Feminism: chat
Oscars dresses and female sexualisation
Aphrathestorm · 13/03/2023 09:28
Anyone else noticed the trend of hyper sexualisation of female dresses at this year's Oscar's?
The men have no flesh on display below the neck (maybe one exception I've seen). Even in the noughties (no I'm not talking about the 70s/80s here the female dress code for the Oscar's was no low cleavages and no leg on show above the knees.
Obviously there were always a few rebels and self expression is good.
But it's like it's now expected for women to have uncomfortably positioned breasts and/or right up the thigh skirt gaps.
Only Jamie lee Curtis has a long sleeved dress.
When hypersexualised clothing becomes the norm is that not more oppression than expression?
Mrsjayy · 13/03/2023 09:30
The oscars have always been like that same with any sort of red carpet celeb event .although I did likeJLC dress it was lovely.
IreneLady · 13/03/2023 09:34
I haven't seen anything worse than usual. It's always been the case for women to be more scantily clad than men,look at videoclips of songs.
There are worse outfits on Asos, Boohoo and Pretty little thing, Nasty miss or whatever.
IreneLady · 13/03/2023 09:35
Even in sports, women in tiny little tennis shorts or figure skating outfits flashing your knickers meanwhile the men are covered up nicely and warmly.
AnyFucker · 13/03/2023 09:36
I thought the frocks this year (with a few notable exceptions) were gorgeous
I know what you mean though. It’s not right that it should be unusual for women not to wear revealing clothes
gwrachod · 13/03/2023 09:42
Things are much more gendered these days than in the recent past.
In the 70s / 80s (yes I am talking about them!) girls had a mix of lengths of hair. Short hair on girls was unremarkable But these days pretty much all the girls have long hair in my DD's primary school. The only exceptions I can think of are girls with afro hair and short plaits.
I was watching kids play football yesterday - mixed teams, mostly boys but a few girls on each team, and it was noticeable how all the girls had long hair.
Mrsjayy · 13/03/2023 09:48
I don't think think things are more gendered these days there would have been plenty of women with short hair in gendered roles 70s and 80s ,what's wrong with long hair on girls ?
.
GandhiDeclaredWarOnYou · 13/03/2023 09:52
I disagree - here are 60 red carpet photos. Only a handful are super-revealing.
www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/g43282980/all-red-carpet-photos-oscars-2023/
Michelle Yeoh, Michelle Williams, Kate Blanchett, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain etc etc all wearing lovely gowns, not particularly revealing.
I liked Florence Pugh’s shorts with her dress too.
Aphrathestorm · 13/03/2023 10:11
So to do a fair comparison I've compared the 2023 dresses of 6 big stars to 2003 dresses of 6 big stars.
In 2003 Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry, Julianne Moore, Kate Hudson, JLO and Renee Zellweger had no legs on show, 3 had very slight cleavage and only one had a shoulder strapless dress.
In 2023 Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry, Kate Hudson, Jessica Chastain, Angela Bassett and Salma Hayek 2 had a leg slit up to hip, all 6 had low cleavages, and only one had a 2 shoulder strap dress on.
ThatsNiceVeryNice · 13/03/2023 10:22
I find it a bit strange. I'm sure they do it for press coverage and because they mostly have fantastic bodies. A lot of them would look stunning in anythjng TBF.
I think it's a shame though, however much people who dress like that might claim they are doing it for themselves it has to be linked to wanting to look sexually attractive. It's so predictable and it's a bit tacky.
It's all part of the impossible argument about how men sexualise women verses how women sexualise themselves.
I've two beautiful adult daughters who are very slim with big boobs and long hair - they love dressing up but also don't won't to attract unwanted attraction from sleazy men. It's really difficult. Why should they have to cover their figures when they love how they look - both work out a lot they get a lot of value from looking good.
I don't know what the answer is.
What's unacceptable and what's not unacceptable? I'm glad I dont have to decide.
Grimbelina · 13/03/2023 10:32
I thought exactly the same thing (and I remember the furore over Cher's dresses in the 80's which looks rather tame now). I think the more extreme dresses were at the parties e.g. Ciara's below. I find the sexualisation very upsetting actually.
gwrachod · 13/03/2023 10:47
Mrsjayy · 13/03/2023 09:48
I don't think think things are more gendered these days there would have been plenty of women with short hair in gendered roles 70s and 80s ,what's wrong with long hair on girls ?
.
Nothing is wrong with long hair on girls, but when pretty much ALL young girls have very feminine hairstyles, when this wasn't the case a few decades ago, something significant is happening here.
Plus the colours - it's hard to find girls clothes that aren't pink or otherwise colour-coded as "for girls". Again, there wasn't such a stark difference in colours for boys and girls clothes only a few decades ago.
Then we have the majority of female celebs being hyper feminine and wearing revealing clothes - what this thread is about. When the men are dressed and the women aren't it tells you all you need to know about the power dynamics at play here.
It's not progress, it's limiting.
Mrsjayy · 13/03/2023 11:04
Fair enough @gwrachod I had girls in the 90s into the 00s it wax easy to dress them I did have a choice of clothes for them. I didn't realise dressing girls was difficult nowadays.
Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 13/03/2023 11:08
Grimbelina · 13/03/2023 10:32
I thought exactly the same thing (and I remember the furore over Cher's dresses in the 80's which looks rather tame now). I think the more extreme dresses were at the parties e.g. Ciara's below. I find the sexualisation very upsetting actually.
That’s grim
Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 13/03/2023 11:09
Sorry, I thought the photo of the girl dressed in a net bag was grim. I agree with your comment
EmmaEmerald · 13/03/2023 11:11
I would really like if women started to attend these events in a tux. Preferably starting with a mass effort to do so, at something like..the Oscars?
Largeflaskoftea · 13/03/2023 11:16
I really liked a lot of the frocks from that Elle list, nothing jumped out as too revealing or outlandish. Whereas some of the outfits worn to the Brits were too much for me! I think music artists tend to be more OTT.
Largeflaskoftea · 13/03/2023 11:19
Oh, just had a proper look at that net dress - yes, totally agree with what you’re saying.
aSofaNearYou · 13/03/2023 11:23
It's definitely been the trend for the last few years at least for women to show most of their boobs at these sorts of events. I'm not a fan personally, but it's been like that for a while now.
MarshaMelrose · 13/03/2023 11:25
however much people who dress like that might claim they are doing it for themselves it has to be linked to wanting to look sexually attractive.
I think it's more to do with getting their picture on the front pages of papers and magazines. It's.all about publicity at the end of the day.
IClaudine · 13/03/2023 11:28
EmmaEmerald · 13/03/2023 11:11
I would really like if women started to attend these events in a tux. Preferably starting with a mass effort to do so, at something like..the Oscars?
One woman did this year, a film producer I think.
Pinkplasticbathcup · 13/03/2023 11:33
I read something quite recently, can’t remember where, that said that in times of plenty women become very sexualised, and less so when times are harder. I think that fits in with not only what celebs are wearing but also the trend for the huge lashes and lips and whatnot that ‘ordinary’ women are wearing atm. If you look back in history eg the 20’s and late 40/50’s where the west had big economic booms you can see the same pattern; obviously less sexualised by the norms of today! But still proving the point I think. I suppose it remains to be seen whether if we have a big recession or even depression in the near future it will affect women’s appearances in the same way.
And FWIW I don’t like all the boobs out and massive lips etc. Keeping it classy looks so much nicer!!
Travelationjubilation · 13/03/2023 11:40
IClaudine · 13/03/2023 11:28
One woman did this year, a film producer I think.
EmmaEmerald · 13/03/2023 11:11
I would really like if women started to attend these events in a tux. Preferably starting with a mass effort to do so, at something like..the Oscars?
Why? I would have zero interest in wearing a tux.
EmmaEmerald · 13/03/2023 11:54
IClaudine · 13/03/2023 11:28
One woman did this year, a film producer I think.
EmmaEmerald · 13/03/2023 11:11
I would really like if women started to attend these events in a tux. Preferably starting with a mass effort to do so, at something like..the Oscars?
There's always the occasional one.
I would just like to see it as a mass effect and to highlight the exposure of women's bodies that's become normalised.
EmmaEmerald · 13/03/2023 11:55
Largeflaskoftea · 13/03/2023 11:19
Oh, just had a proper look at that net dress - yes, totally agree with what you’re saying.
In some ways, it looks like a wire trash can.
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.