoot. The point is not about gender at all. My photo shoot was for me because some hidden instinct of mine knew that women got the short end of the stick, especially when it came to hair or clothing. Clothes identify us, our gender, our likes, dislikes, but for some people clothes are about what makes us feel good. I always used to think men lucked out when it came to dressing up, because they could wear pants every day. When I used to bring this up, they would say their ties were uncomfortable, but really how uncomfortable could they be? I wore an orange tie when I was a Brownie, and I would wear a tie over a dress and fishnet stockings any day. I can see how men could have had a similar quandary to mine growing up. I never wanted to connect clothes with my identity. For me clothes have to do with function and comfort. Social norms made me wear itchy white cardigans, tight dresses, patent leather shoes, and velvet dresses as I grew up. Thank goodness for Levi Strauss jeans and the sixties, which let me wear whatever I wanted.
Social Norms and Itchy Sweaters
I never wanted to connect clothes with my identity. For me, clothes have to do with function. Social norms made me wear itchy white cardigans, tight dresses, patent leather shoes, and velvet dresses as I grew up. Thank goodness for Levi Strauss jeans and the sixties, which let me wear whatever I wanted.
Heterogeneous Dress
Friedman also writes “we long ago accepted women appropriating men’s clothes — and stopped thinking of it as appropriating — the idea of men appropriating women’s clothes is still largely taboo.” Perhaps some of us will always want to wear things that are taboo. Perhaps that is the allure. Either way, you go Jaden Smith! pave the way, shed the men of the tie nooses and black suits. Let them feel the air between their legs as they walk the city streets, run down the athletic field, and maybe, some day, go to work.
Men in Skirts; Women without Shirts: Clothing"s Lib
No comments:
Post a Comment