One of the most intriguing arguments made within Kaja Silverman's essay “Fragments of a Fashionable Discourse” is her definition of men as “the one who looks at women.” This deduction of men serving the role as the on looker and women as the subjects provides support for the contrasting identities of men and women. This idea of men as “the one who looks at women” is present across society on a regular basis and is exemplified at large scale events. For example, in events like weddings and dances, it is a prevalent theme to fixate on the manner in which the woman dresses. The man is always the one anxious to see what the woman wears and how it will flatter her, just like when the man awaits his bride to walk down the aisle. This idea was seen on a global scale this past summer in the royal wedding, in which the anticipation to see how Kate Middleton dressed herself was tremendous. Moreover, when the wedding was filmed, the television companies made sure to capture the look on Prince William’s face when he saw her. By focusing attention on William’s reaction, his role as an on looker or as “the one who looks at women” was epitomized.
A second compelling argument made in Silverman’s essay was her idea about the constantly transforming female dress and wardrobe and the effect it has on the way they are perceived. Female style continuously switches between accentuating different parts of a woman’s body, which, in its entirety, is seen as incredibly desirable. A female’s body can be covered in parts and then left revealed in others and still be seen as desirable, while a man only has one real area that is believed to be wanted. Thus, it is interesting to think how female dress has the ability to be so versatile and oscillate between accentuating different body parts while men are left stagnant with no real options. This diversity of female dress constitutes the many different types of dresses, skirts, tops, pants, shorts, leggings, swim suits, etc., that have become available to women over the years, and the amount of times the style of what women wear has changed. The trends of female dress change constantly, like how Fall styles change yearly as different boots, sweaters, or colors are preferred that will accentuate the woman’s body differently. In contrast, male dress has not seen the same amount of change over the years that female dress has, due to the fact that they lack the ability to accentuate different parts of their body.
I agree that the idea of women "playing to both the male look and her own" is very true, and has been so for centuries. Before, women would take hours to get dressed so that rich man would be impressed enough to ask for their hand in marriage. And today, I still feel that at least 50% of the reason girls dress to impress is to catch the attention of a guy. All in all, not much has changed. But I think this has a lot to do with the attention the media puts on women's clothing. For example, People magazine always focuses on what dresses different female stars wear to certain events, analyzing what designer they used, how it looked, whether it was a pass or fail, etc. But they hardly ever do that for men.
ReplyDeleteYou make so many interesting points! I think that the idea of women being somthing for me to look at is very true...but I also think it is common for women to objectify men. For women, mens clothes can define their social status and even help us understand their hobbies through what types of clothes they wear. And although many women would try and deny it, there are certain styles that cause us to look more than others. I think that it is a more common idea to think about men objectifying women, but sometimes we forget that girls can do the very same thing.
ReplyDeleteI totally didn't even think of that but it's so true. In a way it speaks to the resilient spirit of women in finding a way to make their objectification powerful. If a woman must be looked at then why not use that to accentuate everything that both separates a male from a female and what is ultimately the one of the few things that society gives women to hold over a man?
ReplyDelete-Jheanelle G.