Criticizing the Fashion Industry: time to step our game

My first media feminist course in junior college (Cegep) was Images of Women in Media and the focus was on--obviously--image. Because of my mother, I wasn't a novice at feministing and such, but looking at how women are portrayed in a movie, or magazine, or story is a good starting point for a foundation in critical thinking.

Then I moved on to university which broadened and deepened my understanding of sexism and racism and ismism to more than just How People Are Portrayed.

On that note... I just read a great post about the fashion industry, by hanna brooks olsen*, that attempts to pull the "image" issues--the easier surface issues--away for a moment, in order to look at some other aspects of the industry.

Surface issues like: Is there only one beauty type in modeling? Is it unfair to judge women models by their looks? Do runway models promote eating disorders? Ms. olsen takes issue with some of these points, but I don't want to engage on them because THE POINT, for me, is that we spend so much time on those issues that we don't talk about anything else.

Such as two other points she made:

* That financial shows only talk about this female-driven industry during fashion week, and do so in a condescending or downright sexist manner (please go read the quote by the Duke law professor on her blog, and then Be Outraged);

* That in fashion circles a female journalist can wear makeup and five inch heels and not be asked if she's someone's girlfriend, as she would be in most other media circles. Why why??

So here's my concern. If we spend all our time having not-overly-informed debates on the-same-old-fashion-issues are we sidestepping The Man and attacking our own?

I am way too lazy for five inch heels and makeup, but I don't knock them because my supa-feminist-witchy-way-intelligent-gorgeous best friend rocks them like nobody's business. And I defend her right to wear false eyelashes and Like Pretty Things and be taken seriously as a business woman. Just as, when I was in Political Science, I defended the right of my brilliant doctoral colleague to wear five inch sparkly heels and enter beauty contests, all the while kicking intellectual sand in the brains of the older students about her. (She would sneak-show me her sparkly shoes in the lobby of the library, and I confessed I was writing a romance novel.)

I'm not saying we should never talk about The Usual Suspects of the fashion world, if only because I hate the lack of fashion choice available for my size 16ness at Zellers. But I do think it's time we ratcheted up the research and thought behind our discourse. We're not in junior college anymore. :-)

Please read Ms. olsen's post. Eez good. I hope she posts more on this topic, because I don't have time to read all the good fashion business and political stuff she obviously follows--I need someone to summarize it for me!

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* Julie-Lunarmom-Betty's daughter.

Feeling Feminist? A song and a movie

Once again I'm full of things to talk about, and completely short on time. In the meantime I'm just catching up one at a time on other people's bloggies, and non-net friends. Here's a classic kd lang performance to keep you company. I'd always thought this was a joke song she'd written--didn't realize it was her subversive take a on a real 60s song!

(Don't miss the opera singing at the end.)


And as a companion, may I recommend this movie Fernando an I rented tonight, about the women Ford machinists who shut down the plant in their fight for equal pay. It's called Made in Dagenham and it's very entertaining. I don't remember seeing a single ad for it, unlike their other movie Calendar Girls. Movie about women taking off their clothes = $96 000 000 gross. Movie about landmark women's rights strike, made in the same light, fun, upbeat, inspiring tone as Calendar Girls = $9 000 000.



Johnny get angry indeed.