“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society,” said Mark Twain. Not any more, it seems.
Twain’s view is anachronistic (and sexist) in light of how preoccupied we are with what women wear — especially if it’s not very much.
Unless you are a Muslim woman in France, where covering up head to toe with a burqa can get you assaulted, outlawed and barred from public spaces. But more on that later.
What women wear is socially and politically controversial — sexy or frumpy, too grown-up or mutton-dressed-as-lamb.
All these judgments are routinely thrown at women. It seems we just can’t win in navigating between what is attractive and what is appropriate.
The contradictions abound and these preoccupations with women’s appearance distract from the real issues of continued discrimination and inequality.
The following news stories reveal some facets of this situation:
- The outrage about teenage role models for American girls such as Miley Cyrus who can’t be tamed (according to her latest single, transparent outfits at award shows and tweeted pictures of her underwear), and the sartorial antics of Taylor Momsen (who’s rather swift to be seen without trousers, favouring ripped tights and suspenders paired with raccoon eye make-up any day of the week).
- The gushing praise for queen-to-be Kate Middleton’s demure, if figure-conscious, style – except for that now ubiquitous picture of her modelling underwear under a sheer frock at a charity fashion show while she was at university, accompanied by the repetition of the story that that was when she caught Prince William’s eye from his front-row vantage point. The message, once again, is gotta bare it to bag it.
- A 63-year-old French woman was given a two-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of €750 for tearing a full Islamic veil from the face of a tourist from the United Arab Emirates in Paris.
It seems we are in a Goldilocks dilemma: there’s either too much or too little skin on display.
Which brings me to some of the interesting feminist responses to French efforts to ban women from wearing the all-covering burqa or niqab in public places. Two subversive campaigns under way interconnect in a fascinating way with our general obsession about how much of a woman’s body can be displayed in public.
Two web activists, who call themselves NiqaBitch, have posted a video online of themselves stalking the streets of Paris in niqabs — paired with miniskirts and heels.
The response of Parisians is revealing: drivers toot and give them the thumbs-up, pedestrians (including a police officer who should be enforcing the niqab ban) stop to take pictures. This prompts the question of the success of the protest or whether it merely reinforces the problem.
As one commentator on the Jezebel website put it: “The men taking pictures, waving from cars and ogling from their bikes are oblivious to the ‘protest’ taking place.
What they seem to be witnessing is a fantasy come true: two women, who by way of their clothing, suggest that they are covered, but are still easily accessible. In this manner, they play into subversive Orientalist notions of an exotic and mysterious Muslim woman.”
Then there’s the sabotage campaign by graffiti artist Princess Hijab in Paris: she daubs black veils on to the half-naked, airbrushed models in public adverts, highlighting the hypocrisy of mainstream society’s attitude to women’s dress.
She calls it “hijabisation” and professes to be trying to raise issues relating to feminism and fundamentalism. But the obliteration of the models’ faces only draws more attention to their scantily clad bodies.
This confusion reminds me of one of the web-episodes of the VagMag series in which staffers at a fictional third-wave feminism magazine, called Vag, are trying to select skirts for a feature. The editors keep pressing for more “feminist” skirts.
To which the floundering fashion writer is forced to inquire about what exactly a “feminist” skirt is: “Is it longer? … shorter? … Pants?”
Michelle le Roux is a member of the Johannesburg and New York Bars and a visiting senior fellow at the Mandela Institute at Wits School of Law