Guardian article by Hadley Freeman, 'You want to dress up in a cute animal hat? Oh, please, just grow up!' Should women be told what to wear if it's a feminist doing the telling?

[RM76]

I know this isn't a very serious article, but it does seem to be a trend.

www.guardian.co.uk/fashion/2013/feb/04/cute-animal-hat-grow-up?commentpage=2

You see women doing this type of thing to other women all the time.
I have read countless articles in which the author (normally a woman) throws up their hands in despair at the stupidity of other women, demanding that they stop doing X,Y and Z or they, and by extension women, will not be taken seriously.

Surely everybody has the right to be taken seriously. Do we really want equality for women that is dependent on another list of things they must do in order to obtain it, and if so is that really equality?

Just wondered what other people thought and was wondering if I'm missing something. Hope I'm making sense, not slept much. How do you end these bits?
Now I'm talking to myself, I don't know, Byeeee...

[Trills]

That seems to be her whole take on fashion - it isn't life or death, it's just a form of entertainment.

I like that.

[FreyaSnow]

I like childish and silly things. I would go as far as to say that if somebody declares they don't like childish and silly things, we have nothing really in common. In general, men are equally (if not more) childish. Most Lego is bought by adults for themselves; I suspect this is mainly men. Men love, talk out, have key rings/car stickers/mugs/ tshirts of kids' things like Star Wars, Spider Man, Batman etc all the time. There is nothing wrong or sexist about being childish.

[FloatyBeatie]

The article began as a light parody of the kind of fashion columns that throw down Thou Shalts and Thou Mustn'ts from on high so it is a bit wide of the mark to feel annoyed by its tongue-in-cheek prescriptiveness. There are plenty of daft similar prohibitions from her on, I dunno, men wearing hats etc etc.

RE the hammering that she is getting on Twitter, I think that the animal hat wearers there must be the fashion equivalent of the green ink brigade -- full of eccentric complaining wrath.

[KRITIQ]

Just had to laugh at this. My DH has the same hat as Personal Clown, although I don't think I'd ever wear one myself. Had never thought of animal hats as gendered to be honest!

[TheSmallClanger]

Hadley's column isn't meant to be taken completely seriously. That seems to be her whole take on fashion - it isn't life or death, it's just a form of entertainment. Obviously, there is the odd contradiction, but that's the nature of the beast too. Although she is sometimes a bit blunt, you don't get the annoying thou-shalt-nots of the likes of Liz Jones in her work.

She can be a bit scathing in her answers, but Hadley's feminist credentials are pretty sound. She writes about fashion, but has written passionately about various feminist issues in her other columns, including rape victim-blaming.

[MrsMangoBiscuit]

I don't wear hats as they never seem to suit me. However, I used to have (until very recently) one of those frog umbrellas with the eyes that pop up! I loved it. Even when it was a horrible day, pouring with rain, I would always smile when I saw my umbrella. I chose my umbrella just for me, not for what anyone else thought of it. If the women wearing the animal hats can say the same, then I see no problem with it.

[Snog]

All this is nothing compared to the bizarre custom of wearing high heels which presumably Hadley wears?
In my view wearing high heels truly is unfeminist and we should have left them way behind with the chastity belts

[LesBOFerables]

It's ok, I knew what you meant.

[PhilMcAverty]

I don't care what people wear exactly, but I do wonder why I'm only seeing women out and about in pj bottoms and cutesy stuff.

Men do have the market on twatty T-shirts, lauding getting pissed and the rest, but only women are out in night wear.

[RM76]

pretzeltime thanks, I know I'm a bit pathetic but he was only a kitten really. Probably not the best time to talk about all the inequality in the world, sorry again.

[PretzelTime]

Sorry about the loss of your cat RM76
It sucks when a beloved pet dies.

[RM76]

That last comment was just a general comment, not aimed directly at you LesBOFerables, sorry, just really sad right now.

[LesBOFerables]

It IS interesting- we are just chatting about it and looking at it from different perspectives.

And I'm so so sorry about your cat- it's so upsetting when a much-loved pet dies, I'm not surprised you feel awful.

[RM76]

I just thought that this was casual wear, and that a alternative list that women should conform to is a little illogical.
I in no way meant to disparage feminists, I am one.
It does seem a bit much to say that men/society tell us what to wear all the time and that's horrible (which they do at every turn, and it is horrible!), but as a professional woman I won't take other women seriously if they wear what they choose in their free time.
Of course I get that people do judge on appearance, but that in itself is wrong. I'm not taking particular offence at feminists judging women on their clothing choices, I'm offended by society doing it, and find it a bit much when we start doing it to ourselves, I want NO list, not an alternative one.
If we take this much offence at animal hats in winter, how the hell are Goths and other groups treated, or is that okay because some people think they are 'weirdo's'?(not that they are).
The clothes that are deemed acceptible are a social construct, they are only acceptable because the tribe says they are, they're just wrappings. If everyone thought all successful people wore clown hats, clown hats would become fashionable.
Anyway, sorry if that doesn't make sense, is a bit angry, but I just found out my cat died and I'm a bit upset. Will probably not bother with the thread again, sorry if it was a bit of a waste of time, thought it would be interesting, again, definitely NOT hating on the feminists.

[LesBOFerables]

Yes, I suppose it's a cultural zeitgeisty thing. Probably connected to the fact that they don't bloody leave home until they're 34 these days.

[OneHandFlapping]

I've seen young blokes wearing those animal ears hats too, when it was snowing. I thought they looked cute and fun.

It's just an extension of this thing with young adults retreating to childhood, epitomised by onesies (for both sexes) isn't it?

[MrsHoarder]

Hadley Freeman does tell men that they are making stupid fashion choices too. She is generally for adults dressing sensibly and ignoring silly fashion trends. I think its a good perspective to have in print

[FastidiaBlueberry]

But having said that, it is irritating to read that women should do x y or z whoever is writing it

[FastidiaBlueberry]

I always find it amusing the way people get absolutely outraged by anyone identifying as feminist telling women what to do while not noticing how non-feminists tell women what to do all the time. Just pick up any woman's magazine or the Daily Mail and they're full of instructions to women on what to wear and what to do in order to be considered acceptable.

[PretzelTime]

It's the fetishisation of youth which is the target of her ire
I agreed with that part of the article LesBOFand it would be better if she simply focused on that. Perhaps the silly hats is a thing to make people read it.

I don't think I have ever seen an article in a newspaper aimed at men about how they should stop dressing silly/unsexy/untrendy/childish, this stuff is always aimed at women.

[LesBOFerables]

"You are strong, smart, intelligent women and you should not apologise for that or think you should be smaller/younger/stupider/thinner/more animal-like than you are. So just buy a normal hat, buy some normal gloves and most of all ? and I say this with nothing but love in my heart and sympathy in my voice ? grow up."

None of that sounds unfeminist to me. And it's not like she is running a campaign or chasing people with a machete. I think she is making a fair point about the cutesifying of fashion actually, typified by all those fashion blog photographs of women in their thirties forcing their feet into a pigeon-toed mince to look like gangly foals. It's the fetishisation of youth which is the target of her ire rather than women per se.

[PersonalClown]

Pffft. I have enough to worry about with the Government cuts to disability, Toads transition to SN secondary, the rise in bills (like everyone else) and all the other day to day stuff that we deal with as adults.

So occasionally I like have a little carefree moment by wearing a stupid hat. It's good for my mental well being!!

[PretzelTime]

Those hats are indeed childish but nothing to get angry over. They're funny! I'm certain no one is wearing them to job meetings, etc.

There is such a never-ending, constant attention paid to women's looks in media. I'd like everyone and everything to completely stop giving a fuck about that for a while, and start focusing on what various interesting women are doing and saying.

[RM76]

personalclown love the hat, and I'm sure you look lovely in it.
I wear a North Face woolly ear flapper, because I'm horribly middle class, want warm ears, and because I think an animal hat might confuse my dog. Who knows, he might think the next time he runs off on a walk he'll be my next headgear. (But I'm probably anthropomorphising him again, woo, hoo, look at that, what a big word I did use! Never thought I'd manage to shoehorn that in anywhere!)