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| Image drawn by Ella Gibson |
Feminism and fashion are two concepts which have been talked of as being entirely discordant – both misunderstood in their own right, resulting in an unhealthy view of a movement that should be universally accepted and supported, and an industry which should be enjoyed and celebrated.
Fashion is unfortunately an industry accused of glorifying
and encouraging eating disorders such as anorexia (among others), and forcing
women to fit into the confines of one specific ideal of beauty, causing
widespread and problematic self-confidence issues, while perpetuating the ideal
of beauty as something fixed - and above all, dictating what is or isn’t
acceptable by the ‘standards’ of conservative, white, cisgendered men. Although the fashion
industry has come miles in the last few years, especially when it comes to the extolment
of anorexia in the control of women’s bodies, we mustn’t fool ourselves into
thinking that enough has been achieved to ensure equality. We are still encouraged
to be dissatisfied with ourselves and to convey this irritation onto other
women; to criticise their bodies, hair, looks, the clothing they put on their
backs. Nothing is safe from scrutiny, and it is clear that, like the majority
of the world today, fashion is not above the
patriarchy. As an article by for The
Independent
states back in 2009: “It's a female-dominated industry yet it discriminates
against women, paying them 15 per cent less.”
Not only this, I don’t even think it is a female dominated industry any more,
even if females are the main consumers. The article goes on to state, “Hundreds
of thousands of women working in fashion in the UK are being paid less than
their male colleagues, passed over for top jobs and prevented from taking what
are considered "male" roles.” You can bet that this overwhelming male
ascendancy has only risen since then. Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and Gianni
Versace are designers whose names are synonymous with feminine style, names who
have been followed by Dolce and Gabbana, Alexander McQueen and Tom Ford. Sure,
women have Coco Chanel, the sixties brought Mary Quant, and recently Vivienne
Westwood and Donna Karan – their numbers significantly less than the male
dominated companies gracing the industry.
Having
an interest in the world of fashion means that you are - either directly or
indirectly - influenced by those who have a large say in it, and to ignore who
you are being influenced by, and questioning what the effects of that influence
are would be ill-advised. I think it is important to keep fashion and feminism
analogous, and to be critical about the kinds of people you are inadvertently
emulating. The designers of your clothes do not know you, and they certainly do
not want what is best for you.
Liking their designs, wearing their clothes is one thing, but you need to wear it for you, wear it to feel empowered, and keep in mind that fashion is like any other artwork – like a wearable movie or painting. It is, first and foremost, a representation of someone else’s idea of the world.
I think
the most important link between fashion and feminism comes from the constraints
that designers and the largely male-controlled media
put on the clothes women are “allowed” to wear, and how this somehow
reflects our value as a person. For example – and this is probably less
relevant when it comes to high fashion, yet still relevant in the discussion of
feminism – it is “trashy” or “disgusting” to wear leggings if you are over a
certain weight, (granted, you may not like the look on anyone, but girls of a certain weight tend to come under fire for
this “transgression” far more than the thinner girl). This is incredibly
problematic, as this fat shaming attitude tells the wearer that their body
needs to be dressed a certain way to even begin
to be accepted into society, and that they are disgusting as a result of
that - an ethic that is repeatedly endorsed by the consistently thin, whitewashed
models (because of course, while imitating different cultural styles is defended
as ‘art’, we can’t possibly have models who look too ‘foreign’) gracing the
catwalks and covers of magazines.
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| Image drawn by Ella Gibson |
The “rules”
of “fashion” here becomes unbearably elitist, instead of a way of
self-expression. There seem to be a veritable horde of rules and regulations
that work to create the unattainable female ideal we are meant to spend our
lives trying to achieve - don’t dress too provocatively, or you will be putting
yourself in harm’s way. Don’t dress too conservatively – men need to be able to
ogle your body. But don’t, of course, be a slut unless you’re ‘asking for it’ –
oh, and you can only dress that way if you have the body for it – if you’re
fat, nobody wants to see you, so try and cover up, perhaps then we’ll forget
you’re overweight. If you’re too thin, then clearly you’re trying to be, and
you must be labelled ‘anorexic’, even if you don’t actually have the disorder.
We are told not to be fat, but that “Real Women” have curves - (I have always
had a massive problem with this statement - the only ‘criteria’ you need to
fill for being a ‘real woman’ is identifying as such.)
This
is, of course, ridiculous, because every single woman’s body is different.
Every single one. The shapes aren’t the same, won’t fit into the same clothes,
won’t “look good” in the same things. So why on earth do we strive to fit into
someone else’s perception of beauty, of good design, instead of dressing for
ourselves? Because we are told that we are only worth something if we do. The
CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch has recently stated he only wants “good looking
people” to wear his clothing (ironic, as the man himself has been described as
looking like “what Gary Busey would look like if
he went bobbing for apples in a tub full of bees”). This caused
widespread outrage but to be quite honest, I’m not sure why. Perhaps because
this is the first time someone has been so obvious about it. But this attitude
has been the underlying motivation behind so many of the designers we know and love,
and it filters down through their designs, to seep into the minds and
consciousness of so many of us.
I think talking about fashion and feminism together can be
misconstrued as a slightly awkward topic by many, especially because feminism
is so misunderstood by contemporary society. Bring it up and most people assume
you must hate all men and secretly attend meetings to plot the rise of the
matriarchy. All ridiculous assumptions if we are seeking equality. Feminism is
about giving power over women’s bodies and the choices thereof back to women; to
equal out the power imbalance between men and women in our society. It is about
giving the power over the female back to the female, instead of relying on the
patriarchy and defining ourselves by the men.
As long as the fashion industry is dominated by a patriarchal
society intent on keeping women obsessed with conforming to these unattainable
standards and therefore holding them back from focusing on anything else, and
as long as it tells women how to control their own bodies and be defined by
what the men in charge want, I don’t think we can call the fashion industry an egalitarian
one, and as long as we cannot do that, it will remain problematic.
However, throughout history, fashion has played a huge part –
for both men and women – in how we express ourselves and present ourselves to
society – our right to wear whatever we want is a hugely feminist issue as
well, expressed by Slut Walks all over the world. However, the fact that
these demonstrations subsist shows how we as a society have been groomed to
degrade those whose dress tastes have not been deemed “acceptable” by the
masses.
Fashion provides us with a multiplicity of potential individualities
to mimic - which is all well and good, but the real issue is accepting not only
your identity but others’ as well. When it comes to self-expression through the
clothing we wear, those that stick out tend to dress in a way that says
something beyond the trends. Women have used clothing as a way of making a
statement against their treatment or as a way of empowerment - for example, Gaga’s meat dress being interpreted
as a reference to women being regarded as 'pieces of meat'. While certain areas
of the industry cause concern (and rightly so), it has also created
prospects for a great freedom of expression, creativity, individuality, art and
new ideas, and has been instrumental in shaping the society that we live in,
and the culture we create around us.
