Society has done a great deal to blur the lines between men and women in recent years. One of the biggest ways these lines are blurred is in our clothing; yet this change has occurred so gradually that most do not even notice it.
The fashion industry reinforces this line-blurring by treating the most androgynous male fashion and the most grotesque female fashion as the standard of beauty in clothing. Sadly, this is the natural outcome when the entire fashion industry is dominated by those who have no respect for the beauty of femininity or the value of masculinity.
Such fashion trends are then underscored through shows like “Queer Eye,” which elevate homosexual fashion choices and treat heterosexual fashion mores as stale and unattractive. For those who take the time to observe, it’s easily noticeable that the richer a city, an industry, or an event is, the gayer the clothing. As an example, consider pictures from recent red-carpet shindigs. There we see men in deep-cut, v-neck blouses, wearing cropped pants while posing with their wives hanging on their arms. Their clothes are extolled in the media as the height of men’s fashion. But how in the world is it that, with only rare exceptions, the softer the colors, the more sequined the textures, the more feminine the cuts of the man’s clothing, the more “fashionable” they are deemed?
Women’s fashion has suffered too, but in a different way. Elite female fashion has its fair share of unfeminine cuts and loose, androgynous silhouettes. Indeed, female stars often don “gender-bending” suits as a sort of middle finger to whatever is left of “gender stereotypes.” But overall, since the female body and the commodification of it remains lucrative, fashion titans and celebrities remain all too glad to exploit it, a fact seen as fashion and award shows come closer each year to an all-out R-rated wardrobe malfunction. Yet contrary to what some seem to think, this is not a win for sex-specific fashion. Instead, it is a crude mockery of femininity.
Consider the recent controversy over Sydney Sweeney’s barely-there gown. Some conservatives celebrated her for revealing her most intimate body parts, yet those who did miss the fact that celebrating the cheap display of her body is like celebrating a drag queen for “returning to tradition” by wearing red lipstick and garish makeup. Isn’t it a mockery of femininity if we only see it celebrated in fashion through its naked and mocking display, whether from female impersonators or female celebrities?
Speaking of drag queens, we should also consider how our societal obsession with these cosplaying men has influenced women’s fashion, hair, makeup, and even cosmetic surgery. We forget that the hottest Instagram influencers take their cues from how gay men see the women they hold in contempt, rather than their own natural inclinations towards graceful femininity. Even the filters on social media reinforce this notion – fitting every face into a cookie-cutter version that erases the distinctiveness of feminine beauty.
If we wish to awake from our collective psychosis regarding masculinity and femininity, then we must realize that change starts with how we present ourselves to the world.
Women especially have an important role to play in this. It is not necessarily bad that women are noticed, nor is it always the case that they are noticed for sexual reasons. Indeed, it is generally when wearing the most modest, overtly-feminine outfits while visibly pregnant that I receive the most compliments on my appearance – and then mostly from other women. Thus, it seems that looking for clothes which provide feminine silhouettes and graceful necklines, then complementing those clothes with flattering haircuts and understated makeup, is a reasonable choice above Botox, fillers, inches-long nails, and fake hair extensions.
As a woman, it’s more difficult for me to comment on men’s fashion. But for those men who want to be truly masculine, perhaps they would do better to take their fashion cues from their grandfather’s old photos – sporting rugged, well-made clothes in masculine colors and timeless styles – rather than magazine models and designers who are heavily influenced by what gay men find attractive in other men.
Sarah Wilder is a writer and commentator on culture and the family. Formerly a reporter at the Daily Caller, her work has been published in Chronicles Magazine, The Federalist, and The American Mind.
This culture article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal, a project of 1819 News. To comment on this article, please email [email protected]. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News.
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