Defending my right to choose…to wear a dress

The Focus – December 19th, 2007 by Sarah

You are about to witness a rare moment in history, where I publicly announce that my steadfast ideology has made a significant shift. To put it more bluntly, where I publicly announce that my previous convictions on a particular subject were, in fact, perhaps, maybe just a little bit, um, er…. wrong. Perhaps not wrong. Out of touch is possibly more accurate (I can say ‘out of touch’ without referencing The Rudd, right?).

The subject I am referring to relates to a blog I posted very recently, which outlined my disgust at the attire some women choose to wear in public and what it represents. The gist of it was that wearing tiny clothes equals encouraging men to treat you as a sexual object, which I still agree with wholeheartedly. However, after a somewhat frustrating conversation with one of the many women I associate with from the hard left of the political spectrum, I am compelled to adjust my view.

The conversation went a little like this:

Her: But what do you actually wear a dress FOR?

Me: Because I like to wear dresses.

Her: But WHY do you like wearing them? WHY do you like wearing something that epitomises the feminine stereotype and represents the domination of men?

Me: I don’t actually see it like that. I like dresses because they’re comfortable and suit my figure and look nice.

Her: But WHY do those things matter to you?

It’s obvious where this conversation is going. I’m fairly convinced the woman I was conversing with wanted me to let fly with a gem such as “Well, I wear dresses not because I like them, but because I want to be SEXY. Society has conditioned me to be a WALKING TOOL OF AROUSAL. I want men to look at me and ONLY think about SEX. I care about how I look so I can be DROOLED over by men, ALL DAY.”

Please.

Firstly, I thought feminism was about choice. Secondly, isn’t it a little unrealistic and counter-productive to wholly reject a fairly significant truth, which is that a large majority of women, and hey, even some guys, do and always will enjoy experimenting with fashion? It is hardly fair to label every woman who wears make-up as a traitor to feminism. I mean, what is the use of championing ideals that are based on mostly irrelevant and most definitely extremist notions?

On a similar note, there are women who do make the choice to hone their appearances to appeal to men, and there is really nothing wrong with this in most circumstances. I know, I know, it could be argued that society has penetrated the female subconscious and made us this way, but surely we accept some level of responsibility for the choices we make.

Basically, the crux of the matter is that I was slightly offended by someone assuming my choices are made on the basis of what is attractive to men, whether I realise it or not. Which made me think, hey, if I can wear this dress and know deep within myself that I’m wearing it for me, maybe those bikini-clad festival-goers would be just as affronted by such judgement.

So…yes. Ideological shift documented. Let us never speak of it again.

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