Get yer shirt off
Speaking of women skating in bathing suits while men skate in long trousers and long-sleeved shirts – adidas “believes women’s breasts deserve to be stared at support. Yes support, really, that’s what we meant, we just misspoke.”
And adidas definitely advertises men’s running shorts with walls of photos of penises, right?
Riiiiiiiiiiiight that’s what they’re doing.
I’m somewhat sympathetic to Adidas on this one. For one, they are showcasing a much wider diversity of women’s bodies than are generally shown in sexualized media. For another, the male equivalent to breasts are… the male bare torso. Our decision to consider women’s chests as private/sexualized parts but not men’s is a somewhat arbitrary cultural decision – many other cultures were okay with bared breasts (fewer nowadays because of increasing westernization). Back in the day, it was less acceptable than it is now for grown men to have exposed nipples on the beach – one could imagine a similar thing for women.
If nonsexual bared breasts were more common, that would probably make breastfeeding at least easier.
One more point – the principle of “make the rules that women and men have to follow equivalent” would argue for both non-sexualized athletic outfits on sports teams AND growing acceptability of bare torsos for women.
Red Tide, your argument seems to be reasonable, but…I can’t sympathize with them at all. It is not up to Adidas to decide how we remove the stigma around bare breasts, and this is clearly using women’s bodies to sell shit. Women’s bodies have been used to sell all sorts of things throughout the history of advertising, and for many of us, it is disturbing. Why? Because as long as men sexualize our breasts (and I don’t imagine that’s ending soon), the use of bare breasts is objectifying. Men’s torsos are not equivalent, even though some women do stare at muscular torsos with admiration, because it DOES NOT RESULT IN ANY SORT OF REPRESSION OR ABUSE. In the current climate, I think showing a lot of bare breasts along a major highway is a bad decision, and is not serving the role of destigmatizing. I imagine young pre-pubescent and pubescent males finding a reason to go past that and tittering. I have had to sit there in humiliated silence as a young girl (and sometimes as an adult woman since some men never grow up) just because the cafeteria was serving chicken breasts. Or, as the boys would say, chicken tits. Chicken boobs. Chicken knockers. Chicken hooters.
Yeah, this is not okay.
Is there some reqirement that women skaters wear bathing suits, or is that just an Olympic fashion trend?
iknklast @ #3: Yes, all that.
But women in my experience dress according to their own taste, not according to same male diktat. If they wanted to, they could all dress up like devout Muslim women in Bourkers (conventionally spelt burqa, but my alternative spelling takes account of the fact that underneath and as far as the wearer is concerned, they must be as hot as bloody Bourke, NSW; freezing cold in winter, and cooked to buggery in summer.)
The illusion that women dress as they choose is only an illusion. Women think they dress for men, but in reality, they dress for other women, who are harsh critics. At my age, I have come to realize that, and I assume I dress to please myself. Am I correct? Probably not completely. There are forces at work in society that determine our fashion choices, even to what we like.
Of course, the fact that we dress for other women doesn’t preclude the reality that we also dress for men. Many of the fashion tastes women indulge are designed for the male gaze and women internalize the idea that this is what a woman should wear. They then police the other women, so the men don’t have to be bothered with correcting an inferior being.
iknklast:
There’s a lot packed up in that, some of which I agree with.
A few years back around here where I live, there was a minority of lesbians who made that point (and others) by dressing to be as repulsive to men as possible. Bib-and-brace overalls, preferably khaki, were all the go; short-clipped hair, some to complete baldness, likewise. But it proved ephemeral.
Looking out on a crowded street today, it is apparent to me how few people reveal their beliefs and inclinations through their dress. Muslim women (some), Catholic nuns (used to) Catholic priests and Protestant parsons (some, and diminishing in number.)
I have for years made a habit of getting a seat in one of my favourite open-air cafes, and spending some time watching the passing street parade with all its faces and fashion statements. I maintain that fashion, like language, like folksong, like jokes, is a mass creation. There are many who claim to be its leaders, but few are chosen. (One of the male trendsetters around when I was a kid growing up was an American, name of Elvis Presley.)
People generally do not dress to be standouts or to reveal their inner lives and identities. Like most wild animals, (especially so in the case of predators) they prefer camouflage that lets them blend in. But among the predators targets, there are some exceptions. My favourite is the Australian white cockatoo; plenty of them flying around here.
The white cockies, both sexes equipped with formidable (parrot) beaks that enable them to rip open anything they choose, can’t be bothered trying to disguise themselves from predators. They dress to be easily identified by their own kind, and from afar; even with eagles and hawks cruising around all the time overhead. White plumage, with contrasting black beak, and yellow crest. The message I get, and all other interested creatures do as well I am sure, is ‘don’t mess with me, mate. If you do, you might just live long enough to regret it: minus a hunk of something, like a foot, or your head.’
.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulphur-crested_cockatoo
Yes, overall it is a mass creation, but of course the issue of lesbians dressing to repulse men fits the same pattern. And yes, there are exceptions. I have been out of fashion most of my life, mostly because of poverty. If it weren’t for thrift stores and garage sales, i might have been naked. But those clothes are, by definition, out of fashion (or perhaps the woman just grew too large, but most of them are yesterday’s fashions…behind the times).
For a mass creation to take hold, it must start somewhere. This has typically been in the hands of men who design that year’s fashions. They throw it all out there and some of it becomes “the” fashion. Some of it ends up in clearance bins. But I have never been able to make a choice in clothes that were not available. I have made my own clothes from time to time, but I am not able to create my own patterns. I must use what someone else thinks is a good style.
Realistically, women’s fashion has remained in the hands of men for a long time. Now it is a little more complicated. I have seen different figures on women fashion designers. It is clear that most people graduating in that field are women, and it is possible (but sources seem to disagree). However, men still run the industry. Can women control what they design if the company is owned by a man? I don’t know the answer to that. But it doesn’t change the reality that for most of history, fashions were designed by men for women to wear. Women have been conditioned (as have men) to follow closely what other people are wearing, to fit in as you say. Neither sex is necessarily dressing for themselves, but for everyone else.
And expressing our personality through our clothes should be something we’re doing. It’s fun, now that I have started doing it. And I get a lot of compliments. Which doesn’t mean people like my personality, but they do like how it expresses in clothes.
@Omar #4 – be very careful, you are close to treading on my trade mark for a chain of Islamic womens’ clothing that I am calling Burka King.
iknklast @ #7:
One dress is as good as another as far as I am concerned. But for a good stretch of my life, the female fashion industry has been dominated by gay men, who were turned on by young male figures and imposed their tastes on the said fashion industry. (Mannequin parades have never done much for me.) But without much hesitation, I used to point out to young women of my aqauaintance who were into that sort of thing and buying its products that they were trying to conform to a male homosexual stereotype and idea of bodily beauty. On the other hand, if they wanted to learn what turned heterosexual men on, they only needed to visit their local newsagency or porn shop and study the magazines that were bought by men, and the figures of the women featured in them. A whole different world, and as curvaceous as humanly possible.
I cannot recall a single one of them not taking that on board.
Yeah, Omar, my ex used to have a lot to say about how I dressed. It was easier to just do it, so I did (and thankfully we weren’t married all that long; the spike heels could have ruined my feet). When we broke up, I discovered he was gay. Which is interesting, because I do have curves, but then, I think partially he was trying to prove he wasn’t gay.