What Women Wear
Yesterday I was invited to attend an informative and educational forum as part of the Brisbane Writers' Festival.
The panel comprised of Brisbane's own Bri Lee, Tracey Spicer, Iranian born Tala Raassi and was chaired by Rebecca Sparrow.
The topic WHAT WOMEN WEAR.
As the panelists began to share their experiences of the expectations around how women should dress and present themselves, and highlight the men who had negatively contributed to these experiences, I thought to myself 'Oh God is this going to be one of THOSE forums!'.
Nonetheless, I remained in my seat as the ladies continued to discuss more fundamental topics such as freedom and choice, discrimination, dress codes and frameworks and of course the gender binary.
I learnt that 40000-50000 women per year are flogged because of what they wear. Some societies not only police how women are educated, who they marry and how they live their lives, but what they can and cannot wear. As Tracey Spicer stated "no one has the right to police their (women's) choices or their wardrobe".
The panelists went on to discuss dress codes and frameworks. They highlighted the appropriateness (for women) to dress in a certain way, at certain times, in certain places. They stated it shows respect for yourself and towards the people you are with. However, they also acknowledged the mental load and financial burden, on women, to follow this particular framework, and as a whole, society does not discuss men in this way.
The panelists then questioned the gender binary. They illustrated that the majority of females will experience limited uniform options, minimal participation in sports and activities and workplace discrimination and career obstacles based on how they look and dress at some stage in their lives.
It was very interesting to hear their points of view, but what really resonated with me, was the take home message.... That until fashion and dressing is fluid and more androgynous, substantial gender divides will continue to be detrimental to our society.
This is not just women's business. It's time for all of us to stand up as one.
What do you think?? I would love to hear your comments, experiences and thoughts??
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