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How can a feminist care about fashion?

A reader sent this question directly to me. I thought it was a good question, and one that deserved a detailed response. 

Take a quick look at Women24, at the front page (keeping in mind this is meant to be a website for women by women). Fashion (something to do with what Katy Perry is wearing.) Fave celebs with short natural hair. Skinny jeans are not the enemy.

So.. Why is any of this (excuse my french here) shit important to women? Why is whether or not you choose to wear skinny jeans to be of any god-damn consequence? Why are women writing this shit? Its god-damn oppressive and re-enforces the ideas of male superiority.

It really does put women down by filling them with ideas of what the ideal women looks like and why you don't measure up. This obsession with beauty is that women have is in my opinion their downfall. A man can walk down a street with a beer gut, a beard and in need of a shower but still feel like the sexiest bastard alive.

Before you say "well its all to attract a man" that is simply not true in my opinion. Men are very strange creatures when it comes to relationships and sex. Tastes vary immensely (I like larger women and gingers [cant give a reason to why I like red-heads]).

So what do you feel are the biggest enemies women face? Cause from where I am sitting it seems like a lot of it is what women do to themselves. I'm happy to be wrong if you care to enlighten me.

I absolutely agree that a lot of the damage and judgement women go through, we inflict on ourselves. This is a fact, and it’s a terribly sad one.

However, Women24 specifically works hard to try counter that toxic habit.

First, let’s take a look at the articles you refer to. Two have to do with fashion, offering advice on how to wear clothes that are in style. The third celebrates celebrities who have chosen to wear their hair short and natural.

So why is fashion important to women?

There is nothing disgraceful in being interested in fashion.

Humans are creative, aesthetic beings, and so we create art even out of something as practical as clothes. It’s not only women who are interested in fashion either, especially if you look over history.

The problem with fashion arises when it becomes oppressive. When, instead of being used as a form of self-expression, it’s used to silence anyone who doesn't fit into a society-approved “standard”.

Fashion is especially damaging when the standard society has chosen is an unhealthy or alienating one.

You ask why should it matter whether or not you choose to wear skinny jeans? The fact is, it doesn’t. No one is telling Women24 readers that they must wear skinny jeans, or that they’re not allowed to wear them if they’re the “wrong” body shape.

The message is, instead, if you would like to wear them, but you’re worried they won’t suit you, here’s some advice on how to pull them off. The same goes for the article on how to wear floral dresses “like Katy Perry”.

With that third article, the message is actively celebrating women who have gone against the oppressive social norm.

Society often expects women to be white if they want to be beautiful.  Women of colour are often pressured to lighten their skin, change their features, and change their hair if they want to be seen as beautiful.

Ethnic hair is a major symbol of this. From a young age, many girls are taught that, to be pretty, they need to make their hair look more like a white woman’s hair.

Obviously I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with changing your natural hair, (I dye mine pink), but it’s quite awful that so many feel that they have to change their hair to be acceptable.

For that reason, celebrities going against that convention and celebrating their hair is a wonderful message to women and girls, and one that perfectly combats that exact poisonous message you worry about.

Are women overly obsessed with beauty? We are certainly taught to be, and yes, that is a problem, but we shouldn't feel like we can’t take pride in our appearance or that it’s disgraceful to do so either.

Before I say “well it’s to attract a man”? I wasn't going to say that.

In all my life I have met only a handful of men who admire (or even notice) shoes, and yet many women will spend a fortune on getting just the right pair for every outfit.

I know I have never put on a pair of high heels thinking “wow, men are going to find this so sexy.” (What I have done is put them on thinking “my boyfriend is going to moan at me for wearing impractical shoes but I don’t care because I love them sooo much.”)

9 times out of 10, Women don’t dress for men, we dress for us.

Follow Laura on Twitter.

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