I’m a feminist who is against crop-tops and revealing clothing (and I’m writing this as someone who loves crop tops). Far from being some kind of cranky old woman with antiquated values, I think women wearing just a bit more clothing is a big part of the solution to sexism.
The reason I think this is simple.
When women wear less clothing, we are giving misogynists exactly what they want.
It serves misogynists for feminists to think that being scantily clad is an expression of freedom. It gives misogynists exactly what they want — consequence-free access to female bodies. (Hookup culture serves them in the same way). By making it easier for misogynists to access sex, we reinforce their misogyny. They go to their other male friends and spread it, and on the cycle continues.
If getting naked were really the answer to gender relation problems, men would be doing it too. But we are not seeing a sudden popularity spike in the male crop-top, nor are we seeing any other kind of male-revealing clothing become popular.
Every year, women are wearing less and less clothing while men continue wearing the same amount of clothes as ever.
And look, I get it. When I go out, I feel the same pressure to be the sexiest bitch at the bar that every other woman does. My eyes rake over the most attractive women in public, measuring myself against them. (They didn’t start doing this until I started competing for male attention).
But we have to ask ourselves: Where does this lead? Women walking around in bikinis and fishnet while men are still wearing their suits?
Go ahead, picture it.
Is that the equality we dreamed of?
I’m not suggesting we all start dressing like matrons. I’m suggesting we dress on par with men; attractive shirts and jeans, or dresses and skirts which flatter our forms without giving away the surprise. This is what men do when they go out; they pick form-fitting t-shirts, flattering jeans, and some nice shoes.
It’s as easy as that.
This article was published on Oct 16 2018