Feminist/Feminine
Salon.com Life | Broadsheet: "'Italian designers have learned a new trick,' it began. 'Don't impose, offer. Next winter's fashion allows women to pick and choose at their convenience, from feminist to feminine, raunchy to romantic.'" (quoting an AP Story)
Wait just a minute. Feminists can't wear feminine clothes?
Hmm definitions please
Feminist: A person whose beliefs and behavior are based on feminism.
Feminism: 1. Belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. 2. The movement organized around this belief.
Feminine: 1. Associated with women and not with men 2. Befitting or characteristic of a woman especially a mature woman
I don't really see a conflict between being a feminist and being feminine. Now, I am a woman, who enjoys her dockers, button-downs and short hair, but also, upon occassion, loves wearing a dress.
I could go on and on about the perfect dress, comfortable, ankle length, a skirt that loves my hips and swishes a bit when I walk or spin. Or I could talk about the joy and power in the perfect evening dress. There is a lot of power and freedom in a dress. They are truly under-appreciated. Maybe the overlooking of the power and freedom of dresses and the perception that feminine and feminist are opposite ends of the spectrum really does point to the larger issues of feminism and women's issues.
Restrictive fashion and fashion dictates bite. Fighting THOSE things is where feminism meets fashion. But, feminism isn't about throwing away the feminine. It is about the restriction of women, the social, economic and political rules that keep women in "their" place. Once this can be made clear...sigh...
So, grow a pair, ;-) find a pretty pink dress and top it with a feminist t-shirt, add some frills that make you smile, throw on a pair of comfortable shoes and enjoy what you wear.
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