What is appropriate dress is as much a matter of fashion and wanting to please as it is of following strictures laid down by authority.Interesting question for my female friends: what would you wear if you didn't give a thought to what others thought?
3 comments:
My niece visited the beaches of Brazil. She's young, shapely, and yet still could not bring herself to wear what everyone else at the beach was wearing --- a thong bikini.
It's just a few degrees difference really, from not being used to going out with your arms and legs exposed, and then, a few more degrees to showing your face if you aren't used to it.
Wear what you wish, ladies. All ladies. If no one cared what I looked like, I would probably have a bunch of difference Halloween costumes to wear -- Medusa, a clown, a half man/half woman outfit, a chicken suit. Fun stuff.
Well, I wouldn't wear either of those outfits on a city street, though when it dipped below minus 20 recently, I was certainly dressed more like the lady in Niqab/Chador, with even my face covered with a warm scarf! (I can't breathe well in severe cold).
Yes, there is the "male gaze", or often far worse, the "female enforcers of supposed male gaze", but I don't think it is sinister or self-oppressive to care how other people - men and women alike - think about us. I would hate to live in certain parts of anglo North America where a majority of people seem to be dressed as slobs, even those who can afford nicer clothing. It is a pleasure to see people of any age or gender who take pride in their appearance.
What does concern me is a certain hypersexualisation of dress among girls and very young women, though perhaps I'm just an old fartess.
Old fartess? Love it! Guess I qualify too!
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