the shatter of earth's collapse
☂
Not that anyone will actually see this, but you might or might not have gotten the reference above...anyway. Please do note that this online journal has been fighting the battle of neglect and time, often on the losing end, and really does feel like some sort of blue elephant that one's got to keep somewhat alive. For the sake of tradition, I suppose.
(K) Yuan here.
linkage
blue birds flap fandoms + happiness + the lot where the ego centersit's all quite narcissistic, really.
Date: <$BlogDateHeaderDate$>
Time: 11:30 PM
Author:(potassium)
Permalink: isolation →
the rambling man
Hullo,
Nothing much today, more tired than usual. just going to rant and bathroom-rant, because of thoughts. (title)
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Went home with Saj-min today (and going home = train, esplanade, poster shop, library, couch, and a lost/stolen phone later) (this is almost normal lol), and while walking along she mentioned wearing a dress/skirt for her grandma's birthday celebration a few days ago, and that she 'kinda enjoyed it'. (that's what she said)
Which got us talking (and me thinking) about the wearing of these floaty, hole-y items of clothing, and the idea of such as part of the female culture. Now this genre of clothing I've stoically avoided since the age of 8 (and as of last year have given up trying to tell acquaintances to do the same. not that i ever really could but, y'know, i tried.) -- except for school skirts, which I wear only when forced to. (heh) Aside from my feminist views (judge me.), it's also partially a matter of self-confidence, an issue which i don't quite want to deal with
Subconsiously, the messages sent out by the community and to its members (as well as by the media) about women rights today might as well be:
"Pretty? Oh great, you'd got a good one there!"
"Smart? Oh very good, better package! Can earn money, and make smarter babies!"
"Good character? Oh, good good, up the social scale you bring your husband/boyfriend!"
And this said community encompasses not only the "bimbos", but much of the male 'culture' today. Oh they can protest, but that is exactly it and history has definitely played its part. We're far better off than women 30, 40 years ago but the notion of the 'weaker' female still persists.
That isn't to say that there aren't good thinking people out there but that a majority, it seems, subscribe subconsciously to this belief, which is both frightening and frustrating, because women, if they were to, would be fighting a hidden battle and dealing with issues long buried and forgotten for 'solved'. Because mentality beyond laws and human rights in policies is something harder to change, and when a world thinks it's cured of 'gender inequality' because there aren't picket signs for equal rights to education and employment waving about, one has to dig for the problem in them and bring it out to solve.
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Personally, I do feel that skirts (and pants) play a large part in the gender cultures as we know them; women are bad drivers, love to shop, have high voices, and wear skirts and dresses, etc / men are lazy, sex-crazed beings who love football, have deeper voices, are bad with house work, and wear predominantly pants, etc. These 'symbols' are back up by recurrences in the communities, or from cross-cultural contact, and has become so ingrained into people that it is the 'natural' classification of gender; it is almost a kind of racism regarding gender -- " Women are thisthisthisthis thatthat thatthat because... it's biological!" (hypotheory!) (i hope it's the right video.) This, I believe, further segregates the genders and creates a wider gap for those who do not 'fit' into the culture of either gender (i.e those who do not possess the 'characteristics' of the gender culture, as determined by their biological sex.). If one does not satisfy the (societal) expectations of being male, or being female, one is considered a biological blasphemy.
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What I do find odd though, is that while 'pants' are accepted as part of 'female culture', there is still the classification of 'male' and 'female' pants.
And while pants have been accepted as 'being female', why then is still 'improper' and 'gay' (WILDE. *fistshake*) for males to wear skirts? (if you'd exclude the traditional attires.)
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(still anthropologically
Saj felt that "it's about time" that we -- as 15/16 year old notyetwomen yetnotgirls -- start wearing dresses and skirts, "which are nice and look nice".
Now my question is (and i'm somewhat sure I asked her this), why would a teenager at this age feel obliged to do so? The fact that everyone's 'converting' now seems to be a point... okay fine it seems to be the main point. But why do we, as almost-women, have to wear skirts/dresses as well? Why are we obliged to, by our society? (and what we think we're doing for ourselves is really a product of our culture, my dear friend, it never really is 'just for yourself'.)
'Wearing a dress', to me, has always been a 'grown-up' and 'female-like' thing to do; is it also a semi-established sign of being a grown woman? And what is a grown woman, at all? Not just in this society, mind you, but in every possible community on this planet (and others). What does it mean to be grown, and a woman?
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Sajmin: (to continue our 'debate', and since you're the only one who reads this thing anyway. /WAVE/) Anthropology asks obvious questions because it is a study of humanity that tries the uncover the foundations of every society, that sees how humans function in a group, and as an individual in a group (etc). There are questions that one needs to ask because how else do you properly begin to understand the foundations of what you live in? And the foundations of your environment, your culture, is inherently part of your individual culture; the culture of you, as the individual. Your habits, your thoughts, your ideas, your values, some how or other your identity is part of you, if not you.
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Perceptions of gender are changing in today's society, in a direction that is somewhat heartening. The world is still confused about LGBT, as well as the different gender identities, but I have hope.
Vague notions of an optimistic future, but only time and action will yield.
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okay i really should go sleep now, it's almost midnight and i should start being an old lady if i'm ever going to be un-tired. (never.)
(k).
Labels: anthropology, dress, EE, female culture, feminism, feminist anthropology, geek, personal, skirt, symbolism, transgendered
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