• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

◄[MALE GAZE: ᴛʜᴇ sᴀʀᴛᴏʀɪᴀʟ ɪs ᴘᴏʟɪᴛɪᴄᴀʟ]►

A Fellow Linguist

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2008
Messages
2,370
Reaction score
4,244
pSVpT.jpg

p6F5m.jpg


 

Wheeler

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
61
Reaction score
2

I think you're misunderstanding the aim of this thread.

The way I see it, there is a certain archetype of Female Model and Female Style. This archetype is more than just an idealized figure of "woman," but also regulates style into a hierarchy. Most women (and men, too) respond to this hierarchy by negotiating their cultural, ideological, and physical assets with the idealized figure, so that they may be folded into the order of Affirmed Style. This means that they are conditioned to desire a dominant, differentiating, discriminatory sartorial cover-up.

This thread is a space for what might be described as "queer" fashion. It rejects the mainstream, authoritative J. Crew trend that demands traditional patterns, shapes, and affectations, as well as culture-appropriative, body-specific and race-specific prescriptions. This thread offers a space for the **** that is weird and threatening to regulatory mainstream standards. So when you say that this thread is, in a sense, exclusive, you're right—this thread recognizes those forms of women's style that are so often erased by **** like "oh look at those legs," "would smash," and other articulations of typically male desire.


I even kept some of your precious turns of phrase. And one m-dash!

This thread is great, though. Good idea, and good criticism.
 

reedobandito

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Messages
6,804
Reaction score
4,679
Goddamn, this is my new favorite thread. Sent the link to my GF, think she'll appreciate the fits/discussion as to the nature of female aesthetics.

That Orwell essay was brilliant.
 

smashwindow

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2012
Messages
2,234
Reaction score
1,085
Maybe, it's because I'm a fan of intellectual jargon; but it literally took me an hour to figure out which was the infamous post that so many deemed to be; "oh, so contrived."
 
Last edited:

noob in 89

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Dec 28, 2010
Messages
11,325
Reaction score
15,612
TH2dZ.jpg




Tomorrow's headline: THREE STILL TRAPPED IN GQ'S MALE GAZE NIGHTMARE!


more as the story develops...
 
Last edited:

TWorksheets

Senior Member
Joined
May 28, 2011
Messages
825
Reaction score
2,156

SamSpade

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
840
Reaction score
58
Can we make a similar thread for men?
Not that I know how to frame it, but --> why is it that women dressing in the unconventional ways shown above usually look awesome, while men going the same route would - chances are - look like complete idiots ? Female in weird garb still projects sexuality (at least from male point of view), while a male in weird garb almost certainly does not project power.

If so, is this not a subtle perpetuation of the sexist undertones, regardless of the stated intention? Saying "China is doing well, but the Chinese really need to step up their human rights and environmental game" today surely sounds ostensibly better more enlightened than simply hating the "dirty ******" (circa 1920s), but is it really that different?
 

Benesyed

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2010
Messages
8,351
Reaction score
21,170
I think its because the sexualization and resultant oppressive conditions that come from what gender norms do to women are much more dire. Us dudes have it relatively easy and historically/still are a big part of the oppression. So no one cares about it as much.

However , I think that if you wan't to change how certain presentations are expected of women, then you need to do the same for men. If there is a requirement of masculinity from menswear then I do not think you can remove the insidious implication that those masculine traits must to some degree be more appropriate for men than women.
 
Last edited:

noob in 89

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Dec 28, 2010
Messages
11,325
Reaction score
15,612
What has been posted here but very rich, very thin, very alluring women in expensive garments? The idea that anything in this thread is even a half-serious comment on...well, anything....is, as someone suggested, a joke.

MC has Recent Non-Sartorialist Looks to view/discuss men's clothing worn by non-forum participants. SW&D's Bright Future Thread includes inspirational sartorial images of hazily-defined 'older dudes'. Check them out.
 
Last edited:

Benesyed

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2010
Messages
8,351
Reaction score
21,170

What has been posted here but very rich, very thin, very alluring women in expensive garments? The idea that anything in this thread is even a half-serious comment on...well, anything....is, as someone suggested, a joke.
MC has Recent Non-Sartorialist Looks to view/discuss men's clothing worn by non-forum participants. SW&D's Bright Future Thread includes inspirational sartorial images of hazily-defined 'older dudes'. Check them out.


Yeah :confused: :cloud:

But I think this thread does do some good things. Even if the images we use are of wealthy and attractive women, it still speaks to perhaps a more liberating approach to fashion. In the same way the images of these kinds of rich women are used to do bad things, perhaps this alternative type of imagery gives some answer to that? So yes we do not alleviate the bias that comes with selecting thin and attractive women but maybe the presentation and undersexualization take some of the pressure off. This compared to say a dolce and gabanna runway?
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 45 40.5%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 44 39.6%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 5 4.5%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 18 16.2%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 25 22.5%

Forum statistics

Threads
504,422
Messages
10,573,933
Members
223,687
Latest member
corcelleglauru
Top