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![Fashion in Context FA1S12
Was fashion effectively used to change gender ideals in the
1960’s – 1990’s?
The 1960 have seen the start of both men and women fighting back against social
views of gender ideology with their controversial styling of fashion garments. In a
time where gender stereotypes were firmly set in stone traditions in the minds of the
people, any difference of opinion was represented as rebellion. Mary Quants mini
skirt played a lead role in the second wave of feminist activisms during the 60’s with
its extremely short length; the dramatic adjustment to feminine social decorum was a
rebellion against female expectations. Along with iconic glam rock artists such as
David Bowie in 1970, whose own alter ego Ziggy Stardust reinvented what it meant
to be a man in rock music, introduced a style that encouraged fluidity by blurring the
lines between male and female gender ideals. Androgyny. American punk band
Bikini Kill helped popularize the third wave of feminist activism in the 90’s with the
Riot Grrrl movement, a movement that addressed issues such as rape and domestic
abuse through artistic expression
to promote self-acceptance and
female empowerment.
Mary Quant’s main goal was to
make a fashion aimed towards
the young (Mary Quant ‘Quant
by Quant’) and not to make a
social stance for female
empowerment, her
controversial designs were a
complete contrast to the
glamorous over the top style
fashionable at the time [see
Figu 1].
Quants designs reflected the youth culture at the time, which had evolved
from elegant mature women to “pubescent” and “accessible young
photographic models” (Breward, C. 2003) like Twiggy [see Figu 2], the vibrant
colours and playful shapes contributed to the popularization of free love and
sexual expression among the young. The mini skirt was used to promote the
second wave of feminist activism in a quest to reclaim the sexual
objectification of women, but some may argue that by objectifying themselves
defeats the object.
[Figure 1]Women dressed in Emerald Satin Dior knee
length jacket, 1959.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/18f5a002-da68-4073-91f5-348c1bcaf038-160506000037/85/Callum-Lea-1-320.jpg)
![(Evans, R H. 2014) expresses concern for the
unfair expectation of women, believing that by
holding women responsible for the actions
and thoughts of men that modesty has been
turned into objectification. The feminist
movement protest against being objectified
by men and raise issues such as rape and
domestic abuse but objectify themselves to spread the word sends mixed
messages to what their main goal is [See Figu 3]. Quant is very modest when
it comes to her role on the use of fashion in the empowerment of women “It
wasn’t me ... who invented the miniskirt anyway, it was the girls in the street
who did it,” [Settembre, J. 2014].
In
the 70’s David Bowie became one of the first artists in the music industry to
challenge men’s gender ideals when he created his alter ego, Ziggy Stardust
[See Figu 4]. He effectively made androgyny popular among mainstream
[Figure 3] Women protesting to keep mini skirts short,1970.
[Figure 2] Twiggy, 1964.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/18f5a002-da68-4073-91f5-348c1bcaf038-160506000037/85/Callum-Lea-2-320.jpg)
![audiences, with his flamboyant use of costume and makeup, rebelling against
masculine male gender normality and expressing an androgynous persona
through the use of fashion. [Miller, J. 2011] tells of how artists like Bowie
would manipulate symbols of masculinity like suits and adjust them to fit to
their persona by adding colour and prints [see Figu 5]. (Dowd, V. 2013)
believes Bowie paved the way toward homosexual acceptance in the media,
some may argue that Bowies extremism at times gave into homosexual
stereotypes, with his use of colour and makeup, and set the cause for gay
rights back a few more years. His style was not applicable to the everyday
gay man
By
the 1990’s women had once again lost their
voice in the world, many feeling that they
had no popular women in the media fighting
for women’s equality that they could be
inspired by. The Riot Grrrl movement aggressively fought against gender
formality, fighting against feminine expectations by exploiting their bodies with
words like “slut” written across them to gain a reaction from the media [see
Figu 6]. (Leonard, M. 2007) agrees that behind the shocking words across
their bodies and their androgynous sense of dress, there were good intentions
behind the movement.
[Figure 4] David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust,1972.
[Figure 5] David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust in
light blue suit, 1973](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/18f5a002-da68-4073-91f5-348c1bcaf038-160506000037/85/Callum-Lea-3-320.jpg)
![Riot Grrrl aimed to be treated as equals to men, being able to express
themselves the way men do by there choices of fashion and interests like
music, but did this female rights movement go too far? The Riot grrrl
movement was extremely vulgar and did not appeal to a large demographic,
unlike their predecessors, girl group the Spice Girls [see Figu 7] popularized
the girl power movement in a more positive and child friendly way which was
a lot better received than Riot Grrrl.
In conclusion, these examples
shown great ways in which
fashions versatility can
[Figure 6] Kathleen Hanna of Riot Grrrl band Bikini Kill, 1992.
[Figure 7] Spice Girls, 1996.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/18f5a002-da68-4073-91f5-348c1bcaf038-160506000037/85/Callum-Lea-4-320.jpg)
More Related Content
Callum Lea
- 1. Fashion in ContextFA1S12 Was fashion effectively used to change gender ideals in the 1960’s – 1990’s? The 1960 have seen the start of both men and women fighting back against social views of gender ideology with their controversial styling of fashion garments. In a time where gender stereotypes were firmly set in stone traditions in the minds of the people, any difference of opinion was represented as rebellion. Mary Quants mini skirt played a lead role in the second wave of feminist activisms during the 60’s with its extremely short length; the dramatic adjustment to feminine social decorum was a rebellion against female expectations. Along with iconic glam rock artists such as David Bowie in 1970, whose own alter ego Ziggy Stardust reinvented what it meant to be a man in rock music, introduced a style that encouraged fluidity by blurring the lines between male and female gender ideals. Androgyny. American punk band Bikini Kill helped popularize the third wave of feminist activism in the 90’s with the Riot Grrrl movement, a movement that addressed issues such as rape and domestic abuse through artistic expression to promote self-acceptance and female empowerment. Mary Quant’s main goal was to make a fashion aimed towards the young (Mary Quant ‘Quant by Quant’) and not to make a social stance for female empowerment, her controversial designs were a complete contrast to the glamorous over the top style fashionable at the time [see Figu 1]. Quants designs reflected the youth culture at the time, which had evolved from elegant mature women to “pubescent” and “accessible young photographic models” (Breward, C. 2003) like Twiggy [see Figu 2], the vibrant colours and playful shapes contributed to the popularization of free love and sexual expression among the young. The mini skirt was used to promote the second wave of feminist activism in a quest to reclaim the sexual objectification of women, but some may argue that by objectifying themselves defeats the object. [Figure 1]Women dressed in Emerald Satin Dior knee length jacket, 1959.
- 2. (Evans, R H.2014) expresses concern for the unfair expectation of women, believing that by holding women responsible for the actions and thoughts of men that modesty has been turned into objectification. The feminist movement protest against being objectified by men and raise issues such as rape and domestic abuse but objectify themselves to spread the word sends mixed messages to what their main goal is [See Figu 3]. Quant is very modest when it comes to her role on the use of fashion in the empowerment of women “It wasn’t me ... who invented the miniskirt anyway, it was the girls in the street who did it,” [Settembre, J. 2014]. In the 70’s David Bowie became one of the first artists in the music industry to challenge men’s gender ideals when he created his alter ego, Ziggy Stardust [See Figu 4]. He effectively made androgyny popular among mainstream [Figure 3] Women protesting to keep mini skirts short,1970. [Figure 2] Twiggy, 1964.
- 3. audiences, with hisflamboyant use of costume and makeup, rebelling against masculine male gender normality and expressing an androgynous persona through the use of fashion. [Miller, J. 2011] tells of how artists like Bowie would manipulate symbols of masculinity like suits and adjust them to fit to their persona by adding colour and prints [see Figu 5]. (Dowd, V. 2013) believes Bowie paved the way toward homosexual acceptance in the media, some may argue that Bowies extremism at times gave into homosexual stereotypes, with his use of colour and makeup, and set the cause for gay rights back a few more years. His style was not applicable to the everyday gay man By the 1990’s women had once again lost their voice in the world, many feeling that they had no popular women in the media fighting for women’s equality that they could be inspired by. The Riot Grrrl movement aggressively fought against gender formality, fighting against feminine expectations by exploiting their bodies with words like “slut” written across them to gain a reaction from the media [see Figu 6]. (Leonard, M. 2007) agrees that behind the shocking words across their bodies and their androgynous sense of dress, there were good intentions behind the movement. [Figure 4] David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust,1972. [Figure 5] David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust in light blue suit, 1973
- 4. Riot Grrrl aimedto be treated as equals to men, being able to express themselves the way men do by there choices of fashion and interests like music, but did this female rights movement go too far? The Riot grrrl movement was extremely vulgar and did not appeal to a large demographic, unlike their predecessors, girl group the Spice Girls [see Figu 7] popularized the girl power movement in a more positive and child friendly way which was a lot better received than Riot Grrrl. In conclusion, these examples shown great ways in which fashions versatility can [Figure 6] Kathleen Hanna of Riot Grrrl band Bikini Kill, 1992. [Figure 7] Spice Girls, 1996.
- 5. be easily manipulatedto portray personality and was used to its fullest to help spread the message they wanted to portray. Some, however, were very one sided and didn’t leave much room for mistake which meant that they were often miss interpreted by their audiences. The second wave of feminist activism, although shown great intentions, the messages they were trying to get across were often confusing. They aimed to change female gender ideals of being demure and fragile to being well-educated and fiercely independent women, but popularizing the mini skirt portrayed them as sexually fluid uneducated youths. Only certain attire at the time was accepted which is why the mini skirt and women who worn them weren’t respect as independent women, instead, were treated as sexual objects. David Bowie successfully manipulated fashion in order to challenge gender stereotypes like male masculinity while still maintaining to be a popular figure in music. Bowie opened the doors for many gay men to feel comfortable to express themselves with fashion, but he also maintained to give into gender stereotypes with his stereotypical flamboyant style and perhaps made it harder for gay men to be seen as individuals rather than a collective. The Riot Grrrl movement’s hardcore persona was not well received by the mainstream audiences. Their provocative dress sense was meant to reclaim female empowerment by taking control of their bodies but their aggressive nature was too far left from gender ideals to be successful. The Riot Grrrl movement successfully paved the way for the “girl power” movement that was capitalized by the Spice Girls to be successful where the Riot Grrrl movement was not. Callum Lea 13018663 Bibliography Andrews, C R. (2012). Sexuality and gender have always been blurred in rock'n'roll. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/may/09/sexuality-gender- blurred-rock-roll. Last accessed 25TH march 2015. Breward, C. (2003) Fashion. Oxford: Oxford University Press Dowd, V. (2013). David Bowie: Did he change attitudes to sexuality?. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21897627. Last accessed 25th march 2015. DYHOUSE, C (2011) Glamour: Women, History, Feminism London: Zed Books.
- 6. Evans, R H.(2012). Modesty: I Don’t Think it Means What You Think it Means. Available: http://qideas.org/articles/modesty-i-dont-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means/. Last accessed 25th march 2015. Gorham, D. (1982) The Victorian Girl and the Feminine Ideal. London: Croom Helm. Leonard, M. (2007) Gender in the Music Industry: Rock, Discourse and Girl Power. Aldershot and Burlington, VT: Ashgate. Mary Quant ‘Quant by Quant’ Miller, J. (2011). Fashion and Music. Oxford and New York: Berg. Settembre, J. (2014). Once again, the miniskirt is fashion's rising star. Available: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/50-years-mary-quant-popularized-miniskirt-article- 1.1620108. Last accessed 25th march 2015. Smith, R. (2011). Revolution Girl Style, 20 Years Later. Available: http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/09/20/140640502/revolution-girl-style-20-years-later. Last accessed 25th march 2015. http://www.dior.com/couture/en_gb/the-house-of-dior/since-1947/chronologie-1959 http://www.vogue.com/1444493/british-women-kate-moss-victoria-beckham-twiggy/ https://41.media.tumblr.com/80e291b75b899aa7e184788560d9a251/tumblr_mt75ikbdsW1s3 va9eo3_500.jpg http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_loa8fm9Ysk1qc7qvfo1_500.jpg