Women and traditional dress.

Whether traditional dress is oppressive or not depends very much on the type. Of the examples given, I would agree that a shalwar kameez is pretty practical, comfortable and suitable for the hot weather in most of the countries it is worn. A sari on the other hand is absolutely not. They are difficult to tie, uncomfortable to wear and often slip if not tied tight, which tends to hurt, and yet in India you see women doing all sorts of manual work whilst wearing them.

Men very rarely wear traditional dress compared to women. I'm currently working in the Indian office at the moment and I'd say 80% of the women here are wearing tradional dress and I haven't seen a single man wearing it today. I'd say that is similar to in the situation in the West. For example the only time my father has ever worn traditional dress is for his daughters' weddings. My mother has hundreds of saris and wears them frequently. I'd say that is the norm for most Indian families.

There is also cultural pressure to conform. My sister and I have always been under huge pressure to dress "appropriately" and that means a sari and a lot of heavy jewellry. (A shalwar kameez, even a dressy one, wouldn't be suitable for a wedding or most festivals.) My male cousins on the other hand are free to choose. So although some do tend wear Indian clothes for formal occassions, they would be free to wear a suit if they chose to.

As Alice says, it seems to be up to women to uphold cultural values. Of course, this doesn't just include dress but all the work that women put into celebrating and organising festivals, cooking traditional foods, teaching children about their background and their traditional languages
etc. For immigrant families, I'd say it was an important part of wifework.

If you go to another country where traditional dress is the norm you will see both men and women in traditional dress, and both men and women in western dress.

In the UK I think you are more likely to see, for eg, muslim women in traditional dress than men because men tend to be more active in the loacl community (working and just being out and visible on the streets) and find physical assimilation to be more convenient for whatever reason. Women are more likely to spend time at home, with other women and with their own culture, so more likely to stick to traditional dress.

I agree with Goth, traditional dress isn't oppressive by nature, so it's not right to extrapolate that women wearing it more visibly than men is a sign of oppression. My H wears traditional dress in the UK when he feels like it, and he has experienced abuse. Thankfully he doesn't give a fuck and can take care of himself, but I can see why some men would go for an easy life and suit up.

Bit worried by the assumption that traditional dress is 'bad' or not as good as western dress. Shalwar Khalmeez are ace. They can be as dressy or as casual as you want and hide a multitude of sins. You can get them made to measure comparatively cheaply - what's not to like? Ditto abayas. And surely you can't have a problem with traditional West African wraps?

I see a lot of men in traditional dress where I live. I think the reason why many men in the UK don't wear it is because it isn't deemed as acceptable in the workplace. I don't think they'd let you wear a thobe on the building site.

In the part of England where I live the vast majority of men of foreign origins wear western clothes even if their wives / female relatives do wear traditional clothes.
Women who are strict muslims in this area often cover their entire hair & bodies to either by choice (to follow their religion) or because their families / husbands force them to (which is wrong IMO).
The cultural costumes such as saris & salwar kameez are very pretty, flattering & glamorous so it's not surprising that women who have been brought up with these clothes like to continue wearing them.

The local hassidic Jewish men wear traditional dress as do their wives. But all other men here wear western clothes. I suspect it's for several reasons: To compete with or show off to other local men (of all cultures) by wearing designer shirts, expensive suits or label sportswear; or (very likely) because like a lot of english men they are a tad bit lazy & it's much easier to pull on a tshirt & jeans. I think also that men like to follow the crowd & dress in a similar way to every other man.
Although there are lots of Africans in my town I never seen them in traditional dress. The Sikh men do wear turbans..but with western clothes.

I'm not sure that's universally the case, Lostinthewoods.

Here in Scotland, you see lots of men wearing traditional Scottish dress in the form of a kilt. Not all wear the full ensemble, but you see men in kilts at sporting events, weddings, in pubs, going to work, all over. The only time I have seen women wearing traditional Scottish dress is at specific cultural celebrations - like St Andrews Day or Burns night.

Sikh men often wear turbans. Hassidic Jewish men wear elaborate traditional dress and hairstyles while women only wear fairly conservative but contemporary women's clothing (e.g. skirts mid-calf, long sleeve blouses, sometimes hats, etc.) I think I've seen probably equal numbers of men and women in African dress.

I'm not from an Asian background, but more often than not, I wear salwar kameez on "dressy" occasions because they look chic and are as comfy as wearing pajamas!

doesn't apply to scottish traditional dress.

and although the class of people from india and pakistan who live over here or travel a lot tend to have men wearing western clothes, actually in those countries traditional dress is far more common than western. lungi's etc.

Are you meaning in the West LITW?

I have read something somewhere once to do with women as the people who are expected to preserve culture. There was more to it than that, and it was interesting, but sadly has dropped out of my mind...

Nearly all your examples have male equivilents. The only scenario I can think of is where you see a husband in 'normal' trousers and shirt whilst his wife wears a veil. I'm not even going to start on developing world misogyny... but it does seem your hypothesis isn't all that accurate. Sorry.