Andrea Schewe Design
  • Home
  • Costumes
    • Reader's Gallery
    • Fantasy Costumes
    • Theatrical
    • Historic >
      • Easier to make
    • International
    • Costumes for Kid's and Babies
  • Crafts
    • Home Decor >
      • Pillows
    • Fashion Accessories
    • Doll Clothes
    • For Kids and Babies
  • Blog
    • Past Blogs by subject >
      • My patterns by number
      • Sewing basics
      • Personal sewing Projects
      • Fashion History
      • Fun and funny stuff
      • Guest Bloggers
      • Crafts and Home Dec
  • Links
  • Contact

On provocative clothing ...

3/31/2014

2 Comments

 
Picture
I just read this in yesterday's Sunday Washington Post.  I thought I would share it with you. It certainly pertains to fashion and is a subject I ponder.

Gene Weingarten has a fun way of dealing with certain topics.  I hope you enjoy it, too.

This just in:

What is going on in the brains of girls and women today? Why must they wear tight jeans or spandex shorts to bring attention to their butts? I am starting to understand why Orthodox Jews and Muslims have strict dress codes. I am a grandfather, but no matter how old a man is, it is distracting. What are they advertising?
— Frank Barletta, Rockville


I also think this is a disgrace, Frank — a shame and a disgrace about all those bottoms and crotches we older fellers are forced to look at. Unfortunately, gosh darn it, we live in an open, free society. So even though we men are cruelly victimized by this outrage, I fear it would be unpatriotic and un-American to require women to temporize their tailoring. And I bet Gina Barreca, my feminist friend, agrees with me. Right, Gina?

Gina: I am trying to figure out how to address this issue without rewarding your disingenuousness. Mr. Barletta, women are advertising their freedom. Historically, the biggest advances in women’s liberation were accompanied by liberation in clothing. It was only after American women got the vote that the flapper era arrived, along with freedom from the restrictions of corsets and petticoats and skirts that swept the floor. The point is, what is erotic to men is whatever men have decided should be hidden. Modern women are simply saying that we do not define ourselves as objects of your personal fantasies. By exposing what we wish, we are declaring that our bodies are sexual only when we decide they are sexual, not when you decide. We decline to be objectified.

Gene: “Don’t you dare objectify my body! Now check out these hooters!”

Gina:

Gene: “I am not your eye candy, buster. So kindly stop ogling this here skirt-slit, as I casually cross one creamy thigh over the other.”

Gina: One, women are aware their bodies are attractive to men. And two, women dress in a way that accentuates their better features. But point one is not necessarily related to point two.

Gene: Okay, then, please decode the following, which is a scene that by my observation must occur hundreds of thousands of times every morning in major cities across America. A young woman is dressing for work or school. She decides to wear a short skirt. At that moment, what is she thinking? Is she thinking, “You know, I’ll bet that today, for some reason, unlike every other day, I will not find myself riding up an escalator. So I certainly do not have to consider the possibility that dozens of men I do not know and probably would not like will be staring at my underpants.”

Gina: No, she is thinking, “Gee, I look good in this. Isn’t it great it still fits?” She will NOT be thinking, “Omigod, is there some point in the day when some guy might figure out how to look up my skirt?”

Gene: Figure out? Do you think this requires periscopes, or global positioning satellites? Her exposed behind is placed in the direct line of sight between a man’s eyes and his destination, the top of the escalator.

Gina: A gentleman would not look.

Gene: So, let’s say your husband was on such an escalator beneath such a woman. You would expect him to avert his eyes?

Gina: I would expect his eyes to bug out like a lobster’s.

Gene: But you said ...

Gina: You guys have your fantasies, we have ours. Ours involves the existence of“gentlemen.”






2 Comments
thegoosemother
3/31/2014 10:16:22 am

Good one. Thanks for sharing that! The Goose

Reply
Andrea Schewe
3/31/2014 11:41:49 pm

Ah! So you are left handed, too! Hmmmm....

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    From Andrea 

    I am a commercial pattern maker who is now "sewing over 50"!
    I love to sew and hope to encourage others to come back to sewing.
    The water is fine!!

    Archives

    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    Archives by Subject

    To search for blog posts in specific categories, use the drop down menu above by hovering over the word "Blog"

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed

    Andrea Schewe participates in Amazon's associates program.