Due to Lorber’s (2004) and
Johnston and Longhurst’s (2010) work, I couldn’t help but reflect on my
positionality through clothing. My closet consists of numerous shades, but
often center on two palettes: earth tones and neutrals. Whether it’s a striped
V-neck, a polka-dotted dress, or a solid jacket, they’re olive green, blue,
grey, black, or white. Blue is indeed my favorite color yet I feel the most
confident in these hues, complimenting my fair hair and complexion. This is my
mindset when purchasing clothes, which was not always the case in former years.
I can vividly remember instances of picking shirts or dresses that were a
particular color to show that I was “girly” or did not make me look like a “boy.”
I had a clear picture of boy and girl appearances, especially in middle school,
as if it was in a manual or infographic. My adolescent self would NEVER have
explored the young men’s section or even thought of wearing items that weren’t
labeled “juniors.” She would be stunned to look at my closet now, finding
multiple button-ups, sweatshirts, and long-sleeve shirts from that restricted
department. Thus, gender is indeed a process and a verb. It is something an
individual does, an expression of who he/she/they are.
References
Johnston, L., & Longhurst, R. (2010). Space, Place, and Sex. Lanham: Rowman and Little Filed
Lorber, J. (2004). The Social Construction of Gender. In S. M. Shaw, & J. Lee (Eds.), Women's Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings (pp. 129-132). Boston: McGraw Hill.
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Thanks for your thoughtful post, Amie! Here is another article you and others might find interesting on the topic of geographies of shopping. It's called "‘Looking alright, feeling alright’: emotions, sizing and the geographies of women's experiences of clothing consumption" by Rosemary Colls and you can find it at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1464936042000317712
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ReplyDeleteGreat insightful reflection, Amie, on a quotidian aspect (clothing) of our relationship with our bodies and the others. I liked how you reflect on your own understanding of your choices and how they reveal something about yourself as well as something about how you interact consciously and less consciously with others, especially with males.
Your reflection in light of the article made me think about the way I had relate with the world and others (especially male and male dominant power) not as much with my clothing but with my hair. And it made me remember three specific times along my life when I did use my hair in a way I thought it was radical to look less feminine and appear stronger or more in control than the men around me or men social expectations.
One of these instances was when I was probably barely 21 and working in a bar in a Miami Beach hotel restaurant, not serving drinks but the sandwiches and salads. At some point I got so annoyed by men constantly trying to start a conversation, flirting, while I was basically busy doing my job and trying not to be impolite, that I decided to shove off my long beautiful hair as to look more masculine and even mean. It worked. I got a lot less attention.
The second time was when I was working as a presenter and reporter of a TV show in Peru with two guys. I was the only woman presenter and I had to live up to the feminine standards of it, wearing miniskirts, professional makeup and hairstyles. Until one day the stylish component of the job messed up with the investigative part of my job. I was so frustrated that my bosses will not mind me loosing an important interviewee as long as I looked pretty and sexy for the promotional spot that had to be filmed for the TV Station that I went to the beauty saloon and had my hair, again, almost completely shaved and dyed yellow. I was about 27 or 28 at the time. I made my point to all of them, if they will forced me to comply with my contract about promotional spots and looking sexy, feminine and pretty above all, even though investigation was the priority to me as a reporter, I would do it my way.
The third and last time I shaved my hair was about two years ago, when I was undergoing a huge emotional crisis due to an abusive behavior from a romantic partner. This time, cutting off my hair was I way of screaming out I had some agency and will left to do as I wanted with my hair. This time I did not even go to a parlor and I cut it unevenly just so to make my point to him that I was not his pretty submissive lady.
In all three cases, your reflection and the Reading made me think, how as women we internalize the symbolism of hair as womanish, as feminine but as a representation of fragility rather than strength. There are many more things that can be said about this, but I think my time (or rather word count) is up now.
This comment is from Anja:
ReplyDeleteClothing and gender are so tied together and I believe that often when we look into ourselves we can see aspects that both do and do not align with our gender. I think it is key to look at oneself and the traits that you have that do and do not adhere to our prescribed gender. This is important because it begins to break down the norms of traits ranging from hair length to clothing choices like you have done Amie, and what gender we ascribe them.
As we move into a more "progressive" time, when it comes to the modern ideas of the concept of gender, we are starting to see these traits being more actively mixed as women are being let into professions and schools that were historically populated only by men and a higher percentage of single and stay at home fathers as men unlearn the laws as taught by toxic masculinity. These issues are far from gone and men and women alike need to work to unlearn society’s ideas of “doing gender” correctly.
Gender itself puts us into specific places, or categories. This system that puts us into an order by which gender we identify as. This is why I believe that the concept of gender or gendering can be so harmful. We need to be proud of all the traits that make up who we are. So you keep rocking those sweat shirts and pearls girl!