chapter 20

Even as young children we become aware of sex-specific ways of acting and dressing that are appropriate in our society. Men are of course supposed to be more strong and straightforward while women are supposed to be gentile and to caress things. Sex-specific attire (clothing, accessories, etc) are supposed to solicit a sexual response from the opposite gender. This simple concept of dress has the power to arouse someone and force them into sexual responses. While these styles may be ever changing, the underlying concept remains the same. Women wear clothes to make them look suitable for sex and men wear clothing that beg the same response in women. Men wear things that reflect their hierarchical standing while female attire is to make them look less important and more like sexual objects. Women’s fashion makes them look precious and delicate. Magazines show various women as the perfect sexual objects. What’s ironic is that people who tend to not want to stand out by trying to keep up with new fashions end up standing out because they’re not “fashionable” to society.

I know times have changed and women don’t wear skirts like they used to, we wear pants a lot and skirts are short and sexy. However, I wonder if women always tried to elicit this sexual response from men. Wasn’t there a time when women weren’t supposed to be sexy but were supposed to be good and pure and wear clothes that were white and covered as much skin as possible? In the same sense, does Arthur Asa Burger and the people who helped write this book realize that women do view themselves as more than sexual objects and actually, so do men? The way this chapter was written seemed almost offensive (probably because of the vague and general way it had to be written to cover such a wide topic on just a few pages). I feel that our dress today, at least some of it, for women does reflect our social standing and professional image. In addition, with so many “band tshirts” or propaganda-like shirts that promote things like “being green” our clothes say more about us, personally, than ever.