Fragments of a Fashionable Discourse

In Kaja Silverman’s article Fragments of a Fashionable Discourse, I found myself agreeing with her concluding remarks. Silverman states “Since the sartorial revolution, male dress has also given a very small margin to variation, remaining largely unchanged for two centuries…help his male sexuality constant…help conflate his penis with his phallus”. Men have in fact kept their male dress pretty consistent while women’s dress has changed dramatically as different fashion trends come and go. This has placed emphasis on different areas of the female body making all of it essentially an object of “gaze”.  In my opinion, it is interesting that male suits could be a phallic symbol for men. With the turn of the industrial revolution, men needed to opt for more comfortable garments, however, their castration anxiety would not let them completely rid them from a vertical garment. So, by adopting a pin stripes, and long straight leg pants, and shiny leather shoes they were able to portray an “erect” self.  Further, women exhibited clothing to be admired by men. In this way, men could admire their “property” which they decked with their money, or in other words, the “seed” that they have produced. This spectacle of showing off their phallic symbols establishes their power.  

                In addition, my experience has been that clothing depicts want the individual wants to communicate to the world. The castration anxiety may not 100% hold true anymore.  We as a society have categorized these “objects” to help organize life. However, I agree that clothing has not been an aide on making gender a neutral identity. With the onset of more androgynous fashions such as “real men wear pink” which detours from the expected masculine color, and women wearing “boyfriend jeans or blazers” that do not necessarily focus on accentuating one’s physique, it has in my opinion, helped place emphasis on personal identity not necessarily on gender.  How can pink represent the male penis? Unless he wears pink or nude pants that is. ha! ;)