- Contributed
Model Stacey McKenzie in a Dexter Pottinger 3D designed corset at The Saint International's Mecca of Style 2004.Alicia Roache, Staff Reporter
"I see my body as an instrument rather than an ornament." -Alanis Morissette, quoted in Reader's Digest, March 2000.
FASHION HAS been one of feminism's arch-enemies since garments like the corset and the bra were recast in the 1960s as items of oppression, torment and potential causes of ill-health. Now, in the 21st century, after years of protests and lobbying, the battle lines have become blurred and fashion and feminism have a new, ambivalent relationship.
Whatever the cause of the phenomenon, there have been some developments which suggest women are gaining more control of the way they are portrayed and regarded through fashion. Arguably, the most noted change in the fashion world is seen in the way the corset has been redesigned and worn by the modern woman. The corset represented fashionable dress from as early as the Renaissance period of the 14th-16th centries up to the early 20th century. However, feminists protested that it was a symbol of female oppression and male power, as women bound their waists and midriffs in uncomfortable and unsafe boned corsets in order to create the illusion of a smaller frame, self-discipline and social status.
BACK IN STYLE
Today, the corset is back in style. However, the garment has been 'de-boned' removing the teeth and lessening the bite, one might say, to more comfortable, wearable fabrics, stitched in similar fashion but bound with less constricting ribbons or buttons.
Additionally, the corset has made another bold transformation. Once worn under dresses, the corset was a symbol of the demure, sexually repressed woman. However, the corset is now no longer underwear, it is outerwear. Fashion historian Valerie Steele, in her book The Corset: A Cultural History, classified this transformation as a "symbol of rebellion and feminine sexual empowerment".
Jamaican designers, such as Dexter Pottinger, have documented this change in their runway presentations, utilising the corset as outerwear.
But the corset, some contend, has been replaced in modern society by severe dieting, eating disorders, exercise and plastic surgery. As women continue to internalise the idea that the perfect body is one that is small and thin, the corset has been replaced in modern society by dieting, exercise and plastic surgery. Changing the way persons view their bodies must be a harder battle to win by placards and protest than changing the way clothes are made. And this remains another reason fashion is still sometimes viewed as oppressive.
Since, undeniably, fashion dictates the prevailing modes of dress, then feminism and fashion will always have a battle to fight. Today, because of the mass production of garments and the resultant shunning of the dressmaker, women sometimes feel they have to change or force their bodies to fit the outfit rather than to make the outfit to fit the body. Though it has been a long time since women have had to break and bind their toes to fit their feet into tiny shoes; the low-rider or 'hipster' pants phenomenon has clearly highlighted how popular fashion has continued to exclude all but the slim and statuesque from the latest trends in clothing. However, women and girls who are over-endowed in the midriff area, perpetually try to stuff their bodies into very low cut, tight jeans.
SMALL CHANGES
But there continues to be small changes in the way women are portrayed through fashion. One of those changes is in the traditional beauty pageants. The Miss World and by extension the Miss Jamaica World pageants have made an official recognition of the multiple qualities that make a total woman. Spartan Health Club, promoters of the Miss Jamaica World Pageant, in line with the international competition, have added a number of mini-competitions to the local pageant as a means of "embra-cing and celebrating the total woman".
According to Spartan Health Club, "the 21st century beauty queen not only possesses beauty of face and figure but several other attributes which go into making her interesting". The Miss Jamaica (World) Talent and Sport Competitions aim at focusing on "performable talents as well as athletic prowess". However, the Miss Jamaica (World) Beach competition brings back the focus of any beauty pageant firmly on the competitions' standard of 'physical beauty'. Beauty of figure, skin and muscle tone are the main criteria for the Beach Beauty competition.
NEW TREND
Even in advertising, a place where war is normally waged between fashion and feminism as gender roles are projected, there seems to be a new trend. Rapper Queen Latifah, a woman whom many would describe as the antithesis to the 'ideal model', has entered and successfully positioned herself in the sphere normally reserved for the waif-like supermodels. For two years Queen Latifah has been the spokesperson for one of the most discerning make-up companies, CoverGirl. Interestingly, she rose to prominence in the 1980s with her rhymes of female power and empowerment, such as Unity and Ladies First were two such songs. Through her CoverGirl campaigns she may just be furthering her fight for another group of women often sidelined by fashion, the 'big-boned' black woman.
Make-up and personal care advertisements that feature women or are geared towards women are more frequently portraying women in a powerful or positive light. Revlon, in its make-up campaigns, encourages women to 'Be you, Be unforgettable'; Clairol, which advertises hair colours, posits 'Because you're worth it'.
And perhaps the most notable recent change came with the ads for the female deodorant Secret. The ad once proclaimed, 'Strong enough for a man, but gentle enough for a woman'. Today the line simply states 'Strong enough for a woman'.
THE PAINKILLER
Even the painkiller Motrin IB, which uses women in their ads, harkens to the idea of a 'strong' woman. The ad shows women in various situations while using various terms which refer to how each situation is handled. Terms such as 'hits below the belt', which harken to traditional male sports such as boxing, are used to illustrate how the women 'deal' with 'pain'. The medication is 'For moms who don't fool around with pain'. But there remains an uneasy truce between fashion and feminism. For though there have been improvements in the way women are being portrayed, there are still areas where it seems that feminism cannot exert enough influence to cause any major change. In this sphere models get the brunt of the criticism. They are not 'individuals', they are merely 'clothes hangers'; they have to 'blank themselves out' in the name of fashion and the more boyish their figure, the better their chances. For these and others, feminism and fashion it seems, will always be at odds.
