Dressing 'like a slut' and other sartorial musings

[garlicnutter]

When did 'killer heels' become 'stripper heels'? Men don't talk of stripper heels; women do. A put-down? Women dripping contempt onto other women for their choice of footwear? What's it all about?

Whenever we appear before other people, we send out a message by the way we present ourselves. It's an intricately coded language that changes constantly, and is interpreted differently by different people. It's not a trivial matter.

I currently do "No-style" style and I do it knowingly; I want to be easily ignored - I haven't always been this way, and can still get the code right when needed. I'm not pushing an agenda here, just wondered whether anyone wanted to talk about how we judge other women, maybe why we do, and whether "empowerfulness" is such a bad thing ....

HRH is right.

Also, the stats would be a lot lower amongst my friends, I suspect.

BTW - the important things to remember about this is that it only covers male-female rape. Male-Male, female-female and female-male is not included in this study, so it doesn't really give you anything to compare those kinds. What is even more shocking is how common it is.

No, no no, different stat. Read the article. That quote was:

"? The Sun Woman (2007) found four in five women believe rape would be taken less seriously if the victim was wearing a short skirt."

That's not the same thing as saying she "partially or totally responsible". (BTW, I vohemently protest that I am not one of the 26%).

if you read the link the 4 out of 5 is there - the highlighted point by TAB is a different stat...

Slightly off on a tangent, but I hate seeing muffin tops. I don't think they say anything about feminism though, they just mean you haven't got the right sized clothing for your body which has got to be uncomfortable, surely, if it's digging in that much?

I'm afraid I do judge people on what they wear. I'm not talking about how short their skirts are, or how much makeup they're wearing because I think all those things can be about expressing individual personality and don't necessarily say anything about that woman's 'subjugation' or lack of. But when I see a woman who can barely walk in six-inch heels I do feel she has bought into the patriarchal rule of fashion. Heels can be funky and fashionable without having to be so high they cripple you, cause bunions and result in back pain and pelvic problems.

One regular poster said that a feminist approach to fashion was about separating the fun from the burdensome and that's how I tend to interpret it.

Actually, HRH, I don't know why an official report is quoting The Sun. But it is. Is The Sun Woman something different?

Sunshine, Ask any bloke what he thinks of stilletoes. He'll say, "why do you wear them? How can you walk in them?" We honestly don't know why.

My ex's response to any heels? "but they make you taller than me..."

Sunshine, I like the muffin tops because I think (or hope) they represent an attitude more like the Brazilian one, which made me feel happy - "My body is mine, therefore it's great, and I'm proud of it - Look!"

I'm very fence-sitty about things like heels and makeup. Because I could run, dance, walk and work in my student shoes, I actually wasn't hobbled by them; I know the same is true of most girls in their, ahem, stripper shoes.
They didn't do my feet any favours long-term, but that's cosmetic damage. I'm not crippled.
But it's still illogical to wear such things on your feet.

Glad it wasn't 4/5! 1/4 is too many, though :(

For anybody who's got a bit of time the Stern Review of Rape Reporting is a revealing read. It has been acted on, very much so. But the Police seems to have stopped making its policies public (the websites were changed last year) so it's hard to track whether improvements are still being made - or going backwards.

Bit of time? Have you seen how long it is???????

Sorry, yes! I use the index to find the bits I want and jump to them - never had read it front to back

That Fawcett report is shocking, isn't it?

Quite shocking.

So, 5% of woman have actually been raped? That is pretty high. Much more so than I thought. But has that changed over the years? The reported cases have greatly increased, but have the actual cases?

"But when I see a woman who can barely walk in six-inch heels I do feel she has bought into the patriarchal rule of fashion. Heels can be funky and fashionable without having to be so high they cripple you, cause bunions and result in back pain and pelvic problems."

I sort of agree with you. Though I'd broaden it to say that anyone wearing shoes that are not comfortable in or that they struggle to even walk in is buying in to some strange view of how women need to dress. Whether the shoes are a 1" kitten heel or a 6" stilletto.

People should just wear what is right for them, I know I couldn't walk in a kitten heel or trainers, but give me some stripper shoes and I can walk like they are just a part of my foot.