What if we're not, itsbetterthanabox? I ask a serious question there. From my experience on this planet, if a woman is going to dress for anybody but herself, she dresses for other women. It's other women that judge, not men.
If we are actually being 'socialised' and bound by condition and convention, I'd suggest that it has nothing whatsoever to do with men.
I've thought about what you've said and it made me think of an event a few weeks ago; we had office photos taken and, as a very pale person who appears 'bleached out' in photos, I applied make-up with a trowel. In the photos, I still look a little pale but no longer 'ill'. Those photos are to go onto the company website, so my motivation is what?
a) I don't want to look pale and immortalised on the website as such;
b) I don't want my legions of male fans to see me like that;
c) My vanity will not allow me to be judged by female peers;
d) I just don't want to look anything but my best.
I make free choices as to how I spend my money, on what and how often. I believe that I make these decisions from choice.
What I don't understand is why, if women feel under such immense pressure to 'conform', they do not do something that would be positive and constructive, ie. challenge those that keep banging on about socialisation, construct and conditioning and get to the root of where that's coming from. I think to apportion 'blame' for this to men is a bit of a red herring because it comes from women. The reason for this possibly being that the majority of the population is heterosexual and therefore the object of such a woman's desire is going to be a man...
I really do wish that women would stick up for other women instead of knocking them down and judging them for every little thing...