Initially, I was eager to read "Robin Givhan Sees Liberation in Katie Couric's Heels (and Miniskirts)," as Couric is a fellow journalist and I admire Givhan's writing. But, frankly, I found the Jezebel post −about a photo shoot Couric did for the March issue of Harper's Bazaar− irritatingly familiar; another rant about high heels and what they "say" about the women who wear them , blah, blah, blah.
For the shoot, Couric wears Louboutin booties and Gucci platforms, and Givhan argues that it takes "pure grit" to "walk...in a pair of heels that make those who'd be suffering vertigo blanch."
"Maybe 'pure grit' is a synonym for masochism," the post's author, Irin Carmon, retorts. "And while I see Givhan's point that heels impress, allowing you to potentially tower over opponents, they also hint at a sort of inexorable demand on professional women to be all things at once− driven and hardworking, but also, ever so subtly, someone you'd want to fuck. Or that you think men might want to."
To which I say... Oh, give me a break.
Carmon is reading way too much into a pair of pumps. (Unfortunately, she's not the first, nor will she be the last, feminist blogger/writer to do so.)
Heels make the wearer −every wearer− look longer and leaner, and that's what makes them appealing to so many women. Suggesting professionals who wear heels to the office do so to appear simultaneously industrious and desirable is insulting to those of us who use our brains, not our sex appeal, to get ahead in the workplace.
"Feminist writers have consistently argued that a woman's attempt to cultivate her appearance makes her a dupe of fashion, the plaything of men, and thus a collaborator in her own oppression...," says Linda Scott, associate professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Illinois, in her book Fresh Lipstick: Redressing Fashion and Feminism.
In other words, many people believe the term "feminist fashionista" is an oxymoron. I am not one of those people.
Also, I am not a dupe, a plaything, or a collaborator in my own oppression because I wear what I want to wear. (Choice Feminism, anyone?)
And with that...the only fashion advice I will ever dispense here: Wear what makes you happy. And always look appropriate for the occasion at hand. The rest (conveying a particular message, whether people like what you're wearing, etc.) is just icing on the cake.
(Photo appears in the March issue of Harper's Bazaar.)
4 comments:
i love (:
although i wonder - what do you mean when you say you are not a feminist fashionista?
is that just not what you would describe yourself as?
do you consider it a bad thing to be?
XO, Em
http://teenagewardrobequeen.blogspot.com/
Oops... I guess I didn't make myself clear.
When I said "I am not one of them, however" I meant that I'm not a person who thinks the term "feminist fashionista" is an oxymoron. But I can see how you misunderstood that.
I totally consider myself a feminist fashionista. =)
Couple things - guess what, you can be a fashionista and NOT wear super high heels.
(Personally I find the idea that they're for "towering over" people amusing - even when I wear 4" heels I only stand 5' 5", and am not likely to be towering over anyone.)
Further - I disagree that we can make heels mean whatever we want to make them mean. They are still read in certain ways by the world that observes (and forces its reactions on) us, and this same world still can't resist assessing our sexual display on the job no matter what our own intentions are.
Therefore, I personally am going to control the message I send as best I can. And my message includes not bringing sex to work. MEN don't have to, and we shouldn't have to either.
This doesn't mean I dress in any way dowdy. For instance, my 34F chest is not going to be put in a cleavage displaying top but I have LOTS of sleek and stylish choices without looking like a grandma or a sexpot.
We don't have to be reduced to answering the madonna/whore question all the time, which after all is someone ELSE'S question - we've got other choices.
First, I'm disappointed that someone with so much to say would choose to respond anonymously− a cowardly decision, in my opinion.
Nonetheless... I never said fashionistas have to wear heels.
I never said heel wearers can make heels "mean whatever we want to make them mean."
It's true that people will make judgments about our character/intentions based on what we wear.
I wear heels because they make my good legs look great (There's nothing wrong with wanting to look your best.) and, at 5'9," they help put me eye to eye with most of my male colleagues, which I appreciate as I work in a male-dominated profession.
It's true that many men −and women− think "sex" when they see a woman in heels. (As there is nothing inherently sexual about a pair of shoes I'm guessing that's due to cultural influences.) But I'm not going to let anyone's preconceived notions influence my wardrobe choices. As you said, the "world still can't resist assessing our sexual display on the job, no matter what our own intentions are."
If someone thinks I look sexy in heels, that's their opinion. It's arguable that someone thinks I look sexy in flats. Does that mean I should stop wearing those to the office too?
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