gloss it looked like ejaculate. Ah, maybe that was
the point? Feet were shoved into heels you’d have
historically expected to see inverted up a stripper
pole. No imagination was required, nothing
was restrained or alluded to; individuality
eradicated, it was a smorgasbord of sex.
I saw one woman’s nipple. Socially that’s a
bit confusing. I wondered if I should raise my
glass to her Bacchanalian freedom or whisper
to her that she may want to check her frock as
she was more out than in.
When did this happen? Did I miss the
moment? Has Barbie won the war? Is it our
choice or have we been hoodwinked? Is this postfeminist landscape when we get to exercise our
emancipation by looking like porn stars?
Does our obsession with sex, youth, and
desirability blot out other much more meaningful
ways of expressing ourselves sartorially? Does
it impair our capacity to truly connect with the
opposite gender on a level playing field? Where
is self value? What kind of role models are we?
I want my daughters to grow up to live lives as
meaningful contributors, not as sexual ornaments
or as jail bait.
So my core question is, why and how did it
come to be that heterosexual women now dress
predominantly to ignite sexual desire in men?
When did it all become about the male gaze?
Are we being churned up in Beyoncé’s wake?
She is apparently the embodiment of feminine
power, emancipation, and talent. Oh, the deep
irony that she displays this by performing strip
routines, clad in fishnets and G-strings, in throes
of orgasmic ecstasy.
As a feminist I believe everyone has the right
to dress however they see fit, and I do think
Beyoncé is magnificent, but I wonder if we
women are lost. Has the porn industry seeped
up though our floorboards and we’re all a little
infected? Have those gargoyles the Kardashians
poisoned our air with their obscene vanity and
vacuity and we’re all slowly being brainwashed?
What is the conversation
you want your clothes to ignite? For whom do
you dress? How do the men in your life answer
these questions?
My own style changes from year to year,
sometimes day to day, based on my mood, my
budget, and my influences. So wha